General Practice Notebook: an online medical encyclopaedia
"GPnotebook is a concise synopsis of the entire field of clinical medicine focussed on the needs of the General Practitioner.
The database is continually being updated by a team of authors. We take a pragmatic approach to authoring: we look out for topical issues, keep track of the journals and update material in response to user feedback.
We use a range of knowledge sources, including clinical experience, knowledge taken from literature reviews, original research articles and guidelines published by national and international bodies. In many cases references are made to sources of information; we are committed to making GPnotebook fully referenced in the near future. As a team we review each other's work but we also rely in the feedback from experts in primary care and the various clinical specialities to keep us on the right track.
Our editorial decisions are based on merit and are not influenced by any funding bodies.
We make every effort to ensure that the contents of the site are correct however we cannot be held responsible for any errors or ommissions."
(Oxbridge Solutions Ltd., UK)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Preserving the Knowledge Commons
"when scholars use systems of reference to link one work to another, they establish and exercise underlying fabrics of trust. These fabrics serve to tie researchers to other researchers, teachers to students, and creators to users over time and place into durable and productive scholarly communities. The linked works represent the common pools of knowledge - the knowledge commons - over which members of these communities labor to produce new knowledge. And the links work, the trust endures, and the commons nourishes the intellectual life if and only if cited material is preserved so that, when a link is made, the reader is able to check the reference at the other end."
(Donald J. Waters)
[1] Waters, D. J. (2006). Preserving the Knowledge Commons. Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice, MIT Press.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
PaperScope: a tool for graphically representing reference and citation chains
"PaperScope is a tool for graphically exploring the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) which is a database of published astrophysics papers. PaperScope is extremely useful for identifying the citation/reference relationships between papers, and enables the user to visualize these relationships to make locating papers of interest easier. Use it for constructing reference or citation chains, as well as identifying common references/citations between several key papers. It is a tool designed to simplify the process of searching for relevant papers to an astrophysics researcher whether they be a professor, post doc, or student."
(Mark Holliman, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
What is a literature review?
"A literature review is the review of a collection of published research relevant to a research question. All good research and writing is guided by a review of the relevant literature.
...
the purpose of the literature review remains the same. It is an essential test of the research question against that which is already known about the subject.
The literature review reveals whether or not a research question has already been answered by someone else. If it has, often the question needs to be changed or modified, so that an original contribution to the research is made.
What are some tips for literature review research?
Focus the search.
Having the research question written down, and on hand, can prevent inefficient wandering into research areas unrelated to the subject.
When to narrow the search.
If too many citations appear for a question then it is too broad, and a more focused question needs to be asked.
When to broaden the search.
If few citations appear for a question, then the topic is too narrow. Perhaps the question needs to be broadened.
Conduct a systematic search.
If little research has been done in an area, then a systematic search is necessary. One option is journals that print abstracts in a subject area which can provide an overview of the scope of the available literature. Other options are a general source, such as a book, or a specific source, such as a research paper, which can provide a starting point and a list of references to begin investigating.
Take thorough notes.
Taking thorough notes saves research time, as references can be quickly accessed again. (Suggestion: open a document in WordPad (Windows) or SimpleText (Macintosh) while running a computer search, and toggle back and forth between the search screen and document to record findings)."
(Union Institute & University)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
A body of literature is a system of interconnected writings
"A [body of] literature is a system of interconnected writings. We do not offer this as our definition, but as a discovered fact. And almost all writing is part of some literature.
These interconnections do not exist on paper except in rudimentary form, and we have tended not to be aware of them. We see individual documents but not the literature, just as people see other individuals but tend not to see the society or culture that surround them.
The way people read and write is based in large part on these interconnections.
A person reads an article. He or she says to himself or herself, 'Where have I seen something like that before? Oh, yes' -- and the previous connection is brought mentally into play."
(Ted Nelson)
Literary MACHINES 1980 bis 1987, by Theodor Holm NELSON ISBN 0-893467-056-2
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
