For Doctoral Students

Purpose: Doctoral Students at Carroll may find this page helpful to get to information they will want about topics relevant to their programs and projects:

To find information about:

 * accessing NexLearn
 * accessing specific NexLearn Resources
 * Books.Logos.com
 * Cambridge
 * Ebsco
 * Logos Bible Software
 * OCLC
 * Online Resources
 * Oxford
 * Questia
 * this wiki's main page
 * assessing which NexLearn Resource to choose
 * for articles
 * assessing which nodes for Interlibrary Loan are relevant
 * brainstorming about your prospectus
 * brainstorming about finding dissertations
 * finding your officialCarroll Program pages

Some advice on Doctoral Research
Notes, adapted from the B. H. Carroll Dissertation and Thesis Writer's Workshop

Areas we're still developing:

 * Are students citing sources carefully enough? Minding content? Argument? Form & Style?
 * How do students know they’ve read enough? Digested enough?
 * What are appropriate doctoral-level sources?
 * What are the resources for each Carroll area of study?

Areas ready for your use now:

 * How do I get started doing research?
 * Where do students go to find good dissertations?
 * and

Motivational TIPS on Doing Good Research (by BHCTILibrary)

 * 1) What is a research question?


 * 1)     Rule of thumb: A question requiring a significant investment of time to find an answer to


 * 1) Doing research requires:


 * Time


 * Effort


 * Patience


 * You


 * 1) Conceptual steps to begining research:


 * Task evaluation


 * Library access


 * Materials evaluation


 * Findings communication


 * 1) Don’t neglect to evaluate these research sources:


 * Monographs (Books)


 * Print journals


 * Bibliographies (including those in your assigned readings)


 * Our Carroll NEXLEARN resources


 * 1) If you still need help, ask:


 * Your instructor


 * Library staff


 * Fellow students


 * 1) In future…


 * We ought to build a resource for B. H. Carroll that will include examples from our own students.


 * If you would, consider giving me a copy of your successful prospectus, that we can add to the BHCTI knowledge base.

Sample self-guided assignment:
First:

In NexLearn, use OCLC to find a dissertation on a topic of your choice-- i.e., Zwingli-- (alternatively; limit a search in WorldCat to dissertations)and examine an individual citation.


 * Did you do a subject or keyword search?


 * How many other items did you find with your search term(s)?

Next: Find a dissertation on a topic of your choice-- i.e., Zwingli-- and examine the citation from a site in the Dissertations Finding Aid on this wiki.


 * Did you do a subject or keyword search?


 * How many items did you find with your search term(s)?

Then: Try this subject in Questia (via NexLearn) for titles on: Dissertations, Academic -- Authorship -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. (use the index to find examples of prospectuses, proposals, etc.).

Return to the OCLC Service in NexLearn (alternatively; in WorldCat) and examine entries for the same subject


 * How many items did you find with your search term(s)?

Finally: Brainstorm; which resource is best for your topic? Why? And under what conditions?
 * Would you consider pursuing InterLibrary Loan for these items? Why or why not?

Go a bit deeper:
Materials available to Carroll Students through the NexLearn Library (use your Questia Account) include:

Cooley, Linda and  Jo Lewkowicz. Dissertation Writing in Practice: Turning Ideas into Text. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003.

Mauch, James E. and Nagami Park. Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation : A Handbook for Students and Faculty. New York: Marcel Dekker, 2003.

Rugg, Gordon and Marian Petre. A Gentle Guide to Research Methods. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press, 2007.