Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ESSAYS
REPORTS
• Academic essays are ‘research papers’ – critical
discussions about a topic presenting arguments • An account of an investigation into a
and drawing conclusions from the evidence. particular problem
What do the ‘experts’ say? OR
What do I think, based upon what I’ve read?
• A proposal to undertake a piece of
• You survey the field of knowledge to find the best
possible information in that field. You then research
present your own interpretation, evaluation or OR
arguments based on what you find.
• A case for a particular course of
So you MUST always cite the source of the idea or action e.g. new product or strategy
information you present
1
HOW YOU ARE MARKED: EXAMPLE from SAMPLE ESSAY
CONTENT(2) By contrast, there is a minority who argue that the new LIS
models simply represent acquiescence in the face of financial
restraint. Ratcliffe (in Roberts, 1992, p.170) states that the
• ‘Evaluating and synthesis of evidence’ innovators are operating under :
- Selecting and discussing only what is significant "...the delusion that librarianship has undergone a fundamental change,
- Making sense of writers’ different views instead of recognising merely that libraries have benefited from new
techniques in retrieving information."
• ‘Critical analysis’ There seems to be something of the ostrich with its head in the
sand about this view. The changes are significant and can and
– Challenging and questioning writers’ views do generate tensions in a number of ways…
– Using your own judgement to come to
Excellent critical comment. Well presented longer quote.
conclusions
2
READING FOR YOUR WORK (1)
READING FOR YOUR WORK (2)
• What shall I search for?
– Books • Choose current (up-to-date) sources
– Journals (and newspapers) – What is ‘current’ depends on the sort of topic
– Websites you are writing about. e.g.
• How do I find them?
ICT/Technology developments – the more recent the
– Identify Keywords from an initial search
better (journals, websites, newspapers)
– Search relevant databases/ catalogues/ Web
Management – some material 50 years old is still current
• Refine keywords and search again.
TIP: Check the references in very recent
• Identify accessible items academic articles and text books on your topic.
– Uni. Library (Shelves/Databases) How old is the material the authors are citing?
– Other local libraries PL/SHU
The student has changed some words. Is this • Remember to put direct quotes in inverted
still plagiarism? YES commas and cite the author and page
3
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CITATION TYPES OF CITATION: 1
Referring a reader to the sources you have used • Straightforward text citation
• HARVARD SYSTEM requires: – Irving (1992) suggests that the lack of information skills
a) The author’s name and year of publication in is the key issue for society. Information poverty, he
the text: e.g. Smith (1999), IBM (1999) states..…
OR
• b) A Bibliography giving full details of each work
– The lack of information skills is the key issue for society
= Author, (date), title of the work, place of
publication, publisher (Irving 1992).
• The objective is to help the reader to locate all the Note position of brackets and final full stop after the
items cited in your text. citation in the last version.
So, the entry term in text and bib. must be the same! N.B. Text citation (author + date) is the same
whether the item is a book, an article or a web page
TYPES OF CITATION 3
TYPES OF CITATION: 2
Text citation for an author in a compilation or
• Text citation for an author mentioned in edited work:
another work
If Brown had contributed a chapter to Irving’s book the text
– Brown, quoted by Irving (1992), proposes that citation would be
information poverty.… Brown (1992) proposes that the way in which
information...
The Bibliography entry would be of the form:
You have found this information in Irving’s Brown, A. (1992) The Information Revolution. In: Irving
book so It’s Irving who goes in your bib. G. (ed.) Writings on the Information Society. pp. 121-137.
– not Brown. No date for Brown - irrelevant London: Faber.
You have read Brown’s original work so Brown goes
in your bib.
USING QUOTATIONS
TYPES OF CITATION 4
•Text citation using a short quote from the author
Text citation for an electronic source Irving (1992:59) suggests that “ information capability,
rather than information poverty, is the key issue.” and
AOL Time Warner (2004) lists these developments….
goes on to state that…
The bibliography entry would be in the form: •Text citation using longer quote from the author
AOL Time Warner (2004) [Home Page.] New York, Muddiman (1999:5) explains these inconsistencies:
AOL Time Warner.
The numerical evidence suggests that it is a minority of the
http://www.aol.org//oif/report01.html [Accessed 2.9.04] working class who are socially, educationally or intellectually
aspirational who particularly value and use public library
N.B. DON’T cite the url in the text. services.
Include the equivalent of author, place of He goes on to suggest that library use by working class
publication and publisher (+ URL) in your people….
Bibliography.
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EXTRACTS FROM ESSAYS:
Spot The Mistakes: I
SPOT THE MISTAKES: II
1. Recent research has analysed the effects of 3. In the UK a few public libraries have been involved
information technology on staff morale. in providing public access to the Internet. This is,
Maintaining staff morale is very important…
however, still in the early stages of development
What recent research? Citations needed
(Ormes and Dempsey, 1997).
2. One vision of the future is given in the Net Result
Out of date information. Old source cited as if current.
(1997). This covers issues neglected by previous
reports such as the DNH’s Review of the Public 4. The major problem of organisational communication
Library Service (1995). is that information from the ‘top’ often fails to reach
• Bibliography entries: the lower levels of the organisation. In the place I
Aslib (1995) DNH Review of the Public Library worked in, what went on in the boss’s office was a
Service in England and Wales. London: Aslib. mystery. Minutes of meetings never....
IBM (1997). The Net Result. London: IBM. The major problem? Who says? Citation needed.
Text and Bib. entry terms should be the same
• PG Students’ Handbook