Introduction

Introduction#

Welcome to the Information Literacy Master Thesis Guide. This guide was created to be used as a reference for all the information literacy steps involved during your master thesis process.

This is a pilot version still under development.

Structure of the Guide#

This resource is divided into 5 chapters. Each chapter represents a phase in your master thesis where you need to use information. The guide is not meant to be read front to back in one go. Instead, you can consult the different chapters depending on which phase of the project you are in. You can see a detailed overview of the steps below:

overview of thesis process

Learning Goals#

The learning goals of the guide are based on the five phases in your master thesis when you will be working with information. For the different phases, the following learning goals have been formulated:

  1. Explore: Apply basic steps for orientation on the topic or question of your master thesis

  2. Search: Set up and store a basic search strategy for scientific literature for your master thesis

  3. Evaluate: Use basic ways to assess relevance and reliability of sources, select information for your master thesis and know how to store information effectively

  4. Process: Understand how to read, summarise and synthesise during your master thesis

  5. Share: Apply correct citation and copyright practices when handing in your master thesis. Know about open science principles when publishing your research.

For a more detailed overview of the learning goals download the Learning Goals Overview or look at the toggle below:

Overview of Learning Goals and Learning Objectives

Learning Goal

Learning Objectives

1: Explore
Apply basic steps for orientation on the topic or question of your master thesis

1a. Know how to do a general orientation on your topic
1b. Understand how to formulate a question for an information search
1c. Know how to do an initial exploration of academic literature

2: Search
Set up and store a basic search strategy for scientific literature for your master thesis

2a. Know different types of academic databases and how to access them
2b. Set up a keyword search strategy for a search in an academic database
2c. Evaluate and improve an initial search strategy
2d. Know additional ways to find academic literature
2e. Use search alerts to stay informed about the latest research

3: Evaluate
Use basic ways to assess relevance and reliability of sources, select information for your master thesis and know how to store information effectively

3a. Become aware of limitations of AI and other information sources
3b. Use the CRAAP framework to assess relevance and reliability of a source
3c. Apply the title-abstract method to select academic literature
3d. Use relevant software and best practices to store information

4: Process
Understand how to read, summarise and synthesise during your master thesis

4a. Apply best practices when reading literature for your master thesis
4b. Know how to summarise a source
4c. Understand how the process of synthesising works and know how to get started

5: Share
Apply correct citation and copyright practices when sharing the results of your master thesis. Know about open science principles

5a. Understand ways of citing, apply a correct referencing style and create a reference list for a variety of sources
5b. Know why and how you should acknowledge the use of AI in your work
5c. Correctly (re)use sources in accordance with their copyright licensing
5d. Know about open science principles

Chapter Structures#

Landing Page#

Each chapter includes a landing page. Here you will find:

  • An introduction and an explanation of the value of the topic

  • An overview of the steps involved in each phase

  • A knowledge quiz that you can use to test how much you know/remember about the information provided by this step

  • A template you can use directly while working on your master thesis

Subchapters#

After the landing page, you can find more detailed information on all the steps that are part of each specific phase. When applicable, the chapters include additional guided activities to help you apply the information while working on your master thesis.

Tip

Want to learn from what previous students have done? In the TU Delft Thesis Repository you can access master theses made by students from your own program!

Colophon#

About the authors#

This guide was created by the Education Support team from the TU Delft Library. The main author is Lisanne Walma.

Acknowledgements#

Thank you to all the reviewers involved in reviewing this guide.

Sources#

The sources that were used for this guide are referenced at the end of each section.

In addition to the sources referenced this guide reuses materials from:

Images#

Unless otherwise specified the images used on these pages are adapted from unDraw, licensed open-source by Katerina Limpitsouni.

Disclosure of AI Use#

While creating this guide, we used AI for:

  • Brainstorming and refining guided activities

  • Drafting/brainstorming knowledge check questions

  • Cleaning up formatting

AI tools used: