Research project in English (TE16)

Today we will look into your current project on writing an article in English. You can use different databases and the selection below is some of the databases that Mediateket recommends. 

First: If you want some help to decide the subject on which you will write your article, then scroll down to the bottom of this article – there you can find a link to ScienceX.

Global issues in context

Global issues in context is directly available from Mediateket @ Fronter. It is a full text database for high schools and universities around the world. The subjects covered are within the areas of most social sciences, for example earthquakes, elections, earth science, space, technology, mathematics and science history.

After your login to the site (if you go the site via Fronter, you will find the password next to the link to the database), go to the advanced search module up to the right. You will then get a list of potential pages and portals on your subject. Choose your sources carefully. The text you choose must be valuable for you in your task, and since everything you perform at school can reflect on your grades, it would be advisable if you choose well.

Save the article

You will need to save your article for further reference. In order to do this, you can NOT grab the link in the web address area. What you instead need to do is to look at the bottom of the article. There you will locate the copyable link under ”Document URL”. It is important that you mark the whole text before clicking CTRL+C (i.e. ”copy”). Insert the link via CTRL+V (i.e. ”paste”).

If you have any questions on the database Global issues in context, please feel free to address them directly to Mr. Rydén in Mediateket.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Britannica is the British Nationalencyklopedin, but better. You will find the link at Mediateket @ Fronter.

OpenDoar and other scientific google search engines

OpenDoar is a search engine that lets you search in freely available academic research information. Most articles are in full text format, but some are still unfortunately closed to the public, or only in form of an Abstract. Many of the notations in the database also refers to ongoing research and is therefore not helpful in your current search.

FreeFullPDF searches with the same functions, but you will find different results. The cause of these different results is manínly of which universities they have chosen to list. My estimation is that this database gives you a fewer but more accurate results than OpenDoar, but that may differ depending on the search subject.

You need to know what area you want to search information on. I.e. Engineering Design, Nanotechnology or Mobile Technology. Maybe you want to add some other search word,  for exampleSchool, to find articles on how to implement or ban mobile tehnology in schools. Or Military in connection to nanotechnology which helps you narrow down your field of interest.

Source criticism

Like in any research, or in daily life for that matter, you need to verify your sources and be sceptical towards them.

• Do the authors seem to be alone in their findings?

• Do they have a good reputation?

• Are the magazine that publishes the results any good? (check on Google or DuckDuckGo on how others are talking about the magazine)

• What are the authors really saying – do they have a hidden agenda?

• Is the research new or can you find references to newer material that may certify your findings or dispute them?

• Use the WWW method – Who says What and Why?

Other resources

We have gathered a few links to Swedish and International technology sites. There you can find some popular magazines, and some historical magazines that gives you the historical perspective. Perfect if that is what you are aiming to write about in your research.

ScienceX is a website that provides daily coverage of science, medical and technology news. You can always use this to decide your choice of area to base your article on.

Questions?

Feel free to address your questions to Mr. Rydén or to Mrs. Strid.