Searching the literature: Social sciences & humanities

Session Description

Audience: Graduate students engaged in humanities and social sciences research; upper-year undergraduates may also be interested.

Location: Robarts Library, 4th floor e-classroom

Explore search strategies and find the literature you need in this hands-on workshop. Bring your own research topic (at any stage) or practice on our sample topics. The workshop will include:

• Identifying different types of literature reviews/searches for different contexts (e.g. class paper, thesis); includes an introduction to scoping and systematic reviews.

• Planning search strategies at different stages of your research.

• Using graphic organizers to conceptualize your topic and generate concrete search terms.

• Finding the right databases for your needs.

• Judging when to use a specialized database and when to use a comprehensive database.

• Searching the databases and employing specific tools within them to find the best articles in less time.

• Formulating complex search strings.

• Tracking your searches.

• Setting up alerts for the latest literature.

Note: this course may be taken as part of the Graduate Professional Skills Program.

If you have any questions, please contact Eveline Houtman