When composing any piece of written academic work – be it an essay, dissertation or review – it is important to reference secondary sources clearly. There are several methods by which you may do this, though the choice may be made for you: some publications specify how their work must be acknowledged, and indeed some […]
Any extended piece of writing such as a dissertation naturally requires considerably more depth of analysis than undergraduate and Masters essays. Narrow, trivial or shallow research questions will not generate enough depth of discussion and will therefore limit the mark you can expect to achieve.
Starting an undergraduate or postgraduate dissertation means that you are going to be spending plenty of time in libraries and archives. There are a range of library classification systems that are in use in the UK and it is well worth taking a little time to understand them. Some university libraries use several systems (for example the Bliss system and the Dewey system) which can make the researcher’s job that little bit harder. Often this is the result of two collections having been brought together in one library, or that the library decided to change systems and work is in progress! As you start your dissertation writing, make sure you are familiar with the most common classification systems:-
