1. DISSERTATION RESEARCH
LEX4160
CATHERINE FUNNELL
SENIOR LIAISON LIBRARIAN LAW AND
MARKETING
SHEPPARD LIBRARY
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY
MARCH 2012

2. Why Do a Dissertation?
Take 5-10 minutes and write down why you
are doing a dissertation. What is the
purpose of undertaking a dissertation?
What are the/your objectives?
What elements are involved in the process?

3. Why Do a Dissertation?
...................A Job/Personal Satisfaction

4. Objectives
To be able to undertake a substantial piece
of academic study
To be able to develop a personal specialism
To put a personal stamp on a piece of work
To be able to explore the literature on a
chosen topic

5. Objectives
To be able to refine and extend skills in
finding,selecting and critically analysing
information
To be able to refine skills in decision –making,task
management and problem solving
To be able to refine skills in summarising and
presenting findings
Cottrell, The Study Skills Handbook

6. Processes Involved
 Planning/Organising
 Literature Review
 Research
 Writing

7. Literature Review
Signifies the systematic study of a topic
Defines, describes and explains what the
topic is
Requires the ability to access and critically
assess the various debates and issues the
topic has generated
Salter M and Mason

8. Planning /Organising

9. Undertaking a Literature Review
http://www.mondofacto.com/study-skills/writing/how-to-write-
your-literature-review/06.html

10. Useful Checklist

11. Some Useful Titles-1st Floor Sheppard Library
For Undertaking Literature Reviews

12. Researching and Writing Dissertations
Try using legal
writing, legal
composition and /or
legal research as
search keywords

13. Legal Writing on the Catalogue-27 Results

14. Some Really Useful Titles
McConville is Available as an E Book

15. SCONUL(Society of College, National and University Libraries)
 Have Developed policies to promote the research
process in higher education
 Within these policies they have identified the skills
that a research student should be mastering whilst
undertaking the research and writing of a
dissertation

16. The Skills
 Ability to distinguish the gap between what you
already know and what you need to know to
complete a dissertation
 Distinguishing the ways in which this information
gap may be addressed(awareness of different ways
of meeting your information needs-variety of
sources and channels, eg books, journals, reports
etc)
 Constructing strategies to locate information
(getting the best out of your sources for effective
results)

17. The Skills
 Locating and accessing information(knowledge and
skills to extract the information-using Boolean Logic
 Comparing and evaluating information from
different sources(comparing different
perspectives, evaluating the information critically
and carefully)
 Organising, applying and communicating the
information to others(bibliographic management
tools, citing appropraitely)

18. The Skills
 Finally, synthesising and building upon existing
information with the creation of new knowledge,new
content,new perspective

19. Recap
 Ok, some of you may be enrolled in LEX4110, Issues
in EU Law and you recently undertook a Research
Proposal for your paper on an EU topic
 So basically what you will be doing with your
dissertation is a similar but substantively more
comprehensive and longer version of the LEX 4110
assignment
 But you will already have worked through the
rudiments of what will be involved in a dissertation

20. Evaluating Information
 Remember one of the objectives in undertaking a
dissertation is developing your ‘talent’ for
evaluating information-critically assessing the
quality of the information you are gathering
 You will need to evaluate for for both quality and
relevance
 Determine if what you are finding is both what you
need and trustworthy

21. Considerations When Evaluating
 Authority: Who is the author? What is their
knowledge base/qualifications?Is the article
published in a scholarly/peer reviewed journal?
 Relevance: Is it ‘pitched’ at the appropriate level? Is
it what I really need?
 Objectivity: Balanced view? Are opposing views
presented? Supporting Information?

22. Considerations When Evaluating
 Intent: What is the purpose of the information-eg
financial gain,propaganda, academic etc?
 Currency: How old is the information? When was it
last updated and by whom?

23. Evaluating Websites
Considerations are very similar to those evaluating
Information
Authority: Who is responsible for the page/site? A
reliable organisation or subject expert(s)? Can you
trust them?
Accuracy/Reliability: is the information correct?
Grammar and spelling correct? Just one point of
view? Agenda-is it their own? Fact/opinion?

24. Evaluating Websites
 Audience: Is the information at the right levelto be quoted
in your work?(general, public higher education)
 Currency: Can you tell how upto date it is? Is it regularly
updated?
 Feel: Is the site well structured and easy to navigate? Links
up to date and working?
If the site is well designed and maintained then you can feel
more confident about the information it provides

25. Have a Look at...........
INTERNET DETECTIVE TUTORIAL
Really useful
site!
(http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index/htm)

26. .................................And Also
Internet Lawyer Terrific
Help!
(http://www.sosig.ac.uk/vts/lawyers/index.htm)

27. Authoritative ?
Take 10
minutes
and
evaluate
http://www.worldlii.org

28. Dissertations/Theses

29. Middlesex Dissertations
Search the
library
catalogue for
Middlesex
Dissertations.
Use the default
General
Keyword
option and
type
dissertation Click on
law the title
to view
details

30. Complete Request Form
Take to Help Desk-Ground Floor
DISSERTATION
REQUEST
(Please complete all sections)
Please note this is a 2 hour
service
Borrower Surname:
------------------___________________
_____
Date: ________________ Time:
______________
ID Number:
_________________________
Author:
______________________________
____
Title:
______________________________
______
Barcode: _________________
Year: __________

31. ETHOS-British Library
Where theses are
digitised they are usually
available as a free
download. Register at
ethos.bl.uk. See the
ETHoS FAQ page for
more information OR
USE THE LINK ON MY
Subject Guide

32. Index to Theses
Can access link
from my Subject
Guide

33. Getting Started
Step 1
Step 2

34. Abstract and Access to Thesis
Step 3
Step 4

35. Current Awareness
BLOGS!
PODCASTS
!
RSS ALERTS!
FEEDS!

36. International Law-International Criminal Court
Access this site via
link on my Subject
Guide
Important to keep
up to date with
developments, eg
cases. Look at Press
Releases

37. Press Releases
Keep yourself
informed about
the status of a
case

38. Blogs
I have a number
of key BLOGs on
my Subject
Guide but there
are numerous
other useful
ones-see next
slide

39. More Useful Blogs
 Inner Temple Library
http://www.innertemplelibrary.com/
Law Professor Blogs
http://www.lawprofessorblogs.com/
UK Lawyers Blog of Blawgs
http://www.ukblawgroundup.co.uk/
Martin Partington-Key Developments in Justice System
http://martinpartington.com/

40. Podcasts
 Legal Current
http://legalcurrent.libsyn.com/
Oxford Transitional Justice Research Podcasts
(Recordings of selected seminars, workshops and
conferences)
http://www.csls.ox.ac.uk/otjr.php?show=podcasts
Law Society Gazette Newsfeeds
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/node/rssfeed

41. Other Libraries/Catalogues

42. Copac
Testing a Beta
Version Try it out
Free access to
merged online
catalogues of
many major
university,
specialist and
national
libraries in UK
and Ireland(BL)

43. Choose Advanced Search
Step 1
Step 2

44. Searching for Theses on a Topic

45. Results
Published
3
Click On this 2
1

46. Availability

47. Availability eg .-Blackwells
If You Wish to Purchase

48. Summary of Book

49. British Library’s Holdings

50. Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan

51. Access From Library Services >Visiting Other Libraries

52. IALS(Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)
Access for full
time taught
postgraduate and
PhD students only
–with letter from
Director of LLM
Programme and
MDX student card

53. Bibliographic Management Software
Save Citations
and Format a
Bibliography!

54. REFWORKS AND LEXIS
New way of
displaying results
Search
statement is
lamfalussy w/p
“european
union”

55. Saving Your Results
Export to
Refworks
It’s a good
idea to save
your results in
a
Bibliographic
Management
System

56. Click on Refworks Icon
Step 1
Step 2

57. Create a Folder
Step
1
Register in
Refworks
and then
create a
New
Folder

58. MY MAIN REFWORKS PAGE-I HAVE ALREADY CREATED
FOLDERS
Folders
already
created

59. Give the Folder a Name
Folder
appears on
Quick
Access

60. Set up Your Search on Lexis

61. Export to Refworks

62. Click on Export

63. Journal Citation Has Been Exported to Refworks

64. Click on Last Imported

65. Add to My List
You can create a
LIST of citations
that will then be
converted into a
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Once added to
your list it will
say
COMPLETED
in green

66. Create a Bibliography

67. Create a Bibliography
1
2
3
4

68. Bibliography Completed

69. Formatted Saved Bibliography
 Barnard, Catherine, 'The EU constitution-dealing with the deficit - 156 NLJ 173'
(2006) The New Law Journal.
 Duina, Francesco, 'Book Review: National Parliaments and European Democracy: A
Bottom-up Approach to European Constitutionalism - Eur J Int Law (2008) 19 (2):
454' (2008) European Journal of International Law.
 Koskenniemi, Martti, ''By Their Acts You Shall Know Them ...' (And Not by Their
Legal Theories) - Eur J Int Law (2004) 15 (4): 839' (2004) European Journal of
International Law.
 Kumm, Mattias, 'The Legitimacy of International Law: A Constitutionalist
Framework of Analysis - Eur J Int Law (2004) 15 (5): 907' (2004) European Journal
of International Law.
 Snell, Jukka, 'European Constitutional Settlement, an Ever-Closing Union, and the
Treaty of Lisbon: Democracy or Relevance' (2008) Eur Law Rev.
 Thürer1, Daniel, 'Max Huber: A Portrait in Outline - Eur J Int Law (2007) 18 (1): 69'
(2007) European Journal of International Law.

70. Export from BSC to Refworks
We’ll search
the same
keywords in
another
database and
export to
RefWorks

71. Result List
Click on the 1st
result you want to
look at

72. Export to Refworks
Step 2
Step 1

73. Results Exported
Click on View
Last
Imported

74. BSC Article Now in Refworks

75. Add to Designated Folder
Step 2
Place a tick in the
rectangular
box, hover over
Step 3 downward arrow
and click on ADD
Step 1 TO and then click
on Folder you want
to add to

76. Create Bibliography of Merged Records(Lexis and BSC)

77. Choose the EU and Democratic Folder
Step 1
Step 2

78. Merged Bibliography
 Barnard, Catherine, 'The EU constitution-dealing with the deficit - 156 NLJ 173' (2006) The New Law Journal.
 Bellamy, Richard, 'Still in Deficit: Rights, Regulation, and Democracy in the EU' (2006) 12(6) European Law Journal 725.
LEXIS
 Bellamy, Richard, 'Still in Deficit: Rights, Regulation, and Democracy in the EU' (2006) 12(6) European Law Journal 725.
 Crum, Ben, 'Tailoring Representative Democracy to the European Union: Does the European Constitution Reduce the Democratic Deficit?' (2005) 11(4)
European Law Journal 452.
 Duina, Francesco, 'Book Review: National Parliaments and European Democracy: A Bottom-up Approach to European Constitutionalism - Eur J Int Law
(2008) 19 (2): 454' (2008) European Journal of International Law.
 Etzioni, Amitai, 'The Community Deficit' (2007) 45(1) Journal of Common Market Studies 23.
 Fossum, John Erik and Agustín Jos Menéndez, 'The Constitution's Gift? A Deliberative Democratic Analysis of Constitution Making in the European Union'
(2005) 11(4) European Law Journal 380.
 Kitus, Andro, 'Europeanization, democratic deficit and the constitutional debate in Estonia' (2008) 21(2) Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences
111.
 Koskenniemi, Martti, ''By Their Acts You Shall Know Them ...' (And Not by Their Legal Theories) - Eur J Int Law (2004) 15 (4): 839' (2004) European Journal
of International Law.
 Kumm, Mattias, 'The Legitimacy of International Law: A Constitutionalist Framework of Analysis - Eur J Int Law (2004) 15 (5): 907' (2004) European Journal
of International Law.
 Lord, Christopher, 'Still in democratic deficit' (2008) 43(6) Intereconomics 316.
 Meadowcroft, John, 'The European Democratic Deficit, the Market and the Public Space: A Classical Liberal Critique' (2002) 15(3) Innovation: The European
Journal of Social Sciences 181.
 Snell, Jukka, 'European Constitutional Settlement, an Ever-Closing Union, and the Treaty of Lisbon: Democracy or Relevance' (2008) Eur Law Rev.
 Thürer1, Daniel, 'Max Huber: A Portrait in Outline - Eur J Int Law (2007) 18 (1): 69' (2007) European Journal of International Law.
BSC

79. FLAG(Foreign Guide IALS)

80. Enter as Much Information

81. Results

82. Detailed Record of Holdings

83. United Nations Treaty Collection
http://www.treaties.un.org

84. Lawlinks-University of Kent
http://www.kent.ac.uk//lawlin
Excellent source
for links to
further useful
resources

85. My Subject Guide!

86. Dissertation Writing and Plagiarism
Their
Calendar is
Book a time in one of
available via
these Workshops with
My
staff from the LDU
UniHub>My
Study>My
Learning

87. Finally...................
Contact me
Catherine Funnell
c.funnell@mdx.ac.uk