Take a look at our Library skills page which will direct you to all the help and support information available from Library Services.
This is the place to find out about the Library skills sessions available to all students at USW:
Or try our Library skills guide which will get you started, with the basics like finding a book, an article or journal.
If you require individual support, you can book an appointment with your Faculty Librarian or you can use our 24/7 chat service for a quick response to your question.
This hands-on book introduces students to the demands of university study in a clear and accessible way and helps them to understand what is expected of them. It helps students to develop the core skills they need to succeed at university, and gives guidance on the key forms of academic writing, including essays, reports, reflective assignments and exam papers. It shows students how to recognise opinions, positions and bias in academic texts from a range of genres, develop their own 'voice' and refer to others' ideas in an appropriate way. It also features authentic examples of academic texts and engaging activities throughout to aid understanding. Packed with practical guidance and self-study activities, this book will be an essential resource for all students new to university-level study.
The the leading guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism, covering everything from understanding plagiarism and identifying sources to setting out quotations and creating a reference list. Comprehensive and accessible, it provides readers with detailed examples of print and electronic sources, business, government, technical and legal publications, works of art, images and much more. The fully revised and updated 12th edition contains: Expanded guidance on the key principles of referencing and avoiding plagiarism, including new sections on collecting evidence to use in your work; reading, listening and taking notes; and using other people's work in your writing. New reference examples for Tik Tok, blog posts, Zoom and Teams, recorded lectures and online seminars.
Written by internationally renowned author Stella Cottrell, this is an essential resource for students looking to refine their thinking, reading and writing skills. Stella Cottrell's student-centred approach demystifies critical thinking and breaks down a complex subject into manageable chunks. With clear explanations, relevant examples and plenty of exercises throughout, this book helps students to develop their analytical reasoning skills and apply them to a range of tasks including reading, note-making and writing. This text will turn even the most hesitant student into a proficient critical thinker. This is an ideal companion for students of study skills, humanities, social sciences, business and arts programmes, where assessment includes essay and report writing. It is suitable for students of all levels.
The book breaks the process into manageable chunks and covers everything from preparation and planning through to conducting research and writing up the finished article. Packed with dozens of hands-on activities and quotes from real students, this book demystifies dissertations and project reports and helps ensure that the process is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. This is an invaluable resource for students of all levels embarking on a dissertation, project report or other piece of extended writing. Its interdisciplinary approach means it is the ideal companion for students of all disciplines.
This engaging guide by bestselling author Bryan Greetham takes students step-by-step through the process of writing a literature review, and equips them with practical strategies to help them navigate each stage. Each bite-sized chapter focuses on a specific aspect of the process, from generating ideas and pinning down the research problem through to searching for sources, citing references and planning, writing and editing the review. Chapters feature examples and exercises to help students apply ideas to their own work. Whether your students are writing a stand-alone review or one that is part of a dissertation or thesis, this guide is their essential companion.
This is the ultimate guide to study skills, written by million copy bestselling author Stella Cottrell. Her tried and tested approach, based on over twenty years' experience of working with students, has helped over a million students to achieve their potential. When it comes to studying, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. This engaging and accessible guide shows students how to tailor their learning to their individual needs in order to boost their grades, build their confidence and increase their employability. Fully revised for the fifth edition, it contains everything students need to succeed. This is an invaluable resource for undergraduate students of all disciplines, and is also ideal for postgraduates, mature students and international students. It prepares students for what to expect before, during and after their studies at university.
Now in its fourth edition, this indispensable guide helps students to create their own personal development programme and build the skills and capabilities today's employers want. Step by step, it takes students from the initial stages of setting goals and defining success through to the application process for their dream job.
Presentation Skills for Students, is a practical, accessible guide for all students in further or higher education.
This guide will explain the types of assignment required at USW.
This guide is an introduction to the Literature Review process - including its purpose and strategies, guidelines, and resources to get you started.
All the USW guides can be found on the Referencing guides page:
The exceptions are:
We also have a Referencing tools guide which outlines the main tools supported at USW and the most commonly used free tools.
If you would like a more comprehensive guide to referencing, the eBook below will help with all the styles listed above.
You can also make an appointment with a study skills tutor.
Cite them right : the essential referencing guide. 12th ed by
The the leading guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism, covering everything from understanding plagiarism and identifying sources to setting out quotations and creating a reference list. Comprehensive and accessible, it provides readers with detailed examples of print and electronic sources, business, government, technical and legal publications, works of art, images and much more. The fully revised and updated 12th edition contains: Expanded guidance on the key principles of referencing and avoiding plagiarism, including new sections on collecting evidence to use in your work; reading, listening and taking notes; and using other people's work in your writing. New reference examples for Tik Tok, blog posts, Zoom and Teams, recorded lectures and online seminars.
When looking for journal articles it is important that you have first done some background reading and have a basic understanding of the topic. Without background reading you may struggle to identify keywords, to read journal articles, and to write your introduction. Journal articles are much more focused and narrower in their topics than books and aren't usually as easy to read.
If your topic is very broad, then you may find your search results overwhelming. If you have already done some background reading and have an idea of what you are going to be writing, it can sometimes be easier to divide your searches up into manageable chunks.
Before you do your main, focused search for journal articles you might want to consider some broader keyword searching. FINDit article search is perfect for this as it cross searches a wide range of resources across a range of subject areas.
This will allow you to see if there is a lot of research on your topic, or not very much and you may then want to adjust your assignment title accordingly. It will also help you to see what keywords work and which don't and potentially pick up new ones. It will also help you to see if your keywords are picking up a lot of irrelevant articles and see if you need to take steps to negotiate that.
The results of any article search will depend on the quality of your keywords. Here are some tips for identifying keywords:
If a word has more than one potential ending, you can instruct a database to look for all of them by using truncation.
This way you don't have to search for them all individually.
Take the stem of your word and then add the truncation symbol. This is usually the * but it does vary from database to database, so check the help of wherever you are searching.
Examples:
|
Prevent* |
Prevent |
Music* |
Music |
|
|
Prevented |
|
Musician |
|
|
Preventing |
|
Musical |
|
|
Prevention |
|
Musicality |
To look for words as a phrase, put them in quotation marks. This will mean that the phrase has to be exactly as specified within the quotation marks rather than looking for all words independently within the document.
Examples:
"Social media"
"Type 2 diabetes"
"Strength training"
"Public Health"
Proximity searching lets you determine how close together your search terms need to be within an article. This is useful when there is variety in how things may be written. For example, "pain management" could also be written as 'managing pain' or 'management of pain' or 'pain being managed' and doing a phrase search would miss all of those.
Proximity search techniques differ between databases so check the help of the database you are using to know how to carry out a proximity search there and check that the database you are using supports them. It is usually using N or W and a number within the words.
Examples:
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Pain N3 Management |
Pain within 3 words of Management |
|
Theatre N2 Director |
Theatre within 2 words of Director |
|
Biodegradable N4 Packaging |
Biodegradable within 4 words of Packaging |