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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

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)