Information Technology

Databases

The Library pays subscriptions to a number of specialist database providers. These can be used to find useful resources for your task.

Why use databases? +

They contain high quality material that is generally not freely available.

Experts write reviews and provide case studies.Academics compete to publish in highly prestigious journals.

Journals and Conferences are conducted by authorative bodies such as universities and professional associations. Presenting at a peak conference or having a paper published in a reputable journal can be a career enhancing experience.

Many of the sources within databases have been peer reviewed. Before publication articles are reviewed and assessed by experts within the field to determine whether the article meets scholarly quality criteria.

Locating the complete article

You will sometimes come across references to articles that are not available as full text.You may need to search in a few different places to find the full text, in our catalogue, using citation linker or for those who are eligible (Masters by Coursework, PhD and staff) by requesting an interlibrary loan.

Search IT quickset

Science Direct
A prominent source of academic information in the fields of science, technology, medicine and psychology.

ACM Digital Library
Association for Computing Machinery full text access to the ACM Digital Library Core magazines, journals and ACM Digital Master SIG (Special Interest Group) conference proceedings and newsletters.

Emerald
A leading publisher of peer reviewed journals, including business and management.

Gartner
Leading provider of research and anlaysis on the global IT industry, provides case studies, market analysis, forecasts and best practice.

Access the complete list of IT databases

Help
Do it yourself: Try the interactive tutorials.
Assistance from the Library staff: Ask Us or come to a workshop

Using General Sources effectively

Wikipedia

The free encyclopedia anyone can edit.

Wikipedia and other traditional print or electronic encyclopedias are very handy when you need to get a quick handle on a topic. Use them to identify key theorists and resources, then see if you can locate the original work.

Warning!

Few academics will accept Wikipedia as a quality source in your assessment task. Most would like to see that you have been able to locate and identify authorative sources such as journal articles, books, case studies and conference papers.

Research has been likened to gaming. You need to use a variety of tools (which have different capabilities), collect things from different places and then transform them into something of value. It requires thinking, persistence and creativity. Help is available.

Google

Searches publicly available websites.

Google Scholar

Locates references to academic books, journal articles, conference papers. Bookmark this link http://ezproxy.cdu.edu.au/login?url=http://scholar.google.com

If prompted sign in using your student logon details, generally when off-campus. Edit the Scholar preferences Library Links to locate CDU Library.

You will then be recognized as a CDU student and will be able to access the complete article via the Full text @ CDU link of anything we have purchased access rights to via our databases.

Help
Do it yourself: Try the interactive tutorials. Assistance from the Library staff: Ask Us or come to a workshop

Manuals

As well as books on a wide variety of IT topics such as usability, Ruby for Rails, information management, the Library has general resources to help you with your studies.

"Project Management" and "Information Techology", Report Writing

Search the CDU Catalogue

Reading Lists

Locate your reading list items on E-Reserve by lecturer or unitcode or search the CDU Catalogue to find your Set texts.

Locating items using a reference/bibliography list

To find these items you need to be able to interpret the reference and identify the type of publication, whether it is a book or journal. Use these publication details to search the CDU Library catalogue.

Hint!

If you attempt to search the Library catalogue using title of the article or book chapter, you will not find it. Can't tell a reference to a Journal articles from a conference paper or a chapter from edited book?
This tutorial from Monash clearly demonstrates how to identify the different parts of a reference.

Help

Do it yourself: Try the interactive tutorials.
Assistance from the Library staff: Ask Us or come to a workshop.

Evaluating tools and resources or why you can't rely on one tool alone

Authority Who is the author and what expertise do they have in this area?
Purpose and objectivity Ask yourself why this was written and for whom.
Validity How true and accurate is the information?
Uniqueness What does this work offer compared to other resources?
Currency Is it outdated information?
Affiliation Is it from an institution & what reputation does it have?
Audience Who is the intended audience?
Scope What do you need, a quick understanding of a topic or in depth specialist knowledge?

Help
Do it yourself: Try the interactive tutorials.
Assistance from the Library staff: Ask Us or come to a workshop

Why do I need to reference?

Because you have to. The University expects it. Referencing, when done correctly acknowledges the work of others and will prevent you from accusations of intellectual theft and plagiarism.

It allows the reader to follow an idea, using the details provided, to locate the original publication. This could be because the reader is interested in the topic or because they wish to verify the details of the quotation, making sure the author hasn't been taken out of context.

How do I reference properly?

Check out the support material on the Library's Referencing Page .The main referencing style you will use in IT is CDU Harvard.

Endnote + Endnote web are tools that can assist you with managing and formatting your references.