Learning Resources

Information Skills for ResearchMSc Project Management

Nazlin BhimaniSchool Liaison Manager

(EIS & iWBL)

In this workshop we will cover..

• Finding information• Evaluating information• Using information

Basic Research Skills (literature search)

In order to get the best results from your research,you need to think about the following:

What do I need to find out? Why do I need this information? When do I need the information by? How am I going to find the information? Where am I going to find the information? Who created this information?

How am I going to find the information? ie. plan your search strategy

It is useful to start your research (literature search) by:• Thinking about the questions that needs to be asked in order

to find the information required• Outlining the main areas of interest, concepts, questions etc• Considering the scope of your subject and setting limits if

appropriate• Background reading and brainstorming will help you to

understand your subject, make connections, and gather keywords (search terms)

• Consider search terms (alternative, broader, narrower) and related subjects.

Enterprise Resource Planning

BackgroundComputer software system

Shared data store Business

functionsBusiness

ResourcesBusiness

information

Local Area Network

Y2K

Modular

HardwareSoftware

Services

Data integrity

Type of organisation

Manufacturing

Non-Manufacturing

Businesses

Non-Profit Organisations

Governments

Accounting

Payroll

Online sales

CRM

Supply Chain

M’ment

Product Lifecycle m’ment

DistributionPurchasing

Manufacture

External interface

Eg. Retail

Financials

Origins

MRP

CIM

Legacy information

systems

1990sERP IIWeb-based

External

Internal

EAS

Where am I going to find the information?www.lr.mdx.ac.uk

Library Subject Guidehttp://libguides.mdx.ac.uk

Internet• Easy and cheap to put information on the

Web• Unregulated, so be cautious.• Many valuable resources, but also information

which is poorly written, badly researched, deceptive, propaganda etc.

• Therefore important to evaluate search results.

Searching the Internet

Use these gateways and search engines to find quality information on the internet:IntutePinakesExalead TechXtra (Engineering, Maths and Computing)Alacra WikiSearch CubeGoogle Blog Search http://blogsearch.google.com/

Web Resources for Project Management

Intute – resources recommended by experts/researchers in project management

Recommended websites by academic institutions:- http://www.hull.ac.uk/workbasedlearning/- http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/staff/dwfarthi/projma

n.htmProject Management Institute http://www.pmi.org

Who created this information: Evaluation

• It is important to evaluate your search results for relevance and quality ie. Is it what you need and is it trustworthy?

• This is especially important when using the Internet.

• Consider the following.....

• Authority : Who is the author/site creator? Does the site originate from an organisation or an individual? What is their knowledge base, qualifications etc?

• Relevance : Is this what I need? Will it answer my question? Is it at the right level?

• Intent : What is the purpose of website/information e.g. financial gain, propaganda, academic etc?

• Objectivity : Balanced view? Opposing views represented? Links to supporting information?

• Currency: How old is this information? When was it last updated and by whom? Is the site regularly maintained? Do the links work?

Library Cataloguehttp://library.mdx.ac.uk

Electronic ResourcesDatabases, Journals, Books & Newspapers

Keeping Current• Setting up email alerts of journal table of

contents http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/• RSS Feeds – Blogs, websites, journals,

databases http://eismdx.blogspot.com/• Organisations relevant to the subject area• Online newsletters• Mailing lists e.g. JISC• Twitter http://twitter.com/EISMdxLibrarian• Twitter http://twitter.com/WBLMdxLibrarian

Help & Support: Useful Links

Subject Support: Nazlin Bhimani & Vanessa Hill

Learning Resources: http://www.lr.mdx.ac.uk

Library Catalogue: http://library.mdx.ac.uk

Library Subject Guides: http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk

Guides & Help sheets: http://www.lr.mdx.ac.uk/document.htm

Distance Learning Support Unit: http://www.lr.mdx.ac.uk/dlsu/

Web Helpdesk: http://webhelpdesk.mdx.ac.uk