Study

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?

Make writing work for you

You might not think it, but you write differently, dependent on what tools you use.

Our brains engage on different levels when typing compared with when we use pen and paper.

But what other factors change the way your brain tackles the creative process?

1. Location

Be it in your room, in the library, on the steps of a large building, at a mate’s house…wherever you are, your emotions are altered based on your surrounding.

In turn, your writing takes on a different life.

The next time you can’t get the words out, your creativity will burst through when you just change where you are. Just pick up your stuff and take it somewhere else.

Better still, take it somewhere new. See how the unknown surroundings open your thoughts up to places you didn’t know existed.

2. Format of the paper/screen

Paper comes in various types, suited to all sorts of situations. Plain paper, lined paper, squared paper, notation paper, and so on.

Standard lined paper may restrict the way in which you work. Why not buy a plain moleskin notebook and let the perfectly empty canvas take you to the heart of your creativity?

3. Shape and size of medium

Are you an A4 fiend, or an A1 wonder? Do you open the word processor window in fullscreen, or do you keep half the screen real estate available to other applications?

The physical appearance of what you use to write with can also lead to different actions within the creative process.

An enormous sheet of blank paper may be screaming out to some people as a challenge to be covered, while others will see an ever bigger piece of paper as an ever shrinking confined space.

4. Time of day/Weather

Most of us know that we react better at certain points in the day. However, we also take cues from the state of the atmosphere.

When the sun is out and there’s peace all around, you may fare far better with a sunny disposition.

Alternatively, the sun may be a distraction for having fun, so your prime writing time may be on a dull day when nobody wants to leave their room.

It all depends on personal preference.

Of course, we can’t control the weather, but it’s worth getting an understanding of what influences you.

—

The act of writing is more than a simple set of processes that you either have or don’t have. You have the power to form a state in which the writing comes easily.

Before you work on inspiration, you have to find the right surroundings and tools to be inspired…

Understand what you don’t know in one easy step

Whatever point you are with a module, from months away until starting to halfway through the work, you have the power to dictate where you’re going and telling yourself what you don’t yet know.

So much study is based on being told what to learn and looking back to what you already know. As soon as you stop being shown the signposts, you’re running without direction. A dedicated student should have no trouble putting that right and setting up their own signposts.

All you need to do is to write down what you don’t yet have a grasp of. Explore the places that you haven’t yet explored.

It’s easier than it sounds. When you’re faced with anything like a specific topic, subject, module, text, assignment, or similar, you already have a starting point with which to work. You can see the basis of what’s needed, but you need to fill in the gaps. Once the gaps are filled in, it’s so much easier to then learn and research all that you need.

And the one step to take you there is this:

Ask questions

This is the most important aspect of uncovering all the elements you need to learn. Far from being a passenger, you’re the one in the driving seat. Ask what you need to find out about before you can excel. The mind is good at going blank when it craves answers, but we’re ever so good at asking questions. Make the most of it and ask away.

Get these questions down on paper. Make it visual, add some colour, let this process of exploration lead you further into questioning, not nearer to answering. It’s a contradiction, but by not getting nearer to answering, you’re developing a stronger position to do exactly that.

Here are just some of the many questions you can ask:

How do the topics fit together?
What do I need to research further?
Do some topics seem important than others? Why?
Who are the most important figures to discuss and refer to?
How much is known by scholars in the field?
Where could I look to expand my knowledge on this subject?
What are my initial impressions of this topic/assignment?
Are there any well-known arguments that will help or hinder my work?
Is the information likely to change over time, is it just historical, or is the matter widely contested?
Who is in the best position to help uncover what else I need to know?
What ground have I already covered?
Could my prior knowledge of generally unrelated subjects help in any way here?

It doesn’t matter whether you know a lot, or just a little. Without questions, you don’t have any solid basis for answers.

Whatever you don’t yet know, let the process of uncovering and understanding these new findings be a relaxed one. It’s pointless to feel overwhelmed with the belief that you don’t know enough. Instead, congratulate yourself for having so much interest and so many questions ready to answer.

That is the difference between simply being in the dark and actually walking toward the light. You’re walking when you let the questions guide you to greater understanding. So get walking.

: Photo by mdezemery

You can find more photos by mdezemery at http://mdezemery.zenfolio.com/

Trust your gut

Yesterday’s post was an exercise in minimalist thinking to achieve maximum advantage. Today’s post continues with that approach. It’s time to go on your gut instincts!

Each day rests on a series of choices. Do you make choices quickly, or are you more inclined to carefully weigh up the pros and cons of each situation?

If you prefer to rely on your gut instinct, your results are not only instant, but also likely to form a great conclusion, despite the relative lack of work.

It doesn’t sound fair to those who meticulously consider every move they make. But there is truth in it.

To trust your gut is a sign of confidence. The further you go before making a decision or committing to your work, the more you are questioning your current beliefs, judgements, opinions, and research.

When I begin anything, I like to note down all my current thoughts and ideas that are rattling around. Sometimes the ideas get written down as complete nonsense, but that nonsense is also often surrounded by details that I wouldn’t have considered if I’d not spent 10 minutes on a brain dump like this.

For one module, I was asked to write an essay on a pretty uninspiring topic. But before I spent any time worrying about that, I spent a short time making notes on what might inspire me.

Among those instinctive thoughts was a barely related idea that stemmed from an entirely different course module. I wouldn’t have even brought the two things together in ordinary terms. But to see it written down within my brain dump, I found inspiration to start writing in a way that was sure to be both strong and unique.

When my finished essay was marked, it gained a First. I maintain that this was entirely down to going on my gut instinct, just moments after having been given the assignment.

Here is why it’s so important to trust your gut instincts:

It allows unconscious thoughts out.
We all have these unconscious thoughts. That’s why it’s crucial to listen to them. As soon as we pay conscious consideration to what we think, it’s enough to send more curveball ideas and seemingly unrelated possibilities our of our head and into the dustbin.
Opinions differ at the outset of a project, halfway through it and at the end too. Each day is filled with new developments, so we’re easily swayed on most things, even if we don’t notice. The only way to know where we stand from the outset is to let them out right away.
There hasn’t been the time to question what’s going on, so we present ourselves with raw, unprocessed thoughts. These can often produce the best starting points to spring from.
Instinctive thoughts are emotive. For many, this is seen as a negative force against good reason and judgement. But evolutionary psychologist David M. Buss argues, “Emotions such as jealousy and anger, rather than reducing rationality, may embody inherited ancestral wisdom”.

After taking stock of instant reactions, it’s a lot easier to manage further research and output. It makes no difference, even if you end up backing away from all your instinctive proposals.

When has your gut reaction worked for you?

TheUniversityBlog

Life shouldn't stop when you study. Be the student you deserve to be.