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- 1. Learning Objectives
- 2. What is a literature review?
- 3. Types of reviews
- 4. What is the purpose of a literature review?
- 5. Planning the Literature Review
- 6. How to find literature
- 7. Organising the Literature
- 8. How to write a literature review
- 9. Citation practices
- 10. Examples of literature reviews
- 11. Summary
- 12. Feedback Survey
6. How to find literature
There are several places where you can search for the texts that you will need for your review:
- The library – subject guides are valuable resources, and some library websites contain useful online subject guides;
- Databases: e.g. ProQuest or WorldCat [Toronto Public Library List of All Databases ]
- Online searches for academic and non-academic sources, organisations, and institutions.
Other useful sources include the bibliographies of similar research, course readings (this is especially useful for locating key works), or journals that specialize in overviews of a research field, e.g. Progress in Human Geography or Progress in Development Studies.
Note: It is extremely helpful to keep detailed notes on how you conduct your research – this helps you document the research project and helps you avoid duplicating searches.
Resources:
- Steps involved in completing a literature review – University of Ottawa [https://uottawa.libguides.com/EnvironmentalSciences/litreview ]
- Finding journal articles and more: Getting started – Australian National University [http://libguides.anu.edu.au/findingjournalarticles ]
- How to become a literature searching ninja – The Thesis Whisperer [https://thesiswhisperer.com/2015/05/13/how-to-become-a-literature-searching-ninja/ ]
Reflection Exercise:
Where do you find the literature associated with your field of study?