Category Archives: literature mapping

small scholarly worlds

Despite our globally connected digital world, we still primarily live in “small worlds”. Well, that’s according to George Siemens (2004). Small worlds are generally populated by people who have similar interests and knowledges, Siemens says. However, each small world can … Continue reading

Posted in connectivism, george Siemens, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, networks | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

not reading everything

Last week was the first week of teaching. New class. New co-teacher. And for the third year running, the course has been redesigned. From a mix of online and face to face, to all on line, and now all face … Continue reading

Posted in literature mapping, literature reviews, reading, scan-reading | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

finding debates and discussions in the literature

Working with literatures? One of the things you’re advised to do by people like me is to identify debates and discussions. That’s because you are very likely to want to contribute to a discussion. And to do this you will … Continue reading

Posted in citations, debates in the field, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, literature themes | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

what’s all this reading about then – starting the PhD

When you begin the PhD you will be told to read, and read a lot. But you’ll find not any old approach to reading will do. It’s a particular kind of reading that’s expected. So it’s important to get a … Continue reading

Posted in literature mapping, literature review, PhD, reading, Reading, starting the PhD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

how to start your literature review

Thinking of starting a doctorate? Already deep into PhDing and worried about the literature work? Well, when it comes to working with literatures, the old saying that there’s more than one way to skin a cat might be ugly, but … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, literature themes | Tagged , | Leave a comment

reading against the literatures – #litreview

Advice on literature reviews pretty well always say something like – the literature review should say what’s already been said about your topic – or – you need to bring together the particular literatures that your study is going to … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, literature a resource, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

getting to grips with new literatures

Over time all researchers build a knowledge base about their key interests. A large part of this knowledge is a core set of literatures. They/we do need to keep up to date, but they/we can rely on – and use … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, Endnote, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, note-taking | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

getting ready to write about “the literature”

You’ve all heard that the doctorate is about making an original contribution To the literature. Well, that’s right, although what that means is not nearly as scary as it sounds. What you may not be told is that doing a … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, preparation | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

quick lit – rapid evidence reviewing

This is one of a very occasional set of posts about some of my own academic work that you might find useful. A colleague and I have just undertaken what is called in the (academic) trade a Rapid Evidence Review. … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, Rapid Evidence Review | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

literatures work – and a pair of new shoes…

It’s September and the Autumn equinox. To mark the occasion, I took my new pair of lace-up boots out of their box and gave them their first wearing/airing. Now anyone who knows me knows that I always have a pair … Continue reading

Posted in literature mapping, literature review, literature reviews, mapping, reading, scan-reading, scoping, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments