Research Skills   Tags: articles, assignments, books, catalog, connectivity, databases, evaluating, references, research, skills, www  

Sometimes when you look at your reading list or assignment, it's hard to work out whether the reference is to a book, a chapter in a book, a journal article, a paper from a conference or a World Wide Web document.

This libguide will help you to spot the differences between types of references. This is important to know before you start trying to find them in libraries.

Books

Most reading lists you will receive include references to books that are key texts.

Here are some references to books. The part of the reference that tells you it is a book is the publisher and the place of publication.

Warner, D. 2006, Countdown: the wonder years 1977-1987, ABC Books , Sydney.

Watson, J (ed) 2006, Golden arches east: McDonalds in East Asia, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Dictionary of earth sciences, 2003, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Chapters in books

Some books are made up of a collection of chapters or articles, each written by a different author, and usually with an editor. Your reference list may specifically mention the author of a particular chapter of a book (so that you read the right part of the book!)

These are references to chapters in a book. The part of the reference that tells you it is a chapter or part of a book is the word in, followed by the editors and title of the whole book. Like references to books, they also have a publisher and place.

Krebs, L. and G.Wall. 2006, 'Marketing tourism online'', in B. Prideaux, G. Moscardo and E. Laws (eds.), Managing tourism and hospitality services: theory and international applications, CABI International, Wallingford, pp. 104-114.

Tinker, Hugh. 1967, 'Is there an Indian nation?' in P.Mason (ed.), India and Ceylon: Unity and Diversity: a Symposium. Oxford Univ. Pr., London, pp. 260-296.

Journal articles

Reading lists are likely to have references to journal articles. This is because journal articles are more up-to-date and relevant to current issues than books which take more time to be published. Academic journals are also extremely important because they publish the results of current research on very specialized topics.

These are references to journal articles. The part of the reference that tells you it is a journal article is the volume number, the issue number or month and the page numbers.

Nolan, R. 2006, 'Survivor's guide to cafeteria catastrophe!', School Foodservice & Nutrition, vol. 60, no. 11, pp. 36-41.

Coghlan, A. 2006, 'Whales get emotional', NewScientist, vol. 192, no.2580, pp. 6-7 .

Dewhirst, C. 1986, 'Hot air over the Himalayas', World Geographic, vol. 1, Oct.- Dec., pp. 44-55.

Also notice that there is no publisher or place of publication in journal references.

Papers from conferences

Your reading list may have a reference to a paper presented at a conference or seminar, or to the complete published papers of a conference or seminar. These are generally known as conference proceedings.

These are references to conference proceedings. The part of the reference that tells you it is a conference proceeding are the words Proceedings ... , Conference ... or Papers from ...; the name of the conference and the organisation involved.

Bogduk, N. 1997, 'Musculoskeletal pain: toward precision diagnosis'. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Pain, International Association for the Study of Pain, Seattle, pp 507-25 .

Soils '94: proceedings of the third triennial Western Australian Soil Science Conference, Broadwater Resort, Busselton, W.A. 1994, Australian Society of Soil Science, WA Branch, Wembley, W.A.

World Wide Web documents

Increasingly the World Wide Web (WWW) is used to publish academic information and you may find that on your list there are references to documents on the Web.

These are references to WWW documents and sites. The part of the reference that tells you it is a WWW document or site is the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). These references may also contain the word Retrieved and the date that it was last read online.

Digital Library Initiatives >> Next-Gen Libraries Retrieved August 14, 2007, from http://campustechnology.com/articles/40710/

Structural Biology Breakthrough -  2006, Retrieved August 14, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070430181143.htm

Writing Like You Mean It!

The Writing Center, located in Olin Library, Room 204, can help at all stages of the writing process--prewriting, drafting, revising and polishing. Students should bring a copy of the class assignment with them to the center.

HOURS
Afternoons:
1-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Evenings:
7-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday
7-10 p.m. Sunday

Students who need to make an appointment outside our regularly scheduled hours may call The Writing Center at ext. 7224 or Peter Meidlinger at ext. 6928. We encourage students from all disciplines to make use of our services. While we often help students edit a nearly completed essay, we can also help those having trouble interpreting an assignment or getting started--students should feel free to come to The Writing Center even before they have written anything. Tutors are available during the scheduled hours mentioned above (special appointments can be arranged).

Related Links:
Writing Like You Mean It: A Brief Handbook for College Writers
The Writing Center Website
About the Writing Major

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