Library Workshop for Preparation of Honours Project
Research Strategies
Collecting information effectively
for Social Work resources
March 2007
Working on your project proposal
1. Starting Points

Previous work done by the
graduates




<Library’s Honours Project
Database if your dept.
participated>
HKBU Faculty and Staff Papers
and Reports Catalogue
Identify gaps in the literature,
other areas that worth of
exploration
General background of the topic
2. Research Focus
1.
Discuss with your
professor
2.
Is your topic too
broad? Consider a
narrower scope
3.
Write down your
research questions
Working on your project proposal
3. Identify Appropriate Resources
Depending on your needs:
 Do you need current articles or
historical articles?





Do you need government documents?
Do you need the speech or opinions
from the government officials and
members of the Legislative Council in
LegCo meetings?
Do you need statistics?
Do you need survey and polling
results?
Do you need interviews?
LIB Tools
Books, reports in the
Library Catalogue
Journal articles in
e-databases/ e-journals
Newspaper databases
Finding photos/ pictures
on the Internet
Information Scenario Exercise:



Scenario #1: you want to know about social service
policy and planning for the elderly
Scenario #2: you want information that discusses the
pros and cons on the social service policy for the elderly
Scenario #3: you want information on the distribution
of the elderly by districts in Hong Kong
Information Scenario Exercise:

Scenario #1: you want to know about social service
policy and planning for the elderly
Searching Tool: Lib. Catalogue

Scenario #2: you want information that discusses the
pros and cons on the social service policy for the elderly
Searching Tool: Databases

Scenario #3: you want information on the distribution
of the elderly by districts in Hong Kong
Searching Tool: Statistics @Lib. Catalogue/ Internet
Keyword Search Skills
Search Techniques – A Summary

Truncation


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


Behavio?r
Wom?n
Useful to find words in different spelling, singular/plural form
Represent zero or a single character
Phrase search



cultur* VS
cult*
Wildcard


Useful to find words in variant forms
Search all words that start with the same characters
Represent multiple characters
Placement of truncation symbol is significant
mental health AND
To search multiple keywords as an exact phrase
(elder* OR aged)
 E.g. social role
With limitations
e.g. “mental health of the elderly” CANNOT find titles with “Older
people’s mental health”, “Home care support for elderly with
mental health problem”, etc.
Combining the use of AND, OR, AND NOT



Useful to narrow down, expand your search
To exclude unwanted concepts
Use brackets to set search priority
(housing OR residen*)
AND elder* AND NOT hong kong
Search Techniques – A Quiz on using “Truncation”
Advertise
Advertiser
Advertisement
Advertising
Where would you put the *
truncation symbol?
Search Techniques – Keyword VS Subject Headings

Keyword Search VS Subject Headings:
Keyword Search:
Subject Headings:
Social services for the
elderly in Hong Kong
(1 record)
老人福利 – 香港 (36 records)
Older people – Services for – China – Hong
Kong (85 records)
Older people – Social networks – China – Hong
Kong (6 records)
1
Keyword search: Home support services
What are the subject headings found in the records?
Search Techniques – Exact Phrase VS Identify the
KEY Terms

Identify Key Words in your Topic:
Research on:
family violence in Hong Kong
1
How many records can you find
in the library catalogue by using
the exact phrase?
2
What are the KEY terms?
Search Techniques – Exact Phrase VS Identify the
KEY Terms

Identify Key Words in your Topic:
Research on:
social services for the elderly in Hong Kong
1
What are the KEY terms?
2
Combine the KEY terms using “AND”
Search Techniques – Field Search

Field Search (Keyword=XXX)


To search the keyword in a particular field
To avoid retrieving irrelevant records
1
Social role
Keyword search:
2
S: social role
Keyword search:
Irrelevant to “social role” in
Relevant
to “social
in
Social
sciences,
socialrole”
work
social sciences context
context
Subject in community colleges
Subject in men, sex role, social role, masculinity
Applications: Finding Primary Resources

Field Search


To search the keyword
in a particular field
Example: s=subject,
t=title, a=author
Statistics
Formula: <topic> AND
<country/region> AND
s:(statistic* OR 統計)
E.g. 中國 AND (農村 OR 鄉鎮)
AND s:統計
OFFICIAL STATISTICS

Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (香港統計
年刊)

Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics (香港統計
月刊)

Hong Kong Social and Economic Trends (香港社會
及經濟趨勢)

Census & Statistics Dept. Hong Kong Statistics
(Online) at: http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/ (Under
“Statistics by Subject” & “Social Topics Studies”)


Census & Statistics Dept. Thematic Household
Survey Report
Social Welfare Services in Figures (Online) at:
http://www.swd.gov.hk/ (Under “Publications &
Press Release”)

Social Welfare Dept. Support for Victims of Child
Abuse, Spouse Battering and Sexual Violence at:
http://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/english/stat.html
(Under “Statistics on child abuse,… cases”)


Social Welfare Dept. Annual Report.
Non-profit organizations (statistics &
questionnaires)
Applications: Finding Primary Resources

Field Search


To search the keyword
in a particular field
Example: s=subject,
t=title, a=author
1
Find out survey reports
about families in Hong Kong
Surveys and Reports
Formula: <topic> AND
<country/region> AND
s:(social survey* OR
public opinion* OR
case studies OR 調查)
E.g. a:(香港青年協會 OR hong
kong federation of youth
groups) AND (value? OR 人生
觀 OR 價值觀 OR 理想)
2
Find out materials about 家庭
prepared by the 香港社會服務聯會
Applications: Finding Primary Resources

Field Search


To search the
keyword in a
particular field
Example:
s=subject, t=title,
a=author
Legislative Council
Resources
E.g. (a:hong kong AND
legislative council) AND
official record*
Issues discussed in the Legislative Council
Database on particular policy issues:
http://www.legco.gov.hk/database/english/list.htm
Council meetings (The Official Record of Proceedings of the
Legislative Council of HK i.e. HK Hansard)
http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/counmtg/cm0408.htm
Records of the Legislature (before 2004 Sept)
http://www.legco.gov.hk/archive/english/archive.htm
1
Find out discussion on
the policy of minimum wages
in the Legislative Council
Formulate a Search Strategy
Research on:
mental health of older people
Identify the
main
concepts
List possible
Search terms/
synonyms
Combine your
search terms
appropriately
Formulate a Search Strategy
Research on:
mental health of old people
Mental health
Older people
Elder
Elderly
Mental health
Depression
Anxiety
suicide
1. Identify the
main
concepts
Aged
Gerontology
Hong Kong
Mental health AND (elder* or aged or gerontology*)
2. List possible
Search terms
Any
specific?
3. Combine your
search terms
appropriately
(a) Mental health AND (elder * or aged or gerontology) AND (depress* or anxiety)
(b) Mental health AND (elder * or aged or gerontology) AND Hong Kong
Electronic Resources:
Databases
ONLINE DATABASES
Online Databases
(including e-journals)
Social Services
• Social
Services Abstracts
Over 1400 journals in social work, social welfare,
social policy, and community development from
1980 onwards
E-News
• WiseNews
-HK, China, Taiwan &
Macau news
• Lexis-Nexis Academic
- international news
Literature in sociology and in social and behavioral
• SCMP.com
sciences from 1963 onwards
- rolling 7 days
LIBRARY
PsycINFO
• Contemporary China
• Sociological Abstracts
•
In the field of psychology and psychological
aspects of related disciplines, such as psychiatry,
,sociology, education, etc.
• Child abuse, child welfare and adoption
• China Journal Net (中國期刊網-教育及社會科學專輯)
1994年至今的国内公开出版的6100种核心期刊
与专业特色期刊的全文。
Newspaper Clippings
Database(1992-1998)
• Hong Kong Newspaper
Clippings Index 香港報章剪報
目錄 (1980 - 99) in CD-ROM
@MLC
• Ming Pao Monthly 明報月刊
(1995-2000)
• People’s Daily Index 人民日
報索引 (1946-1995)
Research Support
Three Ways to Create your Bibliography
1. Database built-in “Cite this” record format in a citation
style
2.
: Campus-wide Web-based Bibliographic
Management Tool
Functions:
• Import references directly from major databases available through the Library
homepage and the Library Catalogue or from text files, or enter references
manually.
• Create personal folders and organize references into folders for different topics
• Format in-text citations
• Create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles including APA, MLA, and
Chicago.
• Access your references from any location via the Web
3.
Register for a FREE
account from ITSC!
Unit 2.2: Citing Information Resources
@Library Tutorials
Access to Resources Beyond HKBU Library


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Apply for a JULAC Reader Card
 HK$50 per application
 expires at the end of the academic year (i.e. 31st July) and
renew it in a new academic year
 endorsement from supervisor
Request books that our Library does not hold or that have been
checked out, but that are held by other libraries with the status
"AVAILABLE" through Hong Kong Academic Library Link
(HKALL)
Online Interlibrary Loan Request (Final-year)
 First 20 articles per academic year free of charge
 Web-based HKBU ILL System



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First-time user registration
Keep track of the status of requests online
Retrieve electronic articles on desktop
HK$5 charge for each additional article filled by local libraries.