Library, study and digital skills
Dissertation and research project success
Guidance for your dissertation or research project, including finding and accessing resources, tracking your research, and borrowing specialist equipment.
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Our dissertation and research project success guidance is here to provide support with researching and writing your dissertation.
For many of our students, your course at York St John University will be your first experience of writing a research project or dissertation. Even if you have written a research project before, they can still be a daunting task.
Your project will involve researching an area of interest in more depth than in previous assignments. Our guides will help you find the right tools for your subject and get the most out of your research.
Explore our guidance to start preparing for your project, or get to know the teams that can provide you with more support.
Guidance
Accessing resources
How to find and use resources for your project, including specialist subject material, different types of resource, and resources from outside York St John.
Track searches and reading
Keeping records of your searches and reading for your project, including formulating search questions, documenting research, and saving references.
Printing and media equipment
Accessing specialist equipment such as cameras and scanners for your project, and how to get your finished document printed and bound.
Support for your project
Our Academic Services teams are here to help you with every step of your dissertation or research project. Explore the drop-down to find the support you need.
Academic Liaison Librarians
Our Academic Liaison Librarians (ALLs) are specialists in information finding, evaluation and use.
Each course has a dedicated ALL, who you may have already met during your studies. They may also contribute to your dissertation module. Each year the ALLs work with researchers to advise on using journal search tools, online searching techniques, and evaluation of sources.
Subjects covered in dissertation or research project tutorials can include:
- Using reference management tools to track and format references.
- Using Google Scholar to track how research is used elsewhere.
- Planning a systematic search strategy for an extended literature review.
- How to document a search to show that the process was appropriate for the project.
- Using tools such as Box of Broadcasts, Emerald business journal database, and 19th Century Newspapers database to find subject resources.
Study Development Tutors
Our Study Development Tutors can help you with a range of skills which are useful for your project. These include:
- Reflecting on your planning process.
- Developing your academic writing.
- Improving your time management skills.
Digital Training
The Digital Training team can advise you on a variety of academic technologies. They run bookable group workshops and 1 to 1 tutorials so you can develop the digital skills you need for your research.
Their tutorials include:
- Microsoft Office, including Word documents and Excel spreadsheets and charts.
- Video, audio and image editing.
- Portfolio creation using Mahara and PebblePad.
- Surveys and analysis using Qualtrics and NVivo.
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