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Academic Support - Library and Learning Support
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Software Systems & Electronics Research Guide

This web page has been created by your Subject Support Team and it aims to introduce you to:

  • the printed and electronic information sources that you will need to use for in-depth study (including tips on searching)
  • the nature and process of research (including writing a dissertation and citing references)

If you need basic help to find and use information refer to the InfoSkills online tutorial. For advanced help contact your Subject Support Team for subject advice.

The main sections of this web page are:

Books and E-books

Dictionaries and encyclopaedia
CREDOreference* access to a collection of encyclopedias and dictionaries for definitions and background information.

Books
All books held in Bournemouth University Libraries can be found on the Library Catalogue.

E-books
E-books are full text electronic books and various collections are available. Some are multidisciplinary and some are subject specific.

If a book is not available in print or electronically, if you're a member of BU staff, a postgraduate or final year student you can request a copy via Inter Library Loan. This process can take from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on what you require and its availability, so it is important to consider this when planning your research.

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Journal articles and conference papers

Recommended databases

Academic Search Complete - covers full text of many articles from a wide range of subjects.

ACM Digital Library - contains abstracts, reviews and the full-text of articles published in the Association of Computing Machinery' periodicals and proceedings (can be accessed on campus access only).

Business Source Complete - multidisciplinary.

IEEE Xplore (IEEE/IET Electronic Library) - the world’s highest quality technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.

ScienceDirect - search or browse the content of Elsevier journals.

Further stages to search for a journal article

  • Check to see if the article is available in print format in the library by looking up the journal title on the Library Catalogue. (select the Keyword option and limit your search to the Journals collection).
  • If the journal you require is not held in the print format in the library please check if it is available electronically via the A-Z of E-journals.
  • If the article is not available in print or electronically, you can request a copy via Inter Library Loan. This process can take from a couple of days to a few weeks depending on what you require and its availability, so it is important to consider this when planning your research.

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Tips on searching

Analyse your research topic

Begin by writing a sentence summarising the topic you want to research (this could be your actual assignment title for example).

Your topic might be importance of Internet security in ebusiness.

Identify from your topic the key words and phrases that represent the principal ideas:

Internet security - ebusiness

Write down these keywords and at this point consider spelling, synonyms and related words or phrases:

internet security ebusiness
firewalls electronic business
privacy ecommerce
data protection online shopping
encryption b2b

Plan your search

You need to express your search in a way that the computer can interpret. Do this by linking keywords using the Boolean logic operators AND, OR, NOT.

AND retrieves all the records that contain all of the keywords.
e.g. ecommerce AND privacy

OR retrieves all the records that contain one or both keywords.
e.g. ebusiness OR ecommerce

NOT eliminates a keyword or group of keywords.
E.g. Internet security NOT firewalls

Truncation

This is used to allow for variations in word length or spelling. Truncation allows you to search for words that begin with the letters you specify. The truncation character is usually a *

e.g. comput* will retrieve compute or computer or computers or computing

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Citing references and writing your dissertation

Citing references

When writing your work you will need to refer in your text to material written or produced by others. You need to reference the materials you have used according to Bournemouth University's Harvard style. Details are in the BU Guide to Citation in the Harvard Style (PDF 198kb) produced by the Library which can be found in the Citing References web section.

Writing your dissertation

Amongst others, the following titles provide help on writing you dissertation. They are shelved in The Sir Michael Cobham Library, check the Library Catalogue for availability (those marked with an * are also available as an e-book).

  • GLATTHORN, A., 1998. Writing the winning dissertation: a step-by-step guide, shelf number: 808.02 GLA
  • *FITZPATRICK, J., 1998. Secrets for a successful dissertation, shelf number: 001.42 FIT
  • *RUDESTAM, K., 2001. Surviving your dissertation: a comprehensive guide to content and process, shelf number: 001.42 RUD
  • *SWETNAM, D., 1997. Writing your dissertation: how to plan, prepare and present your work successfully, shelf number: 808.066 SWE

Previous PhD thesis and research Masters dissertations are not held in the Library. If you wish to consult these materials you need to contact your programme administrator for access.

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Other sources of information

mySearch
A search engine that allows you to conduct one search to gain access to the Library print and electronic database collections and other internet resources.

The Internet
The internet is a very popular source of information. The Internet Search Tools page provides links to search engines, tutorials and guides.

Using other academic libraries – SCONUL Access Scheme
This scheme allows registered part-time, distance and placement students to borrow material from other Higher Education Libraries close to where you live or work.

Access to other libraries will normally exclude use of computer-based information services.

See the Using other libraries web page for further details and registration, or ask your Subject Support Team for advice on registering for the scheme.

Plagiarism
Bournemouth University has clear regulations on plagiarism, the Plagiarism web pages provide this information along with further advice and guidance.

E-newspapers
The Newspaper Databases page provides electronic access to newspapers.

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