Conducting a literature review:
Reading materials
Finding reading material
The first step towards a good literature review is a comprehensive literature search. You need to make sure you are getting a good range of the available literature in your area of study. Keep in mind as you are searching that the age of the material is is relevant. The best method is to start from the most recent sources and work backwards. This also puts you in a better position to let good studies guide your reading. You can always go back and check that seminal reference everyone else quotes.
It is a good idea to get some help with your initial searching. The following resources will be of assistance to you:
- Library skills classes - Check the list of free classes and sign up for a training session on how to use the library catalogues and bibliographic databases.
- Subject specialist librarians - Contact the librarian for your subject area for assistance in using library resources and with finding information and reading materials.
- Research Consultant, School of Graduate Research.
Apart from the catalogue, you should be thinking about other places to search for information. These include:
- SuperSearch - the gateway to thousands of electronic journals, hundreds of scholarly databases and other resources subscribed to by the University of Melbourne Library.
Don't forget to search the bibliographies and reference lists of the materials you read. These will give you pointers to more articles, and can also be a good guideline about how much you have read on your topic.
Finding things to read is the first step, but once you have your lists of references, it may be difficult to get hold of them. You will probably need to do some work to collect all the material you need. Travelling to other libraries, using the Interlibrary Loan service and ordering articles from overseas are all options.
- Inter-Library Loans - For information about this service.
Keeping track of reading materials
Because the nature of a literature review is to be dependent on what other authors have said, it is vital that you develop good referencing skills. These skills should be put into use the moment you first pick up a piece of written material. As soon as you pick up an article, put the publication details into your selected referencing system. You may find it useful to list the material by content area or add a field in your Endnote program for a content keyword. Make sure your bibliographic record also takes note of the call number of the book or journal and the library it came from. If you photocopied the material, make a note of what you copied and where you filed it. Avoiding duplication will save time and money.
- Managing your bibliography - for further information
- EndNote - For assistance and help with EndNote