Dissertation

16 ways to uncover the best research and information out there

Yesterday, I ranted talked about the role of Google in obtaining useful information on an academic level. Today, some ideas on going ‘beyond’ Google. Or, if you really do like Google, how to get the most out of it. Let’s sniff out the winning ways:

Photo by BryonRealey

Show positivity in your quest for accurate data and important information – There’s no point in making your search casual. Research is just as important as the coursework itself. In fact, it’s probably more vital, given that you’re meant to back up your claims and sources and reasoning. As a result, take your search seriously and allow a positive attitude while you work.
Make good use of librarians and use their expertise in taking what you need to help in your study – Ask questions and explain what you’re trying to find. You’re not looking for the librarians to give you the answers to life, you’re looking for them to point you in the right direction. A good librarian can help uncover amazing resources that you can then use to your full advantage.
Use your own initiative too! – Librarians can help you out, but I bet you could surprise yourself with how much you could unearth yourself. Actively pursue what’s available at your institution and beyond. The more you consider for yourself, the more focused your questions will be when you do need to ask others for guidance.
Discover books outside the library (and still borrow them) – Searching the library catalogue in isolation may not uncover all the books available to help your study. Go beyond the library catalogue…use COPAC, check the British Library catalogues, browse your subject and specific keywords on Amazon. And when you find the books that sound useful, borrow them through the inter-library loans system. All libraries have a slightly different way of dealing with inter-library loans, so ask how your system works.
Use a multiude of resources – That is to say, exploit the Internet and libraries to the full. Most libraries subscribe to a number of journals and collaborative sites that will keep you knee-deep in the latest word on what you study. Citing the latest papers in your field (so long as they’re relevant!) will help show you know your stuff.
Public libraries hold additional benefits – Don’t ignore public libraries just because your institutional libraries hold so many goodies. One benefit of a local library is that they subscribe to various online services too, giving you free access to useful databases, encyclopedias, business stats, and so on. If you’re living away from the family home, sign up with the library where you’re now staying. Then you’ll be able to use the resources from two different library areas, because they do all differ slightly.
Use subject portals – If Google really does impress you that much on search, use it to find ‘portals’ on the broad topics you’re studying. But if you can bear to go beyond your own attempts at search, check your library website (or ask a librarian) for their online list of handpicked websites that cater to your specialist subject. The less work you have to do finding the sources of information, the more time you get to read through the information itself.
Use Search Operators – Sticking with Google again, when you want to make sure you’re getting worthwhile results, you need to make sure your query is damn good. Google Guide can help you along the way with references on search operators like this and this.
Improve your Google search with date-related articles – If you want only the latest information, or if you’re researching something that hadn’t happened longer than a fortnight ago, Google cannot help with just a standard search. However, if you add &as_qdr=d to the end of the web address when you make your search, Google adds a little dropdown menu after the search term, allowing you to find results from the last 24 hours, week, month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, or year. As an example, check the difference between a standard search for ‘university’ and a search for ‘university’ in only the past week.
Check other search engines – Maybe search is the way you like to work. Google is just one of many search tools. For other ways of researching the Internet, check out the alternative search engines out there. They all have unique benefits and may be just what you’re looking for to bring the quality of your Web search forward.
Check forums, news sources, online journals and anything that carries up to date research and information – Not all pages get indexed by Google, even if Google points to their main homepage. And when Google does index it, that doesn’t mean it’s updated straight away. Get bookmarking!
Make the most of RSS feeds – Save time and bring the information straight to you. If you aren’t using a feed reader, or you don’t know what RSS is, check out the following links to discover the magic…Road 2 Graduation (What is RSS?) / Angela Maiers (The Power of RSS Feeds) / Mashable! (RSS & Giving Away Music) / Internet Duct Tape (Really Simple Syndication) / Pelf-ism (Step-by-step to RSS) / Problogger (What is RSS?) / Back in Skinny Jeans (How to explain RSS the Oprah way)
Don’t rely on a single source for an ‘answer’ – Whether it’s a reference book or a trusted website, they don’t always get their facts 100% right. If you want to be sure, use a number of resources. That’s pretty much the point of this whole post.
Remember your own reference books – You have set texts and reading lists for a reason. Hopefully your bookshelf has at least a few books. The detail may be easily accessible within the pages of these books. See what you can find here first, because it might help you save time looking elsewhere.
Don’t give up – Academic research is not meant to be easy. Sometimes you have to work hard to uncover the best references. You won’t find what you want in a single 30 minute session. It just isn’t going to happen.
Your resources are tools, not answers – Reference, information, data…it’s all out there to help you create the best work and achieve the most in your study. Treat your sources as tools to do the job and you’ll be less likely to think you’re ‘missing’ the solution. The solution comes with your skill in using the tools. From that point, it just needs to be set out on the page.

Do you have any solid ways of uncovering the information you need? Are you a winner when it comes to research? Where do you generally find your best information?

How not to go over your word limit

Recently, I wrote about beating writer’s block and taking control of your Internal Editor.

But some of us don’t have that problem. At times, writing takes place effortlessly. Before you know it, you’re hundreds – if not thousands – of words over your word limit.

Word limits are there for a reason. If 1,500 words are required for an essay, it will be marked down if you submit double that.

Inability to edit an essay is just as dangerous as a writer’s block. It’s when your Internal Editor has gone on holiday, or when you’ve told him to sod off completely. Bad move. Get the Editor back, sharpish. If the essay has gone way over the word limit and you don’t think you can cut anything out of the essay, you’re wrong. Plain and simple.

Here are a few ways you can claw things back:

(more…)

11 ways to take control of your Internal Editor

Our thoughts are fluid and continuous, but essay style is perceived as a particular state that should generally be adhered to. In writing, you have to ignore the rules to get the best results. Once you’ve coaxed the words out of your head and experienced all sorts of crazy comments, only then should you craft what you’ve got into the strict essay style.

We all have an Internal Editor inside our head. The Editor doesn’t like what we write. And we don’t like it when our work is criticised.

That’s why writing can be so difficult. All the jarring moments where a word won’t fit; time spent searching for a word that’s on the tip of your tongue and just won’t come out; worrying that you haven’t explained yourself properly.

The Internal Editor has the cheek to pick you up on these findings straight away. How would you feel if someone was stood behind you, tutting or laughing each time they disapproved of your work? The Internal Editor does that. It’s your job to ignore the tuts and laughs until the Editor stops bothering you.

You have many ways of doing this. The most direct way is ‘JUST WRITE’. But the Editor likes to play on your confidence too, so you need to find other ways of working before this can work at the click of your fingers.

So before fitting all the words in your essay together, it’s essential to work in varying ways to find how you handle your work best. Try these suggestions:

List important points and keywords that you want to focus on. Already, it’ll give you some platforms to begin from.
Write in a stream of consciousness. Let it take you all over the place. Don’t stop and think about it, just let your mind create all sorts of weird and wonderful associations about the essay.
Have a conversation. Imagine you’re talking to someone else and write the conversation up. You could be speaking to your lecturer, to one of the main people your essay is about, to a critic whose work you agree with. What do they think? What opinions do you think they would have about the question(s) you’re trying to answer?
Begin with concluding remarks. If you already have an opinion, get that written down first. Then you can work backwards and look to support your belief/hypothesis/plan.
Attempt an Abstract. How would you sum up your work in a couple of paragraphs if it was already finished?
Don’t just type into a word processor. Use a pen and paper, write on an e-mail screen, write it in Facebook, go from A4 pad to post-it notes. Everything concentrates your mind in a different way.
Create a mind map. Visualise the topics, the line of questioning, the key arguments, the facts, the things other academics have thought about it. Branch off until you have all sorts of avenues you can explore further.
Find quotes that interest you on the subject and work around them. Get your inspiration from others!
Make a short plan of themes in your essay (e.g. introduction, study of words, criticism of structure, analysis of other theories, back stories, further arguments toward your ideas/opinions, conclusion). A structure is a clear indication of what you want to write, even if it isn’t the essay itself. Structures are far less intimidating than staring at a blank page.
Initially treat the essay as notes. If you’re better at noting down information, treat your first drafts as an exercise in note-taking. Your internal editor probably doesn’t disturb you so much when you’re writing notes from a book or a lecture…
Don’t think about word count, don’t think about quality, don’t think about punctuation, don’t think about ANYTHING! As I said above, the most direct Writing Block is to just write and see where it takes you. The editing comes after the writing, not before and not during.

In time, the Internal Editor will discover you’re not going to listen to their complaints until the moment you ask to hear them. That’s when you’re in control and your Internal Editor is working for you; not the other way around.

Good luck shutting the voice up!

Brilliant Beginnings, Marvellous Middles, Excellent Endings

When a piece of work presents itself to you, what are your reactions throughout the creative process? Unless you’re a consistent master, at least one of these problems will have cropped up along the way:

You just can’t start on it. You just dwell on it and ignore it for days;
You begin enthusiastically, you reach your conclusions convincingly, yet the bulk in between those two posts feels like a drag;
You get the majority out of the work out the way, but never fully close the door on it. The end never comes.

Let’s take each point individually and go through five ways you can improve each section:

Finding a brilliant beginning

1. Stop worrying about it – The more you build up starting, the worse it’ll feel. In no time, you scare yourself into never wanting to look at another piece of work again. Your fears just get in the way of progress. The more you deal with getting the work started, the easier it will be to crack on with the rest of the project.

2. Just start! – No matter how little you’ve planned, and regardless of how little you think you know, just start writing. At this stage, you don’t need to be convincing and you don’t need to treat the work like a final draft. Even if you discard 90% of what you write later, that 10% you keep could be where all the drive and magic comes from.