Planning a literature search

Planning a literature search

Undertaking any sort of educational research can be very daunting. You will need to adopt a methodical approach from selecting your topic, identifying the objectives of your work to the production of a report or dissertation. The Library holds a number of books that outline the steps you need to take when undertaking educational research. These books provide advice on every aspect of the research process including the planning process, reviewing the literature, note making, selecting methods of data collection, analysing your results and writing reports. These books can help you become familiar with basic research techniques.

Bell, J (1999) Doing your research project : a guide for first-time researchers in education and social science (3rd ed) Buckingham : Open University Press. 370.7 BEL

Cohen, L; Manion, L & Morrison, K (2000) Research Methods in Education (5th edition), London, RoutledgeFalmer. 370.7 COH

Rediguides : guides in educational research Nos1-29. Nottingham : Nottingham University School of Education. Various authors and dates. 370.7 NOT

Before writing an essay or completing an assignment you will need to gather information about your chosen topic. This process is called carrying out a literature search. There exist several different types of sources from which you can get information. For a guide to the range of resources that exist for educational research, look at:

Clarke, PB (1993) Finding out in education : a guide to sources of information (2nd ed), London: Longman. QR 016.37 CLA

Smeaton, RF (1999) Researching education : reference tools and networks (2nd ed), Swansea : Librarians of Institutes and Schools of Education. 370.7 SME

The following is a suggested method of doing a literature search. Please take the time to read through it at least once before starting. You might find the flowchart a useful reminder before you start searching.

Identify your keywords

Take a few minutes to think about your search. What are you trying to find out? Which keywords are you going to use to start your search? A thesaurus might be useful at this point to come up with alternatives and a dictionary or encyclopedia to clarify any words you do not understand.

Oxford Thesaurus Oxford University Press, 1991 QR 423.1 OXF

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English (8th ed), Oxford University Press, 1990 QR 423 CON

Lawton, Denis & Gordon, Peter (1996) Dictionary of Education (2nd ed), London : Hodder & Stoughton. QR 370.03 LAW

Blake, David & Hanley, Vincent (1995) Dictionary of educational terms, Aldershot : Arena. QR 370.03 BLA

Education A-Z, Advisory Centre for Education, 1991. QR 370.03 EDU

Planning your search

Plan your time.

You will need to set aside some time to spend in the Library carrying out your search. Researching a subject can be time-consuming. Sometimes you need to be able to go back and review your progress and change your approach if you are not finding the information you need. Don’t leave it until a day or two before the work is due to be handed in!

Make a list of the information sources you are going to check and tick them off as you deal with them.

Find out what is already held in the University of Plymouth Libraries

Once you have decided on your search terms the next stage is to search LIBERTAS. If you have not used LIBERTAS before, sign up at the Enquiry Desk for a LIBERTAS training session.

It is important that you check LIBERTAS. You could waste hours of searching the CD-ROMs and the Internet only to find that there is a book in the Library that contains the information you need. Having ascertained what is immediately available you can then progress to other sources of information.

Make a note of the classmarks for each of the books. Write down the whole number plus the three letters at the end. Some sections of the Library have lots of books at the same number - the letters should make the books easier to find.

If you have problems using LIBERTAS and discover that your particular search terms are throwing up thousands of matches, use the Subject Index held at the Enquiry Desk. This is an alphabetical listing of all the subject areas in the Library with their respective Dewey classmarks. By using the Subject Index, you will be able to go straight to the section of the Library where all the books on your topic are held.

If there are books held at other campuses you can reserve them to be sent to Exmouth. Ask a member of staff if you are not sure how to do this.

If you do find relevant books, try looking in their bibliographies for other relevant sources of information.

Search the journals indexing and abstracting services

Even if you have found a lot of useful information in books it is worth finding out what is available in the journals. We subscribe to a number of indexes and abstracts to journals (see the hand-out on searching for journal articles in your pack).

Finding the journal articles

Once you have done your search and saved it or printed it out you need to track down the actual journal articles. There are three ways of checking if any of the four libraries in the University of Plymouth hold the journals and details of holdings -

Search on LIBERTAS using Journal Keyword or Title.
Consult the Exmouth Campus Library Journals List.
Consult the list of Journals held in the University Library.

If a journal is held at the Exmouth campus it will be filed with the back runs of the journals. Ask the member of staff at the Enquiry Desk for help if you cannot find a particular issue.

If a journal is held at another campus within the University of Plymouth go to the Enquiry Desk and ask for an Inter-site Photocopy Form.

Newspapers

We keep paper copies of The Times, Guardian, Observer, Independent and Western Morning News for one term and we have The Times on CD-ROM. There is also access to The Times, The Sunday Times and the Guardian from 1990 to date and the Observer from 1994 to date via any networked PC within the University. Please see the leaflet in this pack on how to find newspaper articles in The Times and Guardian for details. Ask at the Enquiry Desk for more information about using the CD-ROMs.

Theses, dissertations and research reports

We keep various sources for tracing research. These can be found in the Quick reference area of the Library:

British Education Theses Index (BETI) 1950 - Microfiche at QR 370.7 BRI

Current Research in Britain - Quick Reference at QR 016.3 BRI

Please see the leaflet in this pack entitled Theses, dissertations and research reports for details.

Official publications and statistics

Official publications and statistics are a source of vital information on educational policy. The history of education can be traced through a sequence of educational reports, acts and debates. Please see the leaflet in this pack entitled Official publications for details.

Internet

You may find useful information on the Internet. Please see your course handbook for useful Internet addresses.

Are you having problems finding information?

If you have gone through all of the stages above and are still not finding what you need, it is time to stop and take stock. Perhaps you need to go back and try another approach. Are there other keywords you can use? Talk to a Subject Librarian or tutor or to the member of staff at the Enquiry Desk. They will know of other sources you can check or may be able to suggest a different way of approaching the subject.