Context of Practise 3: Dissertation or Extended Written Piece Library Research

Thursday 1st May 2014
"Dissertation or Extended Written Piece: Library Research"
Chris Graham

Main Keywords: Focus and Relevance

Titles:

Having a well defined title that is focused will allow for relevant information and research.

eg. The role of costume within the film 'A Taste of Honey'- a very focused and clearly defined title which can be narrowed down with relevant research

eg. 'Did western society ever need cars; are they a necessity and have they ever contributed to the formation of the urban environment'- very waffly and woolly. not particular or specific.

eg. 'Documentary photography: does it ever truthfully represent reality?'- interesting line of research

eg. 'What roles does the graphic designer play in the modern music industry?'- interesting historical influence compared to these days

What kind of research do I need to do?
- visualise your title
- maybe compare between other things / aspects of the area of interest
- what areas you could cover within the essay
- keep it specific so that you can be really concentrated on a few areas rather than a lot of things that you are shallow with

Primary and Secondary Research:

Primary- gathering your own data

Secondary (Scholarship)- reading on the subject, making use of the research and finding of others for corroboration, disagreements, triangulation, theoretical underpinning, ect.

Great to engage within a debate in the essay so find people who go against your augment so that you can include them within.

Research methods:

Visual practise, experiment, interest and enquiry (research and critical diaries)

Questionnaires (qualitative/quantitative)- do a pilot one first to decide on questions before settling on it

Interviews- let them have a copy of the questions beforehand so that they can prepare

Case Study- an in-depth study about a particular instance

Site Visit- Going to the place that you are discussing to find own research

Literary Search:

Books- Critical books tend to be A5 in size

Journals

Websites/ Blogs/ On-line forums- Google Scholar

Videos/ DVDs- additional DVD extras with interviews

CDs/ Tape Cassettes/ Vinyl Recordings

TV/ Radio- Documentaries

Newspapers/ Maps/ Reports

Printed Ephemera- Flyer/ Event Poster/

When you can't find anything for your search:

- Knowing where to look most effectively- Leeds Met and Leeds Uni library?

-Effective use of Catalogues- Narrowing and Broadening search, Related Terms, Dewey Decimal Classification

- Use of Contents Page and Index before you get a book out

- Reading the introduction or abstract

- Using a books own bibliography to inform further reading

Book Search:

- College Library, Leeds Met Library and Leeds Uni Library (SCONUL card)

- The British Library in Boston Spa

- COPAC- All University Combined Book Catalogues

Journal Search:

- Info Trac- a store of online magazine articles, at home the password for use is:tryinfomarks

- JSTOR- a store of online magazine articles only available on the college computers

- Art Full Text- Journal Index and some full text articles available

Online Books:

- Athens- a store of password protected sites. Each student who wishes to access this site will need to ask the library for login and password

- WGSN- A database of fashion information and trends

- Google Scholar- Full text PDF articles available

eStudio- Harvard Referencing Guide on the Library Resource section

Tips:

Don't bite off more than you can chew by keeping the topic and title focused

Create a sense of momentum (write notes, draft sections and keep your bibliography up to date)