Disseration / Extended Written Piece.
There are plenty of books in the library about writing dissertations.
Library Twitter - @LibraryArtLeeds
Key words:
Focus & Relevance.
If the title is well defined and understandable, the content will be easier to both research and write.
For example:
"The role of costume within the film "A Taste of Honey" - Is a very focused title and gets straight to the point.
"Did western society ever need cars' are they a necessity and how have they contributed to the formation of the urban environment" - This title is very wooly and doesn't have a focused theme for the dissertation.
Spider diagrams using the words of the title help a lot when planning content.
Use primary and secondary research thoroughly.
Primary Research - Gathering your own original data.
Secondary Research - Reading up on the subject, making use of the research and findings of others for corroboration, disagreement, triangulation, theoretical underpinning, etc.
Research methods:
Visual Practice, experiment, interest & enquiry (research and critical diaries).
Questionnaires (qualitative/quantitative) always draft it before the real deal.
Interviews.
Case Study.
Site visits.
Literature Search.
Books - Use a combination of pictorial and writing based.
Journals
Websites / Blogs / On-line forums
Videos /DVDs
CDs / Tape Cassettes / Vinyl Recordings
TV / Radio
Printed Ephemera
Literature Search 2
Knowing where to look most effectively.
Effective use of catalogues:
- Narrowing and broadening search terms.
- Using related terms.
- Browsing using Dewey Decimal Classification.
Use of contents page and index.
Reading the introduction or abstract.
Book Search:
Leeds College of Art Library
Leeds Metropolitan University Library
University of Leeds - Sconul Card needed.
The British Library in Boston Spa - www.bl.uk
COPAC - copac.ac.uk
Journal Search:
InfoTrac - a store of online magazine articles - http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/leedscad
If at college, click proceed.
If at home, use password - tryinfomarks
Another store of online magazine articles - JSTOR - www.jstor.org - Only available on college computers.
Journal Index - Art Full Text - Accessed via the portal - Library - Online resources
Ebooks - Athens - Get username and password from library.
PDF Articles - Google Scholar - scholar.google.co.uk
Harvard Referencing:
Information is on the Library resource page on estudio.
Tips:
Don't bite off more than you can chew (keep the topic and title focused and manageable).
Create a sense of momentum (note taking, writing a draft section when you can, keeping your bibliography up to date)
Email Chris - chris.graham@leeds-art.ac.uk
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