RM60 Library Research Methods

This is a compulsory, non-credit course for all MA, MPhil and PhD students in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Literature. 

Over six two-hour sessions spread out over a period of about six months between January and June, students will be:

• introduced to the physical layout of the library;

• shown how to effectively use the card catalogue and, when it becomes available, the terminals by which patrons will be able to access the library's holdings.

• patron's computerised access;

• made aware of the services offered by the Library (such as interlibrary loans, computer searches) and of other useful collections within Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean;

• shown how to plan their library research strategy;

• shown how to use reference tools, both manual and automated, including periodicals, bibliographies and indexes;

• offered guidance in the proper documentation of sources, with emphasis placed on the application of the style manual appropriate to the participant's discipline;

• made to undertake practical sessions in the preparation of annotations and entries for bibliographies; offered guidance with regard to the preliminary and final format of research papers and theses, with emphasis placed on the requirements of the Thesis Guide of the School for Graduate Studies and Research.

Reading List:

Walter Achert and Joseph Garibaldi MLA Style Manual

Rob Barnes Successful Study for Degrees

Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Gregg The Modern Researcher

British Standards Institute British Standards Recommendations for the Presentation of Theses and Dissertations

Pat Cryer The Research Student's Guide to Success

Nigel Fabb and Alan Durant How to Write Essays, Dissertations and Theses in Literary Studies

David C. Gardner and Grace Beatty Dissertation Proposal Guidebook: How to Prepare a Research Proposal and Get It Accepted

Joseph Garibaldi MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Norman Graves and Ved Varma, eds. Working for a Doctorate: a Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Eleanor Harman and Ian Montagnes, eds. The Thesis and the Book

David Madsen Successful Dissertations and Theses: a Guide to Graduate Student Research from Proposal to Completion

Roy Preece Starting Research: an Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing

Harry Teitelbaum How to Write a Thesis: a Guide to the Research Paper

Kate Turabian A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations

University of the West Indies Thesis Guide: a Guide for the Preparation of Theses and Research Papers

George Watson Writing a Thesis: a Guide to Long Essays and Dissertations

Where to Go for What You Want: Special Problems in Library Research