Course Number: AN450Subject: Anthropology Picking a topic - ideas Picking a topic that’s interesting to you Choosing something relevant to your course Clarifying with the course readings Scanning through some current course readings, old readings that you found interesting Take a concept discussed in class and apply it to something else Where do you find topics and background information? Annual Review of Anthropology Oxford Bibliographies: Anthropology Individual Journals Browse individual issues, tables of contents; also see special issues devoted to particular topics AnthroSource – see the list list of journals; search using search box at top right (Advanced available) Web of Science: go to Journal Citation reports > Browse Categories > Social Sciences, General > Anthropology (use the SSCI Edition) Broad database search from the Anthropology Subject Guide What is a literature review? An overview of existing research on a specific topic Focused on scholarly literature: the "scholarly conversation" Usually involves aspects of analysis and synthesis Not just a list or a summary of material Purpose of the literature review Summarize existing research Show you are aware of research done in a field Show you can interpret the research Identify gaps in or critique existing knowledge Fit your work into the scholarly conversation Research Questions Should be: Clear Researchable – doable Relate to existing studies Neither too broad, nor too narrow Video tutorial: Developing a Research Question (6:25) Literature search tips Conduct your search systematically Create a search strategy Use effective search terms and combinations Decide where you’ll search Repeat searches across databases Track results, modify strategies as needed DO NOT: type questions into a research database Do: separate your terms into concepts, and link them with connectors (boolean operators) to broaden/narrow results Example search strategy For the research question "What implementation strategies have Arctic communities undertaken to adapt to climate change?" Break it down into the following concepts and search strings: Concept 1: Arctic OR Nunavut OR "Yukon Territory" OR "Northwest Territories" AND Concept 2: "Climate change" OR "Global warming" AND Concept 3: Adapt* OR Modif* OR Adjust* OR Regulat* AND: narrows results OR: broadens results; links similar terms NOT: subtracts any results with your search term (use judiciously) NOTE: if you use Omni, you must put AND, OR, NOT in all CAPS For more details see: Better searching using AND, OR, NOT (video, 2:26) Better searching using truncation (video, 1:50) Managing your information Consider using a reference manager: Laurier recommends two free managers: Zotero and Mendeley. See links below for some short videos we've made on them: Getting started with Mendeley Getting started with Zotero Using Mendeley's plug-in for Word Using Zotero's plug-in for Word Zotero or Mendeley: which one is best? Attend our online workshop Citing Insights for more detailed training, see Library Events.