ICT615 Information Technology Research Methods

ICT615 Information Technology Research Methods
Topic 2
Conducting a literature review
This session will introduce you to literature reviews. We will look at what they are, why they
are needed and how they should be written. You will also have a session with the IT librarian
to gain practical experience using the available resources to identify and obtain literature
needed for a literature review.
Reading
Required:
● Oates, B. J. (2006) Researching Information Systems and Computing. Chapter 6.
Other readings:
Randolph, J. J. (2009) A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Assessment,
Research and Evaluation 14(13). Available from http://pareonline.net/pdf/v14n13.pdf
Taylor, D. The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It *
* Available from the Library’s electronic reserve section
Aims
After completing this topic you should be able to:
● Understand the main reasons why researchers conduct literature reviews
● Describe the objectives of a literature review
● Use Murdoch University library electronic resources to identify and obtain relevant
literature resources
● Cite references and create reference lists using common referencing styles
● Acquire EndNote bibliographic software and use it to store and manage your references
(http://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Endnote)
Tutorial Tasks
1. Create an outline of the structure of the literature review component of the following
paper (available through the library catalogue or from Google Scholar). The outline
should start with the formal structure (i.e. headings and any sub-headings) and you
should represent the structure the authors have used within this formal structure with a
list of the main points being made.
1