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Author archive for: Diane Bell

February 13, 2020
Diane Bell
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Finding opportunities to publish an article

Posted in Journals, Publishing, and Research

We are sometimes asked by students about the possibility of publishing an article based on their dissertation or thesis for example.

One way of seeking out opportunities is to subscribe to JISCMail  mailing lists for your area of interest and look out for invitations such as a Call for papers or book chapters or content for crowdsourced books. In Library and Information Science there are quite a few mailing lists depending on your interests such as LIS-LINK, LIS-INFOLITERACY, LIS-RESEARCHSUPPORT.

In some cases, there might be a special edition of a journal being published and edited by guest editors which correlates with your area of interest. If this is a close match then it might be worth submitting an abstract to see if the guest editors will commission you to write an article for the special edition.  Similarly, it is worth following academics, researchers, peers and publishers on Twitter to see if there are similar opportunities. I would also say that you have nothing to lose by seeking out an opportunity and submitting an abstract and being resilient as feedback you obtain might help you be successful next time.

You might wish to ask your supervisor or lecturers where they have published before and which journals match your particular discipline(s). Journal homepages usually provide information about the scope of the journal and the types of articles it accepts (eg. research articles, review articles…).  It might also indicate the members of the editorial board and provide submission guidelines.

It is also possible to research journals in terms of their impact and how highly cited they are, see information in our Research impact guide.  This might also help you to choose some journal titles that match your research discipline. Also if you read articles from certain journals and cite them in your work, this might indicate that the journal is a good match for your content.

Publishers often provide information on choosing a suitable journal, for example Taylor and Francis

Some publishers also have a journal finder or selector, for example SAGE

It is also worth checking if it is free to publish in a certain journal or if fees are payable (these may be paid by your institution) as this may influence your decision.

Another consideration is the length of time it may take to be published in a peer-reviewed journal and to allow for this and also the fact that you can only submit an article to one journal at a time until a decision on whether to publish it or not has been taken.

I think it is very positive for LIS practitioners to experience being a researcher and to publish their research as this allows them to better understand the processes involved and to share their knowledge first hand with other researchers.

October 1, 2019
Diane Bell
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SAGE Research Methods Online – Videos

Posted in Research Methods, and Sage Research Methods Online

Welcome to all of our new and returning research students at City. We have a great new research resource at CityLibrary called Sage Research Methods Online Videos  It’s easy to access from the library Databases A-Z   which is on the left hand side of the Library website.
It includes hours of video tutorials, interviews and case studies and covers the research lifecyle. The interface is quite clear and professional, there is a search box to search for video content and it is possible to browse by research method, discipline or video type (for example interview, documentary..).

There are lots of  videos of academics discussing specific research questions and parts of the research process, ranging from 1 minute to approx 15 minutes. A strength of the resource is that presenters share their own experiences and insights and top tips for doing research.  To the side of the video, there’s a transcript of everything that the academics say. This can  be really useful for note taking and you can download a PDF of the transcript to read offline.

Here is a list of some videos for starting your research.

July 31, 2019
Diane Bell
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New Jisc Library Hub Discover service

Posted in Jisc, and Library catalogues

The new Jisc Library Hub Discover service will allow searching across over 100 academic and specialist library catalogues.

New features include:

  • An improved interface providing a better user experience.
  • A single search box that allows keyword searching as well as the ability to generate complex search queries. Details are given in the Search Help
  • An advanced search providing detailed options for defining a search, including searching for maps
  • Faster response times.
  • A wider range of contributing libraries, with more UK university contributors.

You can search for theses for example by using the More search options and typing in a keyword and selecting Document type Theses.

July 5, 2019
Diane Bell
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Designing a poster for the first time

Posted in Conferences, Information literacy, and Posters

I recently attended the Learning at City conference and was offered the opportunity to present a poster.  This was the first time that I have produced a poster so thought I would share some tips. I found it enjoyable, a opportunity to be creative, a talking point and delegates at the conference asked interesting questions such as “What is information literacy and how do you teach it?”

  • Use the opportunity to develop your creativity.
  • If the poster is based on an abstract, remain true to this.
  • Don’t reinvent the wheel. Look for an organisational template or an existing poster to adapt with permission.
  • Make it clear, well structured and not too content heavy.
  • I initally drafted the content using Adobe Pro editing tools. It was then edited in MS Publisher.
  • Seek out colleagues to assist with design expertise as required.
  • The content is similar to a presentation and probably takes as much thought but is possibly more concise and visual.
  • Ask a colleague to proof read and check the resolution of the poster especially if it is being professionally printed.
  • Love your poster and allow it to tell the story of your research.

Poster – Increasing student confidence through information literacy

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 6, 2019
Diane Bell
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Read for Research scheme at CityLibrary

Posted in Patron driven acquisition, and Read for Research

Since 2013, we have been offering a patron driven acquisition scheme called Read for Research based on the research interests of our research students, early career researchers and staff doing research at CityLibrary.

  • So far we have purchased 1700 print books and 260 e-books through the scheme.
  • Very popular across disciplines in the University. The most borrowed books are on general PhD writing and different research methods such as grounded theory. For those interested in exploring research methods further, we also have access to Sage Research Methods Online.
  • A reading list of titles is being compiled which indicates the breadth of research done at City.
  • A visual display of titles  can be found on our Research guide.
  • See our #readforresearch and @Citylibresearch on Twitter and see feedback from our research students on their choice of titles and on Read for Research. Feedback includes : “Highly recommend – have ordered loads of fantastic books!” “I requested a book through your fantastic Read for Research scheme.  The book has now arrived in the library. Thank you for this” “Big thanks to @CityUniLibrary #readforresearch scheme, which has helped keep my reading up to date”.
  • The furthest distance travelled by a Read for Research (Law) book is probably a title ordered from Australia.
  • City research students & staff can order titles by simply completing the Read for Research webform and use #readforresearch to discuss their choices.
  • Read for Research was mentioned in a book called Practical tips for facilitating  research  by Moira Bent as an exemplar of good practice.

Looking for research inspiration in the summer? Come and visit our changing Read for Research book displays during June- August 2019 on level 5 of the Northampton Square Library 

April 16, 2019
Diane Bell
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Citing and referencing tools

Posted in Cite Them Right Online, Citing and referencing, Reference management, and RefWorks

A question I am sometimes asked is what is the difference between Cite Them Right, ProQuest Refworks and Cite this in Word (also known as Write N Cite)?

These products have similar names but in reality they have different purposes. My advice would be start with the concepts of citing and referencing and understand these first. These terms are often used together and interchangeably to mean citations included in your academic work to indicate where you have used or quoted other peoples’ ideas or research and a more detailed alphabetical list of these references at the end of your work.

  1. Cite Them Right

At City, we have access to Cite Them Right Online. In the Basics section, it gives an overview of citing and referencing and also plagiarism and other concepts such as summarising and paraphrasing. It also gives useful examples showing different types of sources such as books, journal articles and websites etc and how to cite these in your text and reference list. We also have the book version of Cite Them Right in the library.

  1. ProQuest RefWorks

ProQuest RefWorks is an online reference management software which we subscribe to at City.  It is useful especially if you are doing a longer project or dissertation.

It is used to store, manage, and organise references which are gathered during the research process.

It can be used to assist with the production of reference lists (which it calls Bibliographies) and contains a number of different referencing styles such as Cite Them Right Harvard.

RefWorks YouTube channel.

  1. Cite this in Word (Write N Cite)

This is a tool which can be downloaded on to your computer from the ProQuest RefWorks tools menu and used within Microsoft Word to access your RefWorks references and assist with citing and referencing in your work.  You can add citations for example (Smith, 2014) into your work and create an alphabetical reference list ( which is calls a bibliography) at the end of your text.

Conclusion

I would suggest first understanding the principles of citing and referencing and the format of different references so you either know something looks correct or you know where to look it up (eg. in Cite Them Right). Then you can consider if you would like to use a reference management software (eg. ProQuest RefWorks) and then whether wish to use the Refworks plug-in Cite this in Word (or Write N Cite) to assist with your citing and referencing.

If you do use software to generate your references then always double check everything yourself to make sure it is correct and for that reason having a knowledge of citing and referencing is important.

January 3, 2019
Diane Bell
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Project Euclid

Posted in Databases

 

 

Project Euclid is an online publishing service driven by libraries, publishers and academics in the fields of theoretical and applied mathematics and statistics. It offers access to a growing platform of high-quality, peer-reviewed journals, books and conference proceedings.

New features include:

Improved searching, citation exports, publisher landing pages, mobile optimisation, e-mail alerts, and access indicators for all content.

Content

All users have access to table of contents pages and article abstract pages. Project Euclid has made 70% of its journal articles openly available with over 1.2 million pages of open-access content.

You can browse titles such as the Journal of Applied Mathematics available via CityLibrary’s subscription.

Email alerts and RSS feeds

Users can register to follow publications by receiving an emailed table of contents when a new issue is published. They can also sign up to new issues or articles of any publication in their RSS feeds. There is a list of feeds for books and journals.

Twitter

Follow Project Euclid on Twitter.

December 7, 2018
Diane Bell
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Sunday Times Digital Archive 1822-2006

Posted in Newspapers

The Sunday Times has provided comment and analysis since 1822 both on weekly news and on societal issues in general.  City Library Services subscribes to The Sunday Times Digital Archive  which provides a complete searchable run of the newspaper from 1822 to 2006.

The nineteenth century content has previously not been very accessible and has been largely unexplored but the archive now provides researchers with a large range of social, historic and cultural content and insights.

The twentieth and twenty first century content is well known for its investigative approach to journalism and in-depth and well researched stories.

It is a great resource which is of general interest and is especially useful for humanities and social sciences courses such as History, Journalism, Politics and Cultural Studies.

You can access the Sunday Times Digital Archive directly from the Databases A-Z on the CityLibrary homepage by using your City IT username and password.

See also our Newspaper guide for both current and historic newspaper content.

October 23, 2018
Diane Bell
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Times Higher Education

Posted in Newspapers, and Times Higher

Library Services are delighted to bring you access to the Times Higher Education. This allows you to keep up to date with the latest developments and news in the higher education sector.

All  City staff and students can obtain access to the Times Higher Education via the Library. With our institutional subscription, you can read online articles and digital editions and also download the app to your device.

Follow the instructions below to set up your account. Remember to use your university email address when you register to enjoy all the benefits of our subscription.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read online

  • To set up your Times Higher Education account, go to the magazine’s homepage at www.timeshighereducation.com.
  • Click the person icon in the top right corner.
  • Follow the instructions on screen. Remember to use your university email address when you register.

Access digital editions

  • To access digital editions of Times Higher Education, go to the magazine’s homepage at www.timeshighereducation.com.
  • Click the “Professional” tab, then click “Digital Editions”.
  • Then simply select the issue you want to view.

Download the app

  • The Times Higher Education app is available on iOS, Android and Kindle Fire. Visit your app store provider to download it to your phone.
  • Select the edition you would like to view (e.g. UK or Global).
  • Log in by clicking on the icon in the top right corner.
  • Select Account, then click “Existing THE account”.
  • Enter your username and password.

 

May 25, 2018
Diane Bell
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Research resource of the month: Sage Research Methods Online

Posted in Research Methods

SAGE Research Methods Online is a useful online resource for anyone doing research or learning how to conduct research.

Its coverage spans the full range of research methods used in the social and behavioural sciences, plus a wide range of methods commonly used in science, technology, medicine, and the humanities.

With more than 800 books, reference works, journal articles, and videos from SAGE’s world-renowned research methods list, it provides information on writing a research question, conducting a literature review, choosing a research method, collecting and analyzing data, and writing up the findings.

Some features include:

  • Titles from SAGE’s renowned book, journal, and reference content in Research Methods.
  • The Methods Map visualises relationships among unique methods terms, concepts, and people.
  • Methods Lists can be used to compile selected books, book chapters, and journal articles for later review or to share with colleagues.
  • Videos, cases and podcasts.

See also an introductory video (click the link and scroll to the bottom of the page).

You can access Sage Research Methods Online from CityLibrary Search or from our Databases A-Z.

 

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