ELISE for Postgraduate Students - Enabling Library Information Skills for Everyone

Recognising the range of sources available for research

As a postgraduate student you are required to use a wider range of sources at a more sophisticated level than an undergraduate student. The sources needed will be determined by the assessment question or problem and by the discipline in which you are working. These are the most important sources:

• Scholarly books and textbooks
  These are written for an academic audience, including university students. They can often be recognised by their extensive footnoting and referencing.
• Scholarly journals
  Also written for an academic audience, these are often peer reviewed and sometimes published by a society or institute with recognized academic goals and missions. They often contain articles on very specific subjects and may be the primary source of information on new developments.
  
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• Industry and professional publications
  These include magazines and journals published for or about a profession or industry; professional handbooks, manuals and ready reference works e.g. International and Australian Accounting Standards; and publications produced as part of carrying on a business e.g. company annual reports.
  
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• Government publications
  These include publications of various departments e.g. ASIC, ICAC, parliamentary papers, Hansards (reports of parliamentary debates), Australian Bureau of Statistics publications, laws and regulations.
  
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• Popular media
  This includes newspapers, popular magazines e.g. BRW and other printed matter such as the Australian Financial Review.
  
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• The Internet
  The World Wide Web is a vast conglomeration of information.

Understanding the different perspectives …

Assume different sources are necessary and that they will have different perspectives. The following provides an overview of these perspectives:

• Scholarly books, text books and journals
  Academic literature discusses and challenges existing theory and proposes and tests new theories. Arguments are supported with evidence using accepted research methods in the field.
• Industry and professional publications
  ‘Non-academic’ references such as business magazines may contain individual opinions and cases. They are useful (and can be referenced) if they offer the views of a prominent individual in the field, or if they offer a real-world example of the issue being examined in the assignment. Non-academic sources should not be used as definitive sources of theory, especially new theory. They are useful for providing current examples of theory in practice.
• Government publications
  Government publications provide information about the regulatory framework; statistical data to assist decision making and justification of arguments; and information on demographic data and trends.
• Popular media
  This provides the most up-to-date information such as current affairs, stock market reports, currency movements and government initiatives.
• The Internet
  The Internet contains material from every possible perspective. The Internet is not just a source of information; it is also a distribution mechanism. All the other sources can be, and often are, delivered over the Internet, for example, many of the Library's journals can be found in databases on the Internet.

Identifying relevant sources …

There are two main stages in this process

1. Analysing the question and
2. Identifying appropriate sources.

The following worked example steps you through this process.

Worked example

Step 1 Analyse the question

• Reword the question to make sure you understand it:
  The questions states that two management ideas have gained popularity/interest in recent years and asks you to explain why.
• Identify the keywords.
  Three ‘keywords’ are clearly identified in this question. They are:
  ‘team concept’ and
  ‘self-directed’ teams (also known as ‘self-managing teams’)
  ‘management’ (as in management theory and practice)
• Clarify the meaning of the keywords.
  What is ‘the team concept’?
  What does ‘self-directed’ or ‘self-managing’ mean in the context of team theory (as distinct from general usage)?
  What does ‘management’ refer to – management scholars or practicing managers, or both?
  How long is ‘recent years’? The last 5 years?
• Consider the topic carefully.
  Does ‘a great interest in the ‘team concept’ … in recent years’ mean that:
  Interest in this concept has increased recently or that there was no previous interest? And, if not, why not? When did this interest start or increase?
  What has caused this interest - changing workplace practices and conditions? changing management theory?
  What management theory and practice preceded these concepts in popularity? Why are these former concepts not considered suitable for the current climate?
  
• Understand what the question is asking you to do.
  To explain why there has been ‘a great interest’ in these concepts in recent years you may need to:
  define the terms in the context of management literature
  define your time period; use recent sources
  outline and analyse the development of interest in ‘team concept’ and ‘self-managing teams’ in
  management theory, and cite examples in practice
  compare these concepts with other relevant concepts, showing why they are replacing them in popularity
  examine any changes in workplace or management conditions responsible for the recent ‘great interest’.

Step 2 Identify appropriate sources

Based on your analysis of the question, consider which of the range of sources available to you are the most appropriate.
The keywords in this question, which relate to management theory and practice, point you in the direction of both scholarly texts (theoretical perspectives) and industry and professional publications (practical perspectives) as a starting point for your research. The question also refers to ‘recent years’, which indicates that you should definitely use recent sources. This does not preclude using less recent sources for comparative purposes.

Now that you have identified a broad starting point for your research by identifying likely sources (scholarly texts and industry and professional publications), the next step is the practical process of locating these sources and searching for information within them.

The next Module, ‘Finding Information’, takes you through this process.

Practice activity

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