The Library has lots of useful resources that can help you with your dissertation or Honours’ Project.

Planning your search strategy

We have a range of books that can help you get started with your literature review and with your dissertation or project more generally (for example here, here and here).  Additionally our online training package SMILE has lots of tips that will improve the quality of your research.

Searching for information

If you’re not sure where to begin looking for information Discover, our library search engine, is a great tool for testing your search keywords and getting a general picture of what’s available on your topic. We’ve created some helpful videos that will get you started with Discover.

Going deeper, your subject guide will help you locate key sources of information for your subject, including databases for finding journal articles as well as useful websites and guidance on finding and using images and statistics. If you need information about companies or particular countries we have guides for those too.

Managing your references

We have guidance on the different forms of referencing used across the University. If you’re not sure which system you should be using, check your module handbook or speak with your supervisor. We also support RefWorks, an online reference management tool that allows you to export references directly from Discover and most of our databases, helping you to keep track of your references and to create a correctly formatted bibliography.

Finally…

…and perhaps most importantly, you can talk to your Academic Librarian. Your Librarian can help you to create an effective search, to identify appropriate search tools, to assess and evaluate your search results and to manage your references. Librarians are available Monday to Friday, 11am – 3pm at drop-in sessions for quick questions or by appointment for more in depth enquiries.