Using the On-line Resources for Postgraduate Studies

Kenji Kitao and S. Kathleen Kitao

What are Postgraduate Programs?

There are two major types of postgraduate programs: MA programs and PhD programs. Generally speaking, MA programs are designed for educating or training specialists in a given fields who can, for example, supervise teachers in TESL/TEFL, train teachers, develop materials, or act as program coordinators. Specialists need more knowledge and information, and they need to understand the results of research and apply it to their work. They need to evaluate research results critically. They need to decide what to do and how, based on those research results.

PhD programs educate students to be scholars, both researchers and teachers in higher educational institutions. Scholars with PhDs need to design and conduct research projects by themselves or with other people. They need to do research to generate knowledge and establish new theories. These new findings are their contributions to their fields, and they help the fields develop. They need a great deal of current knowledge in their field for teaching and research. That is, they need to know what other research has been done in the field.

What Are the Major Tasks in Postgraduate Programs?

There are two major tasks for MA students. One is gaining new knowledge and deepening their knowledge of the field. It is important that they understand both theoretical and practical aspects of their field. It is important for them to know what research has been done, and what and how much is already known. Students need enough knowledge to evaluate research results critically and apply them to what they want to do in their profession.

The other type of task is to learn how to find necessary information in their field. This includes knowing how to use the library and any other kind of information which is useful for the field. In a sense, this task is more important than the previous one, since no matter how hard students study in the MA program, the amount of knowledge they will gain is very limited, and they will forget some of it quickly. However, the ways they can find information will stay with them, and they can use them to find out what they need for their career.

PhD students need to learn how to conduct research projects and write up the results to publish in journals or academic books. They need to design research projects, develop theoretical models, test those models, gather valid data, analyze data, and draw conclusions about the results. They need to explain the procedures and results accurately and explain the findings well.

Why Do Postgraduate Students Need On-line Resources?

The major resources for postgraduate programs have been books, periodicals, newspapers, government publications, etc., which are printed resources. There is also some information on microfilm, but they are just different forms of printed resources.

Even now, most resources are printed materials. However, in recent years, more and more resources have become available on line, and this trend will continue. There are also CD-Roms and microfiche or microfilms which cover a great deal of information.

Why are on-line resources increasing so rapidly? There are several reasons. First, it is easy to disseminate and collect information on line. You can disseminate information through various mailing lists to an almost unlimited number of people who might be interested in it. You can collect information from archives of mailing lists or ftp sites or from other members of the mailing lists. You can search for information using search engines or use telnet to use other computers to search for information.

Second, the Internet is interactive. You can ask questions and obtain answers. This response might take only a few minutes or few hours. You can discuss your interests with people who have similar interests or who are working with you.

Third, the Internet makes use of multiple media. That is, you can use not only letters but also sounds, pictures or even video. You can transmit information in these various forms separately or together.

Fourth, you can use any resources on the Internet anywhere in the world as if you had them at home or at a nearby library. The Internet is a borderless world, and you can communicate and exchange information with people on the other side of the world as if you were sitting next to them.

Thus, the Internet has made the world one huge library, and you can search for information you need throughout the world very quickly. As long as you can use the Internet, you can use most resources on it with free of charge (more than 99%). There are tremendous resources on the Internet already, and they are increasing very rapidly.

Many libraries and public institutions have resources on the Internet, and you can search for information in those places without visiting them. Once you find information, you can copy it as an electronic file or print it out on paper. We have included information about contacting some of these institutions.

There are many newsletters and journals on line now. You can publish your research results on line. This type of publication is faster, easier, and more economical than ordinary publications, so on-line journals will be more important in the future. We have included links to various on-line journals and information about print journals.

We have included many useful mailing lists (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/mailing.htm) and the world wide web sites (including gopher sites) (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/www.htm) in our web resources.

In addition to the Internet, there are some commercial and semi-commercial on-line and/or CD-Rom database services. We have included information about services which Lancaster University Library and the Department of Linguistics have (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/onlin.htm#other). ERIC, BIDS, LLBA on-line or CD-Rom are useful tools for looking for papers and articles you need for research. If you look for them using printed reference materials, it takes ages, and you cannot cover as extensive an area of publications.

How Else Do On-line Resources Help Postgraduate Students?

There are many resources which teach you about the Internet or how to use the Internet (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/internet.htm). The world wide web is very user friendly, but you need a little knowledge about using software and how to use the web efficiently. E-mail and mailing lists are a little bit harder to use, so you need to study a little and practice in order to use them effectively. Using ftp and telnet require more knowledge. Making html files to make web pages is more difficult. However, you can learn these using resources that are available on-line.

There are many reference resources for research, such as dictionaries, thesauruses, style sheets, and newspapers. There are many resources to help students to conduct research or to write papers. We have compiled them in "Reference Materials for Students and Researchers" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/referenc.htm)

There are some academic newsletters and journals on line. You can read them like printed journals. ( "Journals and Newsletters in TESL/TEFL, Linguistics, and Communication" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/journal.htm)

You can also get information about professional organizations and find out what they are doing, find calendars of events, etc. If you are looking for information about institutions for research or higher degrees, you will find that information on almost all institutions of higher education in the United States and UK is available on the Internet now. ( "Organizations and Mailing lists in TESL/TEFL, Linguistics, and Communication" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/organi.htm)

If you are looking for commercially available books, software, etc., we have compiled links to hundreds of publishers' web pages. ( " Publishers, Software Developers, Bookstores, etc., for TESL/TEFL, Linguistics, and Communication" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/book.htm) You can search for a specific publication or skim the pages to find out what is available. You can contact those commercial places using their e-mail addresses available on their web pages and ask questions.

You can look for jobs using our resources. ( "Jobs in TESL/TEFL and Linguistics" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/job.htm)

If your interest is in TESL/TEFL, there are many, many teaching and learning resources, including background information, teaching plans, and teaching materials on line. See "Useful Resources, Lesson Plans, and Teaching Materials for Teachers" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/teacher.htm) and "Useful Resources and Learning Materials for Students" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/student.htm). If you are interested in language testing "Language Testing" (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/test.htm) has many resources.

If your interest is general linguistics, see Linguistics (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/linguis.htm), and if it is communication, see Communication (http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/communi.htm). They provide general information, and skimming over those resources, you will find ways to look for specific information you need.

Can Anyone Use On-line Resources?

Yes, you can, as long as you have an access to a computer which is connected to the Internet. Most universities in advanced countries have them, and students can use them. However, you need a little knowledge and skill to use on-line resources effectively, partly because there are many resources, and there is no central place to find out what is available.

As for commercial resources, your library, department, or institution has to have them. Some on-line resources are very expensive to use, and you may be charged. However, many resources, particularly those available on CD-Rom, are very reasonable, and even individuals may be able to own them. ERIC on CD-Rom is an example of a very useful resource that is not too expensive.

We have listed resources available at Lancaster University. If you think they would be useful, you can request your library, department, or institution to purchase them or contract to use them.

What Do You Need to Know in Order to Use on-line Resources?

First you need to know how to use a PC. You need to be able to use a keyboard. If you cannot type, you need to practice typing. You need to learn how to use Windows on PC or similar software on Macintosh. You need to use a word processor, e-mail, and the world wide web.

Here at Lancaster University, there are printed materials on how to use Windows, e-mail, Netscape, UNIX, etc., at the computer center, and there are many computer courses available for postgraduate students. In addition, there are courses on using word processors, spreadsheet programs, databases, SPSS, etc. Most of them are free, though for a few there is a small charge.

We have observed many postgraduate students using computers, and many of them were wasting a great deal of time and energy, since they were not aware of some simple ways of making their work easier. We strongly suggest that you take courses on using e-mail and the world wide web, at least, even if you already know something about how to use them. You will get some useful information, and that will save you time and energy. It is worthwhile investing a couple of hours in taking those courses. If you cannot take them for some reason, we advise that you at least read printed material from the computer center.

Minimum Essentials for Using the Internet

The following is a list of the minimum essentials for using the Internet effectively. You will probably find that it is difficult at the beginning, but once you get accustomed to using it, it is very convenient, and you will wonder how you ever managed without it.

Windows

1. opening a word processor program, e-mail, and web pages using the mouse
2. changing the screen among the above programs by holding down the alt key and pressing the tab key or using the mouse
3. Changing the size of the windows

4. Moving windows, text, etc., around by clicking and dragging

Word processor program

1. Opening a text file
2. Closing the file with or without saving it
3. Making a text-only file
4. Using the cut, copy and paste functions
5. Saving a text file by overwriting the previous file or as a different text file
6. Printing a text file
7. Opening more than one text file and copying a part of one file to another file
8. Checking spelling in a text file

E-mail

1. Writing a message in UNIX and sending it
2. Uploading a written message and sending it
3. Replying to a message using the reply function
4. Forwarding a message
5. Downloading a message you have received
6. Saving a message in UNIX

the World Wide Web

1. Typing in URLs to visit sites
2. Clicking highlighted words or graphics to visit links
3. Searching for words on the web pages
4. Printing web pages
5. Finding a web page by going to a higher level in the directory

Conclusion

Internet resources and other on-line resources are very useful. They will be even more useful in the future. More and more researchers will rely on those resources, and we will not be able to do our work without them. Whether we can use them efficiently or not will make a great deal of difference in our work. It is very important to learn how to use them effectively. We hope that our resources will help you get used to using those resources and help you find out what is available, and that you will find useful resources for your own research in the future.
kkitao@mail.doshisha.ac.jp