Credo vs Wikipedia

You know how using Wikipedia makes your lecturers really grumpy?

Well we have a huge online collection of encyclopedias and dictionaries which you can not only read without fear but reference without anyone getting upset too. It's called Credo and it looks like this.

You access it by just typing Credo into the normal library catalogue and follow the links. 

Use it to find detailed biographies of theorists, the origins of theories or specific topics. It's easy to use and you can reference it, save your articles and even produce mind maps of individual searches. 

A couple of things to remember in relation to using it; use "speech marks" to ensure accuracy and the subject option on the left to narrow down your options.

If you'd like me to arrange a session with you on using Credo (ideally a small group would be best) then contact me directly or ask via one of your lecturers.

A guide to sessions with dissertation supervisors

At present I can summarise the content of my email inbox like this: aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhh, HEEEEEEEEELLLLPPP, aaaaargggh. This is typically followed by the sound of explosions or crying or wine bottles being opened. Welcome to the sound of final year students having the most enormous meltdown.

Why? Because it's that time of year when dissertation planning tends to reach a peak of anxiety.
My advice is very, very simple. Work through it steadily and you'll be absolutely fine. Don't binge-search because it isn't effective. Instead it leads to frustration and boredom.

You should also be having conversations and discussions with your supervisors by now too.

So here's my advice to get the best from these precious sessions...

1) Go back and read about the major 'isms'. By this I mean feminism, post-modernism, essentialism, functionalism and Marxism. A chapter on each would be fine to refamiliarise yourself with what they say. Alternatively use an online encyclopedia such as Credo to go back to basics. This is the Wikipedia that you can reference.

2) Don't turn up for meetings expecting to be told what to do. It's your dissertation so own it. That means do plenty of prep before you see supervisors and send them things in advance so that they know what's to be discussed.

3) Some supervisors will set deadlines and some won't so you may need to negotiate when things are done. My advice is to set mini-deadlines rather than fixate on the final one. That could take the form of 'this section finished in two weeks' or '500 words written by this date'. It'll take the pressure off as you go along.

4) Remember it's a negotiation. Be diplomatic. Knowing when to be firm and when to concede points comes from a position of knowledge. In other words, read and read and read. It's the only way and there's no short cuts. It's how you win arguments and it's how you write about things that interest you.

5) Finally, think about the methodology in detail. Don't leave it until the end. This is one of those things that drives supervisors crazy so make it clear in meetings that you're thinking about these issues now, because it won't wait until after Christmas.

Hopefully that will help keep you on track.
You know where I am if you need me. Just don't expect me to reply within 10 seconds of reading another message that begins, "aaaargggghhh...heeeeelp....."

E-book reference collection

I bang on a lot about e-books and how they mostly do good in the world.

But there's a collection of e-books that I quite often forget to mention. We have a general e-reference collection that is quite handy for researching the basics of a topic. Think of it as a reliable version of Wikipedia (although you do miss out on the fun of watching angry contributors slag each other off!) and that just about sums it up.

Anyhow. It's called Credo and it's pretty good if you're looking for definitions of ideas, theories or theorists within the social sciences sphere.