Rationale and Aim

The rationale of AIRS is to:

lay the foundations of independent research, critical evaluation of

information and effective management of information and research data.

facilitate the capacity for lifelong learning.

The aim of AIRS is to develop your abilities to efficiently and

effectively search for, retrieve, evaluate, manage and use the
information required for your research.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1.

demonstrate an understanding of the theory of advanced search and

evaluative strategies to efficiently yield appropriate resources to create
original research.

2.

apply appropriate data management strategies to organise and utilize

your information proficiently, ethically and legally.

3.

identify strategies to ensure best practice in the use of information

sources, information technologies, information access tools and
investigative methods.

AIRS 1 learning outcomes

By the end of this first workshop, you should be able to:
1.

design a research question that applies the 6 properties of a good

research question identified by Foss and Waters

2.

develop a systematic approach to searching the literature in a

comprehensive way

3.

apply evaluation criteria and use the tools available to assist in

evaluating the quality and credibility of retrieved information

AIRS modules
Manage: Managing research data

Engage: How to formulate a good

research question
Retrieve: Identifying & retrieving
quality literature

Sustain: Keeping up to date

Collaborate: Collaborating with
researchers

Search: Advanced search strategies

Specialise: Selecting relevant
databases

Publish: Selecting what & where to

publish
Impact: Tracking research impact
Fund: Applying for grants

Record: Bibliographic management

Acknowledge: Academic integrity &
managing copyright

Workshops:

AIRS1

AIRS2

AIRS3

AIRS4

Learning in AIRS
4pt unit
48 hrs. working time
3 month full time advised
6 months to complete

Blended learning
Book workshops
Work online

Library help
http://www.library.qut.edu.au/help/

Library Helpdesks
Chat
Study Smart online tutorials
Liaison Librarian
AIRS Librarian

Assessment:
Resource Log (1,500-2,000 words)
Tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Your research question

Your search strategy
Keeping useful notes
Data management
Sustain
Publishing
Research Impact

AIRS 1

Resources
AIRS website: http://airs.library.qut.edu.au

PDFs of online module content

MP3s on assessment questions
Workshop recordings
PPT slides from workshops

Unit readings online

Resource log
Template
Criteria sheet

Liaison Librarian

Activity (15 mins)

Introductions (name, faculty, significance of research)

A good research question

Helps to:

guide the research process

construct a logical argument
write a literature review
plan thesis chapters
devise efficient search strategies.

http://www.jmeacham.com/planning.guides.htm

A good research question

Identifies the
phenomenon/event you
want to learn more about

Allows you to
distinguish and identify
the construct in the
literature

Transcends the data

used to conduct the
research

Draws attention to
the significance of
the research

Has the capacity to

surprise the researcher
as they research

Encourages a
complex answer
(i.e. not a yes or no
response)

Examples of good research questions

How do climate-driven changes in the
biophysical environment affect the sustainability
of wetlands?
What strategies do union organizations use to
retain their radicalism over time?
What are the impacts of Starbucks on the
consuming patterns of its patrons?

ACTIVITY (15 mins)

Draft your research question

What is the nature of...
What factors affect...
How do ... respond
How do ... affect
How do ... perceive
How are ... defined
How do ... differ

What are the mechanisms by which...

What is the relationship between...
What strategies are used...
Under what conditions do...
What are the effects of...
What are the functions of...

Break

Search
Consider your information needs:
Subject area
Types of information e.g. journal articles, annual
reports, statistics, maps, newspaper articles etc.
Tools to find the information
The purpose of a literature review
is to identify, analyse, assess and
interpret a body of knowledge
published on a particular topic.

Your literature review

Find what information already exist in your field of research
Identify the gaps in the literature
Find experts working in your field
Identify major seminal works
Identify main methodologies and research techniques
Identify main ideas, theories and conclusions and establish similarities
and differences
Provide a context for your own research
Show relationships between previous studies and theories

Key concepts
What are you looking for?
Language changes over time, and geographically there are many
ways of expressing single concepts.

How will you systematically find all relevant literature?

Subject dictionaries and encyclopaedias, textbooks, thesaurus,
subject headings can help get you started.

Synonyms
Brainstorm terms that have the same or
related meaning to the concepts in your
research question.
Example:
A comprehensive investigation of the risky
driving behaviour of young novice drivers.

Subject headings
Subject headings are a controlled vocabulary assigned to books and
articles by cataloguers - thus allowing a standardised, consistent
description of information.
Examples:
Library catalogue
ERIC
Medline

Information

Peer reviewed articles

Books and eBooks
Conference papers
Reference texts
Discipline

Disciplines vary in the type of

information they generate and reuse
for research

Information Type

Database

Creative Industries

Film reviews

Newspapers Factiva
newspaper database

Business

Economic outlook

Economic indicators and

forecasts - EIU Country data

Law

Australian Legal cases

AUSTLII

Health

Best practice evidence

for nursing

Patient care information

Mosbys nursing consult
Systematic reviews

Search tools overview

Quick Find and Google Scholar

Strengths: Search huge sets and multidisciplinary

e.g. Quickfind searches 93% of the Library's online journal article and newspaper content,
the Library catalogue, QUT ePrints

Weaknesses: Some types of information or search functionalities NOT

available on Quick Find

e.g. Medlines ability to search by research methodology or population group.

Library Catalogue
Databases

Search tool: Quick Find

Use the facets (limiters) to refine by:

Content type

Subject Headings

Date

Advanced search to e x p a n d your results: Include results

from outside your library's collection

Quickfind

Search tool: Library catalogue

Use the QUT Library catalogue when looking for a specific item.
e.g. Fazio, M.W. (2014). A world history of architecture (3rd ed).
London : Laurence King

Activity (5 mins)

Search the key words and related terms from

your Research Question

Search tool: Databases

See the subject listing on the

Librarys database page

Read the database description

Make an appointment with your

Liaison Librarian to learn the best
databases for you.

Use the tool appropriate to your needs

Databases

Quick Find/Google Scholar

shoe shops.jpg. On.: inloughborough.com.

Dubai Supermarket. On.: andrewholbrooke.com.

Activity (10 mins)

Identify 3 databases relevant to your

discipline via QUT Library

Other Search tools: overview

Theses databases
Bibliographies
Key journals
Other library catalogues

Theses databases
Reviewing the dissertations in your research
area is an important early task.
Demo:

Journals
Scanning key journals can
be valuable to keep up with
developments in your field.

Print journals are important to

disciplines with a high
reliance on images, like art
and design, building and
construction and life
sciences.

Bibliographies
1. A list of references at the end
of an article or book
OR

2. A collated publication of
scholarly works, e.g. Welcome
bibliography for the history of
medicine

Use backward and forward searching to

find information for your Literature review

Other library catalogues

Union catalogues bring research resources
together:

Libraries Australia holdings of all major Australian libraries

Worldcat holdings from many countries
Bonus+ participating libraries of Australian & New Zealand

Find Country-specific material by location:

The British Library

The Library of Congress ...
Most countries have a national library

If we dont have it
QUT Library Document
Delivery Service

Use Bonus+

Borrow from other libraries

Ask your Liaison Librarian

Evaluating information
Steps to gauge expertise & reliability:
1.

Has the information been peer-reviewed?

2.

How was the information gathered?

3.

Are references high quality can you find original sources?

4. Does the author & source have authority & high impact?

Evaluating information
Criteria

Details

Questions to ask

Reliability

Authority credibility is established by author and

publication credentials.

Is the journal peer reviewed?

Who is the publisher?

Validity

The research process used is valid.

How has the information been gathered and

analysed?

Accuracy

Documents contain references and in-text

citations that confirm data or factual statements.

Can the information be verified?

Are references of high quality?
Is the information well edited?

Author Authority

The author is clearly indicated, whether an

individual author, corporate author, or agency
such as an association or organisation.

Who are the author/s?

Internet Information

Websites can be published by anyone, the

information may be incorrect or inaccurate.

Is it a personal website?
What type of domain does it come from?

http://studysmart.library.qut.edu.au/module3/3_3/

Academic integrity
Always cite the influence of other peoples work in your
research. Failure to acknowledge the work of others is
plagiarism. It includes:

using another author's phrases or expressions without

acknowledgement
copying text, diagrams or images from websites, books, articles,
newspapers, magazines without acknowledgement
using or developing ideas from another person's work without
acknowledgement
failing to use quotation marks when directly quoting another's work
failing to summarise or paraphrase appropriately
failing to reference appropriately.

Referencing
There are two components to academic
referencing:
1.

in-text citations offer the reader a link

to the original author's work within the
paragraph you are writing

2.

reference list or bibliography is an

alphabetical list of resources at the end
of a written work.

More information on avoiding plagiarism in

theses and dissertations using Safe Assign.

Which style will you use? See question 7 of

the resource log.

Tell us what you think

Go to:

https://app.gosoapbox.com/

In the Access Code field, type:

airs

Whats next? AIRS 2

By the end of the next workshop you should be able to:
1.

2.
3.

Formulate effective search statements to answer your

research question using appropriate databases using
advanced search techniques.
Use cited reference searching to find other relevant
resources.
Create effective table of content/search alert statements to
keep you up to date.