Understanding References for Physics Students

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Understanding Referencesfor Physics Students
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Introduction

• We will look at the content of common references
  that you may see on your reading list
• Journal Article
• Book
• Book Chapter
• Websites
• Highlight how to find the first three on the
  Library catalogue
• The references are in numeric style as this is
  used by the Physics department
• Each reference will contain the same
  bibliographic information that you will need to
  include in your bibliography when writing an
  assignment

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Journals

• These are regular publications
• They contain information on very specific,
  up-to-date research written by academics and
  researchers
• A years worth of publications often corresponds
  to a volume and each volume is made up of a
  number of issues

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Journal Reference

• Family name, Initial(s). Title of article.
  Journal title, Year volume (issue number), page
  numbers.
• Taber, K. S. If you can't take the heat don't
  enter the classroom. Physics Education, 2007
  42(5), 430-431.

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Locating on the catalogue

• To locate this item on the catalogue you will
  need to search for the title of the journal
  first, NOT the title of the article
• Only if there is no result for the journal
  title, should you try an author title search for
  the article. In some cases the library may hold
  a photocopy of an individual article.

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Understanding Book References

• Family name, initial(s). Title of book. City of
  publication Publisher, year
• Squires, G. L. Practical Physics. Cambridge
  Cambridge University Press, 2001.

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Locating on the catalogue

• Squires, G. L. Practical Physics. Cambridge
  Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• To locate this item on the library catalogue
  use the Combined Author and Title search, enter
  the authors surname and the first keyword of the
  title

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Reference for a Book Chapter

• Family name, Initial(s). Chapter title. In
  Editors names (eds.)Title of book. City of
  publication Publisher, year.
• Attal, S. The Hamiltonian approach. In Attal,
  S. Joye, A. Pillet, C. (eds.) Open quantum
  systems. Berlin Springer, 2006.

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Locating on the catalogue

• Attal, S. The Hamiltonian approach. In Attal,
  S. Joye, A. Pillet, C. (eds.) Open quantum
  systems. Berlin Springer, 2006
• To locate this item on the library catalogue
  you will need to search for the author and title
  of the book, NOT the author and title of the
  chapter

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Web page reference

• Family name, Initial(s).Title online. Date
  accessed. Year . Available from url of site
• Bunn, T. Black holes FAQ online. Accessed 1
  October 2007 1995. Available from
  http//cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html

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References and Bibliographies

• ALWAYS keep a full and accurate record of your
  information sources
• Make sure you refer correctly to other authors
  within your work to avoid plagiarism
• Use the Library Catalogue to e-mail references
  for saving

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1. Following a catalogue search, place a tick
next to useful records. Click Saved marked
records.
2. Notice that the menu has changed click View
saved
3. Then email the results or save to a memory
stick
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For more information

• Ask your lecturer or tutor to make sure your
  style matches their requirements
• See the Physics guide to Avoiding plagiarism or
  the library guide Writing your bibliography and
  citing references