Dealing with literature

Research suitable literature, find the relevant passages with our reading techniques, filter important information and create a clear bibliography.

1. overview of literature research services at Clausthal University of Technology
The TUC University Library has compiled an overview of various databases that you can use for literature research. The TUC also has various e-book licenses, for example for Springer.

Overview of the databases of the TU Clausthal University Library

Overview of the e-book licenses of TU Clausthal

2. training courses and guided tours of the Clausthal University Library
The TUC University Library offers various guided tours and training courses (offline and online) to help you become more familiar with the library and the electronic finding aids.

Trainings and guided tours of the TU Clausthal University Library

3. take reading notes
Once you have found suitable literature for your writing project, you will need to evaluate it competently. The first option is to take reading notes. To do this, write down the bibliography, summarize the content in your own words, formulate open questions about the text, note further thoughts and comment on what you have read.

1. the PQ4R method
This technique will help you to evaluate scientific literature in a targeted manner. You divide your reading process into six different phases:

1. Preview: Skim the entire text and roughly divide it into sections.
2. Questions: Formulate questions in advance, preferably based on the division of the sections. What do you expect to learn from the text?
3. Read: Now read the entire text. Markings or notes can be helpful.
4. Reflect: Pause for a few minutes and think about what you have read. Try to connect new information with your previous knowledge.
5. Recite: Now answer the questions you have asked yourself; to do this, you must reproduce the text in your own words.
6. Review: Finally, summarize the most important information again.

2. speed reading
The speed-reading method can be helpful in order to grasp a lot of text in a short time. You train yourself to grasp several groups of words at a glance and learn to avoid skipping backwards.

3. four-column reading
If you want to record important quotations and paraphrases from a scientific text, you can use the four-column method. In doing so, you note the quotations or paraphrases with the sources and link this information directly to your own comments and questions as well as the bullet points of your paper.

Instructions for four-column reading, explained by the TU Dresden Writing Center

1. narrowing down the topic with the planning pentagon
One method for narrowing down the topic of your work and clearly presenting the most important key points is the planning pentagon. In doing so, you consider your question (What do I want to know?), your method (How do I want to proceed?), the theories and terms to be used (What do I want to use as a guide?), your material (What am I working on and what am I dealing with?) and your working hypothesis (What do I assume?).

2. excerpting
Excerpts are texts that you create on the basis of academic literature (a chapter, an article or even just a section). The aim of excerpting is to record written excerpts, quotations and paraphrases in such a way that, in the best case, you no longer have to refer back to the original text later in the writing process.

3. Checking the research question with the three-step method
The three-step method helps you to check whether your research question has been successful.