Resources for Humanities Postgraduates

Library and web resources

The following links are intended as a starting point for library resources of relevance to Humanities postgraduates.

It includes:

• Thesis searching
• Journals and library databases
• Document Delivery service
• EndNote
• Further assistance

Thesis searching

To find a Flinders University Thesis, search Voyager (the Library catalogue):

1. Select Keyword Search
2. Search for “[discipline name] thesis” – as a phrase – in Subject.

This will produce a complete list of all theses held in the Thesis Collection for that discipline.

Valid Discipline names of relevance to Humanities include:

Archaeology
Art History
Cultural Studies
Cultural Tourism
Drama
English
French
Italian
Legal Studies
Modern Greek
Musicology
Philosophy
Screen Studies
Spanish and Portuguese
Theology
Visual Arts
Visual Arts and Archaeology

Add other elements to your search to limit it, e.g.

“hons” - in keyword for Honours theses only
“Ph.D” - in keyword for Ph.D. theses only
any other search terms, e.g. subject, author, title, keywords

Sort the list by Publish Date Descending to see most recent theses first.

To search for theses at other institutions, use the Libraries Australia database.

Some theses may be available online via the Australian Digital Thesis webpage.

Try AuseSearch to search all open access repositories in Australian and New Zealand universities containing refereed articles and PhD theses

Overseas theses

DATRIX® Direct Dissertations and Theses database an individualized search service for those who lack library access to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Provides access to free, electronic full-text of some theses from participating universities.

Registry of Open Access Repositories
Use the drop-down menu under Any Content Type to select e-Theses. This will display a list of institutional repositories around the world containing electronic versions of theses.

Theses Canada
Database of Canadian theses since 1965. Many are available free online.

National Library Catalogues Worldwide
Some national library catalogues list theses or have separate listings of theses.

OAIster
A collection of previously difficult-to-access, academically-oriented digital resources.

Journals

A journal (also known as a periodical, serial or annual) is a publication that appears at regular intervals on an ongoing basis. Each issue has the same title and contains articles written by many different authors. Reading the journal literature is a good way to keep up-to-date in the field.

Postgraduate students are entitled to borrow journals (current issues excepted) for a period of seven days.

The library subscribes to a number of print and electronic journals; your supervisor/s will probably recommend titles that they think are particularly useful.

Library databases

The best way to find articles in journals is to use one of the many journal indexes available. These are available in electronic format and are commonly referred to as Library databases. There are two types of Library database: citation and full text.

Citation databases provide enough information to direct you to the full text of the article. They have sophisticated search capabilities, are subject-specific, and usually cover at least 30 years’ worth of literature. You will retrieve a citation (also known as a reference) for each item.

Full text databases will take you directly to the full text. While this is convenient, it is important to remember that there is a limited amount of material available in this format.

It is worth using a citation database that is subject-specific to ensure you obtain the maximum possible references, especially when looking for specialised information.

The following table summarises the most useful databases for Humanities research. Subject specific lists are also available.

Resource	Discipline	Dates	Coverage	Access	Help
APA-FT (via Informit)	Social Sciences and Humanities; Australian	Full text: 1995 - ; Index: 1978-	Newspapers, scholarly journals, conference papers and books. 220+ comprehensively indexed journals
Arts and humanities citation index	International arts and humanities journals	Citation; 1987 -	Journal articles
Austlit	Creative and critical Australian literature works	Citation; 1780 -	Books, journal articles, electronic publications of fiction, plays, poetry, and literary criticism and reviews
Current Contents	Multi-disciplinary	Citation; 1998- (updated weekly)	Tables of contents from current issues of research journals
JSTOR	Multi-disciplinary	Archival only (i.e. no recent years)	350+ scholarly journals
MLA International Bibliography	Languages, literary theory, literature, dramatic arts	Citation, 1963 -	Journal articles, books, dissertations

Most library databases index scholarly journals. Many also index magazines, newspapers and trade publications; some may also index conference papers, book chapters, theses and government reports.

It is important to be able to recognise a scholarly journal, i.e. a journal that has been peer-reviewed. Peer review is the process of checking information by other experts in the field (peers) to evaluate it before its publication.

One useful tool to check if something is a scholarly journal is to use the Ulrich's periodicals directory. This database allows you to sarch for journals in your field of study and check if it is peer reviewed and where it is indexed.

Document Delivery service

If the material you need is not held in the Flinders University Library or any of its branches, the Document Services Unit can try to obtain it for you.

There is a limit of 100 standard* document delivery requests that may be submitted for the 2006 calendar year.
*Non-standard requests, such as urgently required items or some items obtained from overseas, will be charged at cost.

Before submitting requests electronically, you must complete a user registration/copyright declaration form (available online) and allow 24 hours for your registration to be processed.

More information can be found on the Document Services Unit's web page.

Please note that the Document Services Unit is provided to support the University's teaching, research and related programmes. Requests not related to these activities will be subject to full cost recovery.

EndNote

EndNote is a database program for storing and managing bibliographic references. It allows you to import saved references from Library catalogues and other electronic databases into EndNote libraries using filters. (Chapter 15 in the EndNote manual)

Flinders University has a site licence for EndNote. Information on EndNote access for library resources is available, as are connection and filter files for Voyager.

Further assistance

If you have any specific questions or problems using the library, ask for help at the Information Desk. They may be able to help you immediately; otherwise, they will probably refer you to the Humanities Liaison Librarian.

Your Liaison Librarian can assist with any requirements you may have regarding your particular information needs. If you need some assistance in finding a particular reference, or would just like some help in using any of the Library’s resources, contact us via the email address below.