Learn the basic steps of a reference, and you can hit the rhythm with any style you need.
Referencing – why is it snow important?
When walking in the snow we need the right footwear, and to keep warm, a scarf, hat, and gloves are also of great help. By doing so, we are adapting to the environment and using the right tools at the right time for the job at hand.
The same is true when adapting to academic writing where referencing is a key tool.
When you are writing a piece of work and you use someone else’s thoughts, words or ideas, you must reference them. But why do we talk about referencing so much at University, and why is it so important? Why should you bother spending time on ensuring that your references are consistent, accurate and correct?
It all comes down to why we reference in the first place:
- To make your contribution clear by showing which words and ideas are yours, and which have come from your reading.
- To acknowledge the work of others and to demonstrate how you have built on the knowledge that you’ve gained from your reading.
- To ensure that the reader can follow up on your references for themselves.
- To avoid being wrongly accused of plagiarism.
Watch our short video to find out a little more about why we should bother with referencing.
Find out more on our Managing Information skills guide.
Routine for Referencing
What are the key steps to a successful routine for referencing? Of all the enquiries we get in the Library, referencing is the most common.
Referencing is the acknowledgement of the sources that you use in your work. You must reference all sources that you use in your assignment, project or dissertation, including words and ideas, facts, images, videos, audio, websites, statistics, diagrams and data.
Over the next two weeks weeks we’re focusing on referencing, giving you the routine for success. As a novice, you might need a little help to understand the steps and techniques for your referencing style.
We’ll tell you where to get advice and help
Understand why we reference and how
How to avoid plagiarism
How to manage your information to make your life easier and assignments less stressful, giving you the routine for success.
Mobile Apps & Resources Guide
Our mobile devices are great for helping us to stay in touch with friends and family, keeping us up-to-date with the latest trends and news on social media and, of course, for sharing cat videos.
However, your mobile device can also be a great tool for learning and study, if you’ve got the right apps!
With recommendations from students in SNES, (who have been using tablets on their course for the past year) our updated Mobile Apps and Resources Guide provides a host of freely available apps and mobile friendly resources that can help you get the most from your device. It includes apps for study and productivity, creativity and design, history, languages, business, science and more.
So whether you’re just getting set up with your tablet or an old hand looking for something new to help keep you organised with your work or up-to-date in your subject area, our guide has something to help.
Some highlights include:
Microsoft Office Lens – this app helps you make documents or pictures of whiteboards screen readable. You can also use Office Lens to convert images to PDF, Word and PowerPoint files.
Pocket – allows you to save articles, videos and stories from any publication, page or app to read at a later time.
Trello – a useful tool that helps you to organize and prioritize your projects using boards, lists and cards.
BrowZine – a tool that allows you to access and keep up to date with key journal titles that the Library subscribes to in your subject area.
If you have any further suggestions for useful apps that we could add to the guide, let us know at: lib-sage@ncl.ac.uk
Finding theses from elsewhere
Although the Library holds copies of all Newcastle University PhD theses and copies of theses written for other research degrees, you may find you need a thesis from elsewhere. If this is the case, our Theses and Dissertations guide is a good place to start. This tells you what print and electronic theses we hold and where to find other UK or international theses.
Ethos
Ethos allows you to search the details of 500,000 UK theses from over 120 institutions, from the 1970s to date. The full text of about one fifth of these is available for immediate download to registered users, and in other cases, you may be able to request a copy in digital or other format (for which there may be a charge).
Can’t find the theses you’re looking for? If all else fails, it may be worth checking to see if an institution has its own repository.
OFF THE SHELF – National Poetry Day
National Poetry Day marks its 25th anniversary this year with a mass participation campaign that highlights poetry’s power to harness the truth about life.
In commemoration of the event, Teaching Fellow Sue Spencer will be returning to the Law Library and Walton Library to take poetry off the shelf and share some meaningful conversations about the truths that really matter.
Drop in for a one-to-one chat and she’ll offer a listening ear and a poem to inspire, soothe and comfort you!
Wednesday 2nd October, 3-5pm
Law Student Common Area, Newcastle Law School
Thursday 3rd October, 4.40-6.30pm
Walton Library, Newcastle University Medical School
No appointments necessary.
Brought to you in conjunction with the Medicine in Literature and Law in Literature Collections.
Welcome to the University Library
Whether you’re a fresher or a final year student we want to help you get the most from your Library. From discovering resources to finding the right study space, to where to go to get help with your coursework. We’ve made a short video so if you’ve only a few minutes to spare it’s all you need to get started….
Transitioning from school to university
Summer professional readings
Looking for something to read this August – whiling the time away with your toes between the sand, the sound of waves splashing, and the sun warming up your bones? I know a summer read is normally something a bit fluffier, however you might want to read one these top reads that were recommended at two conferences I attended recently here on campus (Professional Services Conference and the SAgE PGR Conference). All three books are conveniently available for you to loan from Newcastle University Library…click on the book cover to take you to the library catalogue entry:
New service helps you search beyond our Library
A new search service, Library Hub Discover, has just launched, replacing the old COPAC database (which enabled you to search across UK academic and research libraries) and SUNCAT (which searched for journals elsewhere).
Library Hub Discover offers a new and improved interface to search across the catalogues of 100 UK and Irish academic, national and specialist libraries, with many more libraries due to be added soon.
A new related service, Library Hub Compare, enables you to analyse and compare library collections and identify relative strengths. So, if you want to assess which libraries in a region have particularly strong holdings relating to your research area, this is a neat way of doing it.
Read more about the new services and keep up with developments by following JiscLibraryHub.