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Managing your Research
Managing your Bibliography I wish I'd mastered the Endnote 'Cite as You Write' bibliographic system from day one of my PhD. Though I am using the Endnote Bibliographic database for my bibliography, I did not use the Word section so there is no link between my chapters and the separate Bibliographic file. If I had used 'Cite as you Write', I would have been able to switch easily between referencing systems so whenever I wanted to publish something (it does depend on using the same computer whenever you write, though). I could have automatically changed all the referencing to suit the publication's specifications (i.e. I could change the MHRA system I use to Harvard for specific journals, etc...). MHRA isn't on the Endnote CD, but you can download the style from the internet (follow the instructions for downloading other styles). Most universities offer courses in Endnote, so it is worthwhile taking a bit of time in your first year to update yourself on the available technology that is designed to make writing a large research project easier. This is not to say Endnote is without its flaws, but if you come up with your own system for using it, it is worthwhile. Joanna Shearer, 4th year PhD student, Oxford Brookes University
Your supervisor is likely to be the person who has the most influence over your research, but it’s quite possible that you will only have met them a few times before you embark on your PhD. A supervisor might play a number of roles in your research, but in any case it’s important to build a strong relationship and good communication with them. They have probably supervised a number of students over time and have established ways of doing this, and as a result they may expect postgrads to adapt to their way of doing things. This can be difficult, particularly if you’re feeling your way into research for the first time, but it becomes easier through developing good communication with them. The following is a list of possible ideas to consider. Make sure you think about what you want from a supervisor before each meeting. Prepare for the meeting, so that you can make best use of their time. Make sure you discuss how often you’d like to meet, and schedule regular sessions, perhaps at the end of each meeting. Ask questions about the process – what are the different stages in the PhD, and when do they expect you to have reached them? How do they normally give feedback, and are you happy with this? Ask for advice on attending conferences and developing publications. If you know what they expect, you have a better chance of being able to achieve it. If communication is lacking and postgrads feel that they are not getting what they need from the supervisor, it is easy to get discouraged. Don’t be tempted to ‘go it alone’ – it is easy to lose focus and to drift, both in research and motivation. There is a reason why new researchers have supervisors! If things get very difficult, speak to someone who can help, possibly your Head of Department, Graduate School Director, or Postgraduate Advisor. Often problems can be dealt with before they get serious and start to affect your progress. 3rd year PhD, twentieth century literature.
This may well sound like extremely obvious advice but, if you’re doing a PhD that has anything at all to do with film, take every opportunity to get hold of your own copies of as many films as possible, be they primary texts or just films you think it might be useful to have to hand. For metropolitan French films, a couple of days on a ‘research shopping trip’ to Paris will be extremely useful. Obviously, larger shops like Fnac or Virgin are a good place to start but it’s also worth checking out the smaller cheap dvd-cd-video stores dotted around Beaubourg and Les Halles, as well as in other areas of Paris. Or try the music and film branch of Gibert Joseph on the boulevard St Michel which sells both first and second hand copies of a wide selection of films. (The Gibert bookshop, also on St Michel, has a very good film section which also combines first and second hand copies) For films which prove a little more difficult to get hold of, it’s always worth sending out a message on Francofil, just in case anybody happens to have recorded whatever it is you’re after and has a spare copy going. If funding doesn’t stretch to a trip to France, then Gibert and the Fnac both have good online stores, and, obviously, Ebay tends to be helpful for tracking down the more obscure titles, although you often have to be extremely patient… From experience, it’s easy to assume that you’ll just manage to get hold of the films as research progresses, but it really does make things much easier if you can build up as big a collection as possible in the early stages. With smaller scale productions, it’s also worth trying to find contact details for production companies/distribution companies and asking if they have any further information (press packs, etc.) that might be of use. More often than not, they won’t respond but you will occasionally stumble across some particularly helpful person or other. Final year PhD, cinema.
After learning the hard way, remember never to save anything on the desk-top (I’m sure you wouldn’t…) and make sure you save copies of your work everywhere (laptop, university system, memory stick, email it to your supervisor). One resource, depending on your research of course, that I would really recommend is the Lexis-Nexis database. I recently typed in one of my authors and there were over 150 articles immediately accessible and it’s free (unlike Le Monde!) They have access to Le Figaro and Libération amongst others and it saves time going back through microfilm. And if visiting the Bibliothèque publique d’information in Paris don’t go straight away when it opens as you’ll most likely have to queue for around an hour. Turn up at 4 and you can usually get in about 15 minutes (sometimes you can even walk right in) and it’s open till 10pm! Imogen Long, 2nd PhD Student, University of Leeds, Contemporary Women’s Writing.
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