Lecture Notes

chris.graham@leeds-art.ac.uk
@LibraryArtLeeds

- Focus
- Relevance

If you have a well defined title, you will be able to research relevant topics for your title.
Don't waffle with your title, be specific.

When you start off, visualise the title (spider diagram) to gain a better idea of what you need to research into. You don't want your spider diagram to be cluttered, as this will form an essay that isn't as relevant and focused as if you focus on a fewer amount of areas to research.

Example:
'What role does the graphic designer play in the modern music industry?'

Primary Research
Gathering your own original data

Secondary Research (scholarship)
Reading up on the subject, making use of the research and findings of others for corroboration, disagreement, triangulation (two disagreeing sources - look for a third that brings them together to come to a conclusion), theoretical underpinning etc.

Research Methods
- Visual practice, experiment, interest and enquiry (research and critical diaries)
- Questionnaires (qualitative - opinions, ideas, paragraph answers / quantitative - statistical)
Produce a draft questionnaire first to give out to a few people, then make changes for the final.
- Interviews
- Case Study (go in-depth into a particular case to draw wider conclusions)
- Site visits
- Literature search

Literature Search 1
- Books (academic sources)
- Journals / magazines (academic journals are smaller in size and mainly textual)
- Websites / blogs / on-line forums
- Videos / DVDs
- CDs / Tape Cassettes / Vinyl Recordings
- TV / Radio
- Newspapers / Maps / Reports
- Printed Ephemera (items that are printed and not meant to be kept, for example flyers, posters, wrappers, etc)

Literature Search 2
- Knowing where to look most effectively
- Effective use of catalogues
   - Narrowing and broadening search terms
   - Using related terms
   - Browsing using Dewey Decimal Classification (numbering system - browse books around that number for related books)
- Use of contents page and index (this will make sure that the book is relevant)
- Reading the introduction or abstract (the introduction will always be a summary of the rest of the book)
- Using a book's own bibliography to inform further reading

Book Search
- Leeds College of Art Library
http://library.leeds-art.ac.uk

- Leeds Metropolitan University Library
www.leedsmet.ac.uk/lis

- University of Leeds (SCONUL)
Apply for a SCONUL card in the library, and this will entitle you to go to other university libraries.
www.leeds.ac.uk/library

- The British Library in Boston Spa
www.bl.uk

- COPAC (combined catalogue of all the universities in the UK)
http://copac.ac.uk

Journal Search 1
InfoTrac
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itwed/leedscad
- A store of online magazine articles
- If at college, click the "proceed" button
- If at home, you may need to type in a password: tryinfomarks

JSTOR
http://www.jstor.org/
- A store of online magazine articles
- Unfortunately, only available on college computers

Art Full Text
http://portal.leeds-art.ac.uk/
- Journal index and some full text articles available

Internet Search 1
Athens
http://www.athens.ac.uk
- A store of password protected sites
- Each student who wishes to access this site will need to ask the Librarian for the login and password

WGSN
www.wgsn.com
- A database of fashion information and trends
- Log in : leedscollege
Password on slideshow on e-studio

Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.co.uk
- Some full text PDF articles available

Library E-Studio
HE Library and Learning Resources
- Links to Harvard Referencing
- Links to writing a bibliography

Two Tips
- Don't bite off more than you can chew (keep the topic and title focused and manageable)
- Create a sense of momentum (note taking, writing a draft section when you can, keeping your bibliography up to date)