This document provides an overview of resources for university studies, including different types of information sources, keywords for effective searching, and how to evaluate sources. It discusses primary, secondary and tertiary sources and gives examples. It also covers using the library search tool, referencing styles, databases like VetMed and PubMed, and getting help from subject librarians. The goal is to help students effectively find and use high-quality sources for their academic work.
6. Assessment – Case scenario presentation
Utilise the key sources on your online reading list as a starting point.
You are expected to find your own sources beyond this reading list by
utilising search databases such as Library search or PubMed. A range
of reliable sources aimed at veterinary professionals should be used –
these include primary research articles in journals as well as review
articles and textbooks.
10. Other types of resources
There are some other resources which are especially important for
students like yourself working in a health profession
11. Official and legal publications
Include legislation and policy documents as well as
summaries of findings in specific subject areas.
Good for…
Providing the statutory basis which underpins
practice in areas such as conduct and ethics.
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Presentation title
12. Clinical Guidelines & Systematic Reviews
Exceptionally influential in medical, nursing and health-care research,
they provide an evidence base for national recommendations for
standards of treatment and care.
Good for…
Informing practice, including decision making about treatment options.
14. Currency
• When was the information published or posted?
• Has the information been revised or updated?
• Does your topic require current information, or will older sources
work as well?
15. Accuracy/Authority
• Is the information supported by evidence (e.g. references,
research data)?
• Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
• Can you verify any of the information in another source or
from personal knowledge?
• Are there spelling, grammar or typographical errors?
• Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
• What are the author's credentials or organisational
affiliations?
• Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
• Is there contact information, such as a publisher or email
address?
• Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source?
examples: .com .edu .gov .org .net
16. Relevancy
• Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Is the information at an appropriate academic level?
• Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is
one you will use?
• Would you be comfortable citing this source in your research paper?
17. Purpose
• What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, teach, sell,
entertain or persuade?
• Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
• Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda?
• Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
• Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or
personal biases?
21. • Keep it simple!
• Experiment with different words and concepts, remember
different spellings and terminology e.g. US v UK
• Truncating to broaden your search Vet* = all words
beginning with VET
• If you have too many items think about using limits e.g.
date? Type of resource? Subject area?, Language
• Try the advanced search options most databases have them
• Change databases – you won’t find everything in one
resource
A few search tips
26. Task
• Try searching for one book and two journal articles related to your topic
(remember to sign in to Library Search)
• Pin each item to your favourites
• Go to your favourites
• Save the reference for each on a word doc. (remember which style to
use)
30. Why we reference
• Demonstrate that you have read widely
• Evidence of your research
• Establish the credibility and authority of your ideas and
arguments
• Reader can locate original material used
• Give credit to the author/creator
• Separate your ideas from the ideas of others
• Highlight and back-up relevant points
• Avoid plagiarism
32. What is referencing?
• There are two parts to a reference: a citation within your writing,
and an entry in your reference list with the full details of the source.
• Citation – Should appear in your text whenever you refer to the ideas
or work of another author
• Reference list – A complete listing of all the books, journal articles,
websites and other sources that you have referred to in your work
33.
34. Cite Them Right
• Check the references you have created against Cite Them Right
41. If you need help….Susannah Parry s.parry@mdx.ac.uk
My Subject – library guide for Veterinary Nursing
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/vetnursing/welcome
Librarians online chat Monday – Friday, 9-5
Notas del editor
Information there is a lot of it about and you need to be able to master it!
Use flip chart and volunteer to write up things said by students
See how many they match to your list
Any new ones?
Assessment – Case scenario presentation
Utilise the key sources on your online reading list as a starting point. You are expected to find your own sources beyond this reading list by utilising search databases such as Library search or PubMed. A range of reliable sources aimed at veterinary professionals should be used – these include primary research articles in journals as well as review articles and textbooks.
Key reading and learning resources
So now that you know a bit about the resources the library has, we are going to think about where can you find information. So for example, if you are given an essay to write, where would you start to look for information? (Let them tell you - Books, Newspaper, online, Journals,).
Good for:
broad/general overview of a subject and background information
Edited for quality and accuracy
Not so good for:
May not be specific enough
Can be out of date, check the edition and publication date
Good for:
Up-to-date
Specialist/focussed
Present latest research
Edited for accuracy/quality (peer reviewed)
Lots of references
Not so good for:
Can be hard to locate/access
Expensive
May be too specific
May be at wrong level
Academic journals – peer reviewed articles – somebody else who is an expert in that field has looked at this article and approved it as having been researched well, important enough to be published in an academic journal for other specialists and other health professionals to read and learn from
Good for:
Latest information
Current events
Concise info
Product news
Often available online with RSS/Twitter etc
Not so good for:
Detail
Objective information ie. can be bias, adverts, preferential products etc
Often hard to find old issues
Back issues/archive
Good for:
Up-to-date
Edited
Readily available (latest copies especially)
Not so good for:
Can be bias
Can be unbalanced
Can be sensationalist
Hard to get hold of/access (back issues)
Broadsheet v tabloid – have they heard these terms
There are loads of different types of information available on the internet, anything from social media and crowd sourced resources such as Wikipedia to organisational or academic sources.
You need to be really critical of information that you find on the Internet and consider the provenance of the information i.e. who created it, when and why?
Good for:
Easy to use/search
All subjects covered
Can be very up-to-date
Mobile
Not so good for:
No editorial control
Unreliable sources
Can be created by anyone
Material can lack provenance
Can be out-of-date
Not everyone has access
Websites are a broad range – the official website of something like the Nursing & Midwifery Council or the British Heart Foundation is very useful
Other websites might have no authority at all as a health resource. Does this organization have an important prescence in the real world, is it trustworthy?
Very important in health areas. Protecting the patients and the professionals.
You are expected to do evidence based work – these are very important for you.
You need to be using trusted professional resources to inform your knowledge and use for your assignments
Keywords are words or phrases that describe content you are searching for
What can you see in the picture…fruit
If type ‘fruit’ intoCan do in groups writing down keywords and after 5-10 mins sharing back to the group OR from the front of the class with flip chart and volunteer to write the keywords as they are called out by the class and discussed
What can you see in the picture…fruit
If type ‘fruit’ into database will get millions of hits, how can you break it down ie. search for something more specific to get more manageable results
Can you be more specific ie.
Type of fruit: apples, oranges, bananas etc
Location: Stall, market, outdoor market, fruit market, Britain
Detail: boxes, signs, astroturf, prices, colour of fruit, lights, pound £ signs, special offer etc
People in background: old, young, male, female > stall holder, customers, browsers etc
Think of related subjects eg.
retail, commercial, financial, point-of-sale
Shopping, shops, fish/meat/clothes market, shopping centres, high street
Town, city, centre, British town
Nutrition: vitamins and minerals
Also: Words with more than one meaning
Orange or Blackberry: fruit NOT telephone
Apple: fruit NOT computer
Thinking beyond the obvious, looking for the detail that might make a difference.
database will get millions of hits, how can you break it down ie. search for something more specific to get more manageable results
Can you be more specific ie.
Type of fruit: apples, oranges, bananas etc
Location: Stall, market, outdoor market, fruit market, Britain
Detail: boxes, signs, astroturf, prices, colour of fruit, lights, pound £ signs, special offer etc
People in background: old, young, male, female > stall holder, customers, browsers etc
Think of related subjects eg.
retail, commercial, financial, point-of-sale
Shopping, shops, fish/meat/clothes market, shopping centres, high street
Town, city, centre, British town
Nutrition: vits and mins
Also: Words with more than one meaning
Orange or Blackberry: fruit NOT telephone
Apple: fruit NOT computer
Thinking beyond the obvious, looking for the detail that might make a difference.
Combine search terms
Use AND to Narrow them
Use OR to broaden them
Use Not to exclude them
VET* = words beginning with VET
NURS* = nurse, nurses, nursing
Accessing resources
Click on MyStudy.
You can now access library resources from the MyLibrary box……detail on next page.
Either get all students to log in individually or buddy up and work in pairs
Log in to library search if you haven’t already
“” = citation
Folded page = Refworks
Pin = Add this item to your saved searches
Help available here on using Library search.
Lots of power point presentations on all aspects of finding information
Referencing is acknowledging other people’s work
It shows a link between what you write and your evidence
Keep a note of all your reference as you go along
Why Reference?
Show your tutor the evidence of your research and thereby appreciate your contribution to the topic
Establish the credibility and authority of your ideas and arguments
Enable the reader to locate the original material you used
Give credit to the original author/creator
Enable the reader to form their own views on the value of your sources and how you have interpreted them
Distinguish between your own ideas and opinions and those of others
Highlight and back-up relevant points by quoting, paraphrasing or summarising from the original text
Achieve a better mark or grade
Avoid plagiarism.
Quoting:
Use when the original wording conveys the idea perfectly
Use author’s exact words
Put “quotation marks” around the author’s words
Refer to the author in text and include book/journal in reference list
Paraphrasing:
Present the author’s ideas in your own words
Still need to refer to the author….the words are yours, but the idea is theirs
Ask students what's the point of referencing
What style do we use - HARVARD
Why Reference?
Show your tutor the evidence of your research and thereby appreciate your contribution to the topic
Establish the credibility and authority of your ideas and arguments
Enable the reader to locate the original material you used
Give credit to the original author/creator
Enable the reader to form their own views on the value of your sources and how you have interpreted them
Distinguish between your own ideas and opinions and those of others
Highlight and back-up relevant points by quoting, paraphrasing or summarising from the original text
Achieve a better mark or grade
Avoid plagiarism.
Quoting:
Use when the original wording conveys the idea perfectly
Use author’s exact words
Put “quotation marks” around the author’s words
Refer to the author in text and include book/journal in reference list
Paraphrasing:
Present the author’s ideas in your own words
Still need to refer to the author….the words are yours, but the idea is theirs
Look at the bottom of the slide under Referencing….
Good Referencing can get you better marks
A reference list is a list of all of the sources you have cited in your work. A bibliography also includes sources that you may have used for background reading but not explicitly referred to in your work.
If you are unsure then make sure you reference it
Covers images and diagrams to
What reference style are you using?
Useful getting started video on the homepage
Covers all aspects of veterinary medicine including nursing
If time get them to use it
