However, I can give you some additional suggestions. Check
the keywords on relevant articles that you find – and use those for additional
searches. Check the references on all relevant articles and look for ones that
you may not be aware of yet. Look at those articles' references and keywords.
Think of it as being a detective- you are searching for that elusive clue!
Try searching without "full text" turned on – you
may pull up articles that you have not seen before. You can request up to 20
articles (total at Walden) from the library's document delivery service – see
the library home page for info on this.
Keep track in your research notebook (see April 22 post for
info on this) all the searches you conduct, the database used, and the keywords
used. You will need this info in c. 2; it also cuts down on the time for future
searches.
There are a number of special features in the Walden library
that I want to mention, that can help your search. When you have found an
abstract that appears relevant, look to the left of it and you will see a green
box labeled: "Find Similar Results using SmartText Searching." It is
worth checking this to see if it gives you any help. Another resource is to
look right above the green box at "Times cited in this database."
This shows you every article that cited the one you are looking at. Often they
will be related in topic.
Also a hint, if you find a reference you want to use – look
at the right side of the screen and click "Cite." It will provide the
full reference in APA format, this can be copied into your reference section.
Finally, if you are having a great deal of difficulty
finding literature, contact the librarian. They are able to come up with many
ideas for keywords and search terms that you have probably not considered.
Next time, we will take a look at who is impressed with your
dissertation at Walden. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like
me to discuss in a future post? Send me an email with your ideas.
leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
Suggestion of opening an account with password in the library to save searches if you do not have time at that moment to go through them. Also provides proof of keywords used, databases searched, etc.
ReplyDeleteJudi
In doing my dissertation research, I am coming across many papers to which I do not have access (via Google Scholar). These do not appear to be databases to which Walden is subscribed. How do I deal with these? Ignoring them does not seem like the right approach, yet I cannot spend $30 per article.
ReplyDeleteBo, this is an instance when you can use Walden's document delivery service. You are allowed 20 of these types of articles for free, the librarians will track them down for you.
DeleteThat is good to know. I found the details at http://library.waldenu.edu/745.htm . I looks as if they increased the limit to 30 articles for a lifetime with a limit of 10 per month. In your opinion, Dr. Stadtlander, should students have to use this service for the dissertation or should the Walden subscriptions be adequate?
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