VCSEwiki:Literature review

For writing is necessary to find some very reliable resources - your text should be based on critical and responsible thinking and dialogue with what has been already said.

Where to find the resources

Other sources to your chosen theme should be prefarably scientific articles. Where you can find your external resources:

• Simple Google search - you will get texts of very different quality (other search engines see: Search Engine Showdown : The Users´ Guide to Web Searching online. 2007-04-10. WWW: < http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/statistics/ >.)
• Database of disciplines http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/links/disciplines.asp
• ISI Web of Knowledge http://portal.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi
• of course you can use JSTOR or some other scientific database (if your institution provides an access to it).

Quality assessment

Would be very important at the certain stage. Sites about techniques of quality assessment (and not how to use them):

• How to evaluate sources http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/evaluate/
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/index.html
• Evaluating Online Sources: A Tutorial by Roger Munger http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/techcomm/content/cat_030/evaluatingsources/1_home.html
• Internet Detective online. 2007-04-10. WWW: < http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html >.You can try several quizzes to prove that your skills in evaluating sources have been already developed.

Technique of literature review writing

What we mean by the "literature review"? In this context, it is not just the list of references; but it is not also the thourough analysis of available resources, as Dena Taylor suggests. It is something in between - and following links will provide a guidance for writing your literature review.

Links

• Taylor, Dena Bain. A Brief Guide To Writing a Literature Review {online}. 2007 {2007-12-27}. Online: <http://www.ceu.hu/writing/lit_review.pdf >
• How to create a references list - http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/researchroom/workscited/

You can also use some of the resources about writing an annotated bibliography:

• Definitions and format
• What is an annotated bibliography?
• Types of annotation
• Description of the resource and comment on its value or relevance
• The process of writing annotated bibliography
• Examples

Summary

• Research and Documenting Sources http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/index.html