IBSS blog competition – winners announced!

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science week (9^th-16^th March), IBSS organised a blog writing competition to demonstrate how IBSS online could be used effectively in social science research.  Entrants were required to write a post for the IBSS blog on a topical social science issue, using background information available in the IBSS database. 

 

The competition has now closed and we are pleased to announce the winning entries below.  We offer them our congratulations and would also like to thank all those who entered the competition.  You can check out the winning posts now on the IBSS blog site by clicking on the links below:

  

Katy Higgs – Is it hard for working class women to cope in higher education?

 

Diego de la Hoz – Mobilising computer models for policy

 

Tess Pearce – How does social class affect socialisation within the family?

 

Brigette Sainsbury – Outdated views on family structure and lesbian families

IBSS blog competition – enter for the chance to win one of five £100 prizes

Why not enter our  blog competition by writing a post for the IBSS blog? Five prizes of £100 each will be awarded for the contributions which are judged to demonstrate best how IBSS online has been used to find background information for a post on a topical social science issue. The winning entries will be posted on the IBSS blog. The competition is open to anyone interested in the social sciences and who studies at a school, college or university, or works for a governmental, not-for-profit or commercial organisation. Full entry details are given on the IBSS website. The closing date for applications is 10 April 2009.

This competition is being organised as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. Click here for details about other events taking place between 6 and 15 March 2009, or visit the ESRC’s Our Society Today blog.

Using the IBSS thesaurus to search effectively

The IBSS thesaurus is a useful tool for exploring the keywords used to index IBSS records relating to a specific research topic, and for using alternative search terms to retrieve all relevant material in the IBSS database.

Take for example the subject of basic rights. By using the thesaurus you will find that basic rights is linked to the broader term rights; a wide range of narrower terms, such as freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and freedom of thought; and to the related term human rights. This helps you to decide whether to broaden your search or to narrow it down to search for a more specific area of rights. You can explore the thesaurus by logging in to IBSS online and using the search tools provided. Further information on the thesaurus is available in issue 9 of the IBSS newsletter.