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Research Skills for Fine Arts and Music Students

Managing your resources. Keeping track of your resources is an important skill to learn early on in your research. Setting up strategies for managing your references and research materials can make your project or candidature much smoother in the long run.

Managing references

As you do more research and reading, your list of references will grow quickly. Finding a way to manage these will help you keep on top of your research, and track down quotes or notes that have collected. You can do this manually, or you can use software to help you. Software tools can also generate citations and bibliographies as you write.

If you choose to manage your references manually, set up a system that works for you. You can make an appointment to talk with a Librarian about your options or to get some advice.

Research Data Management

Anything you create, consult or collect during your research project is your research data, be it interview transcripts, photos of work in progress or a rehearsal journal.

Learning how to manage all of this is not only a key skill required by many research funding bodies, it can also enable you to find, access and reuse your own data at any point into the future. The University of Melbourne has developed an online training program that will help you develop these skills and set up your own data management plan.

Storage options

How and where to store your research data is an important consideration. Security, stability and the size of your data all affect where you store your physical and digital files. There are some options available to you at the University of Melbourne, and advice available to you if you're not sure what might be most appropriate.

File management

A good file management system can make a huge difference to your process and research. Think about:

  • Establishing a consistent file naming scheme
  • Creating a structure in your files and folders
  • Using dates and version numbers to track files

You can make an appointment with a librarian to get some advice, or keep your eye out for File Management 101 training workshops on our website.