Postgraduate Students
Printable brochure (PDF)
The Library has a commitment to support research and coursework
undertaken by postgraduate students of the University.
- Library resources and services are continually reviewed to ensure
that they meet your needs as a postgraduate student.
- As well as the services
and facilities available to all students (PDF), the Library
offers additional services and study facilities to postgraduate
students
- Help
- Facilities
- Information search
- Research method and presentation
- Access to other libraries
Liaison Librarians
Liaison Librarians for each discipline area can help you to make
the most of the Library's services and resources:
- conducting literature reviews
- developing search strategies
- selecting and using the best databases and web search engines
- locating print resources here and in other libraries
- using EndNote bibliographic software
A consultation session with your Liaison Librarian early in the
first phase of your project can save you time and reduce the hassles
of the research process.
Contact your
Liaison Librarian by phone or email to make an appointment for a
research consultation.
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Seminars and Training
Save time, avoid hassles and get better results by learning effective
research techniques.
Liaison Librarians run free training workshops and seminars on
information searching techniques, subject specific resources and
EndNote bibliographic software.
Some are integrated in postgraduate courses or the Swinburne
Research PREP program, others are publicised by email and on
the Library web site:
FAQs
Where can I get help with looking for information specific to
my topic?
Your Liaison Librarian
should be your first person to call if you are not sure where to
start.
Starting points on the Library web site are:
What do I do if Swinburne Libraries do not hold the item I'm looking
for?
Search the Library
catalogues Quicksearch to find out whether it is available at
another university library in Melbourne. If the item you're looking
for is a journal, see Finding journals.
If you are unable to locate an item, contact the Library Service
Desk (see More Help)
or your Liaison Librarian, and we'll locate it for you.
You might need to request the item through Inter-Library
Loan
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More Help
Library
Other
Borrowing
Higher Degree by Research students (Master, PhD, Professional Doctorate)
can borrow most books for four weeks. Coursework postgraduates
(Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Master) have 2-week loans.
Loan periods for other
materials vary.
Inter-Library
Loans are available free of charge to all postgraduate students
for material not held in the Swinburne Library. Some restrictions
apply to Master by Coursework, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate
students.
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Information Resources
Library portal - Supersearch
The library search portal called Supersearch
can help to streamline your research. You can:
- search across multiple resources at the same time (library
catalogues, databases, search engines, etc)
However, Supersearch will not enable you to refine your search
by using special functions such as subject thesaurii and limiting
to peer-reviewed journals
- create personal lists of selected ejournals and resources
- link from search results to full text content
- search for full text using the SFX
CitationLinker if you already have a citation
- manage access to resources you use frequently
- create automatic updating Alerts
- keep selected records in a personal file (e-shelf) for future
use
Subject starter guides
Subject Starter
Guides: guides to selected resources in key subject areas at
Swinburne that are useful starting points for your research. These
gateways link to databases at Swinburne and relevant Internet resources.
Databases
Most bibliographic databases provide the full text of scholarly
journals, conference papers, theses and research reports; some have
only citations with abstracts. Other databases provide statistics,
annual reports, market research, legislation, cases and standards.
Find databases
in Supersearch allows you to search or browse for databases by title
or by subject category. The subject categories in Supersearch are
similar to the Subject Starter Guides on the Library web site. In
the My Databases section of Supersearch you can also create personalised
subject categories or sets of databases that are specifically relevant
to your research.
Database subject guides:
Contact your Liaison Librarian to discuss searching of other specialist
databases to identify additional articles, papers and reports. Searches
on a wide variety of databases can be undertaken for you through
services like Dialog and STN.
Update services
Keep your literature review up to date automatically by setting
up an electronic Alerting
Service. Two types are available:
- Table of Contents: the tables of contents of selected journals
are emailed to you as they are published
- Saved Search: your search is run regularly in a database, and
you are notified of new articles on your topic
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Finding Journals and Journal Articles
Journals
To find electronic journals, browse or search through Citation
Linker (by title, ISSN, or subject category), or Find
e-journals in Supersearch (by title or ISSN only), or the Online Journals
list (by title, ISSN, or subject category).
To find print journals, search the Library Catalogue by Periodical
Title, Periodical Keywords or ISSN.
To locate a journal that is not available at Swinburne Library,
you can search:
- Library catalogues Quick Set in Supersearch
(Metasearch) for locations in Victorian university libraries and
the State Library (tip: use the Advanced search and enter the
word "periodicals" in the Subject field as well as title
words in the Title field, to exclude books and other non-journal
material from your seach of these catalogues).
- Serials
in Australian Libraries or Libraries
Australia for locations throughout Australia
The database Journal
Citation Reports (in Web of Knowledge) can help you to identify
the leading journals in your research field. Using citation data,
it shows how frequently current researchers are using individual
journals and the impact each journal has in its field.
A broader listing of published journals is Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.
It also tells you whether a journal is refereed (peer reviewed)
or not.
Articles
If you have a citation for a specific article, use Citation
Linker to search for it in the library's databases.
To find relevant journal articles by subject, you will need
to search a database or set of databases. The two major research
databases are Scopus
and Web
of Knowledge.
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Research Guides
The library has books and other resources that you might find helpful
on research methodology, thesis writing, presentations, publishing
and other research-related issues, including just surviving your
postgraduate study!
Search the catalogue using the Keyword or Subject search and terms
such as:
Other useful resources can be found on the Study
Skills Subject Starter Guide
Theses
Swinburne theses
You may wish to use Swinburne theses to study the presentation
style required for your thesis, or to read previous research done
in your field.
Recent theses (2004+) are accessible online through Swinburne
Research Bank and the Australian
Digital Theses Program, a database of recent higher degree research
theses produced at Australian universities. There are links to these
from the Library catalogue as well as the ADT web site.
Printed copies of all Swinburne higher degree theses are deposited
in the library, where they are stored in closed access. Theses that
are not available online may be borrowed for one week - you need
to search the Library catalogue
and place a hold on the ones you want. The printed copy of a thesis
that is also available online or on CD-ROM is NOT available for
loan.
To find examples of theses submitted for a specific award (eg.
MBA, PhD) or in a particular subject field:
- select KEYWORD search
- type keywords: SWINBURNE THESIS
- and other relevant keywords such as MBA or PHD, BUSINESS or
PSYCHOLOGY or ENGINEERING
Example: swinburne
thesis phd psychology
More about theses
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Bibliographic Software
Make writing up your research project easier by creating your own
database of references as you find them. Bibliographic software
allows you to organise your references and create bibliographies
in over 500 citation styles.
EndNote is the preferred software at Swinburne. The software
on CD-ROM and user manuals are available for loan from the Hawthorn
campus library. More
information
Liaison Librarians provide training
sessions in using EndNote, and follow-up assistance as you need
it.
Support is provided for existing users of ProCite software, but
use of ProCite is being phased out.
Using Other Libraries
For major research projects it is likely that you will need to
use the resources of other libraries as well as Swinburne Library.
Inter-Library
Loans are available free of charge to all postgraduate students
for material not held in the Swinburne Library. Some restrictions
apply to Master by Coursework, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate
students.
University libraries
Reciprocal
borrowing arrangements with other Victorian and interstate university
and TAFE libraries allow you to visit those libraries and borrow
directly from them.
Electronic resources at other libraries are generally restricted
(under licence conditions) to the students and staff of that institution.
However, some databases and other electronic resources at some libraries
are available for visitors to use - ask at any library you visit
about access to their databases and workstations.
Use the Library
catalogues Quick Set in Supersearch
to locate books and journals in the other Victorian university libraries
and the State Library of Victoria.
Other libraries
Most specialist libraries are not readily accessible for personal
visits or direct borrowing. Loan of library material can be arranged
through the Inter-Library
Loans service. Check with your Liaison Librarian about accessing
special libraries.
You can search the National Bibilographic Database (holdings of
libraries throughout Australia) on Libraries
Australia
More about other
libraries
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Author: Julie Ager (jager@swin.edu.au)
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