How many references do I need?

There are certain tricky questions I've developed stock answers for.
Questions like, do you write assignments, what's the point of post-modernism and how do I get crime statistics on left-handed burglars called Geoff in the UK?

But the big one is always 'how many references do I need?' The problem with the answer is the problem with the question. How do you quantify enough of anything? Enough to pass? Enough to get an 'A'? The question also presupposes that all references are equally good; they're not. So an assignment with 20 poor references probably won't be marked as highly as an assignment with 12 good quality ones. Put simply, the quantity is secondary, the quality is primary.

For dissertations this 'how many is enough' question is particularly difficult. For undergrads you're partly constrained by your word limit. You couldn't physically fit 300 references into a 6000 word dissertation even if you wanted to.
The best advice I can offer is this; look at how academics write journal articles, look at how they use referencing to construct and support their arguments and look at how often they do this. That should give you a pretty good idea of how often to reference whilst your writing, and in so doing you'll naturally end up with enough academic back up to write a decent piece of work.

Don't be afraid of the 'A' word

I've been thinking recently about the perceptions that come with the word 'academic' and how it can be used in both a positive or intimidatory way. I know a bit about this; for a start I have the word academic in my job title, which frankly is a bit of a give away.

But does that make me an academic?

Honestly, I'm not sure. Some days I feel absolutely confident in what I'm doing, saying and sharing. On those days I'd probably say 'yeah' I'm an academic. But equally there are times when I go to meetings with 'proper' academics when I feel about twelve years-old.

When I first started working in academic libraries a typical mistake made by librarians was to try and turn students into proto-librarians. This was clearly a terrible idea and luckily for you this approach is now illegal in most civilized countries. Now the trend is to try to turn students into proto-academics. Although you may not personally be comfortable with this notion, I think it's a much more healthy option.

Because I think you are all proto-academics; you research, you evaluate, you debate and you may well eventually publish. You may not ultimately describe yourself as academic within your chosen full-time career, but along the way you contribute to the total sum of academic human knowledge and what could be smarter and more honourable than that?

Just remember this; everyone starts somewhere. Academics are not born, they get to be academics by reading stuff and writing about it, exactly the same way you do when you write assignments.

Finally, to those of you who are about to hand in dissertations, I trust you luxuriate in the feeling of having wings on your feet. I hope you learned something new about yourself and your topic along the way and I congratulate you on your efforts.