Recommended by Lauryn

Some recommendations about Theological Dictionaries from ERMC – which is one topic Karen listed - :

Three publishers who have such dictionaries are IVP, SCM and OUP. Inter-Varsity Press is more conservative; SCM more liberal; Oxford University Press is more academic (in general). Other suggestions:

• Grenz, S., Guretzki D. & Nordling C. (2000) The Hodder Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms: Over 300 Terms Clearly and Concisely Defined – conservative perspective, concentrates on the many new theological terms which you will not find in ordinary dictionaries.
• Livingstone, E.A. (ed), 2006. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church covers some traditional theological terms as well as historical persons, movements and events in church history.
• See also: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/mcgrath/Glossary_of_Theological_Terms.pdf

Some useful apps

For those of you with Apple products (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), there are some apps I use which support my quest in being organised and efficient.  Some of these are...
Index Card
Audiotorium Class & Meeting Notes
Evernote
iThoughtsHD (mindmapping)
Outliner

If you've got any you'd like to recommend, please comment to this post and share the good news!

Dictionaries

As we've already discussed, you need to use a dictionary (or more than one) throughout this course.  Some strong on-line free dictionaries include Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com. 

You will also need theological reference sources. If your module guide does not recommend one, we can have a disucssion when we meet to create a core of recommended theological reference books.

Academic integrity

To ensure you don't get trapped in a plagiarism drama, please use accurate referencing.  The style for this course is Harvard - Anglia and although we will have a Tools session on it, feel free to review the details so you get started right.

If you're a Microsoft Office user, all Word versions from 2003 contain a referencing tool, which will generate references for you.  The help sheet will give you all the details.

Schedule of topics

To get us started on the blog, here's the schedule of research and study skills topics for our group:

Saturday 30 June: 

overview of research and study skills topics

overview of academic writing style for this course

overview of good academic practice

academic reading

sources for research

reflective writing - theological Reflection

Saturday 8 September: 

note taking

next steps in sources for research

types of academic writing

planning academic writing

referencing

paraphrasing

Thursday 27 September: 

critical analysis

next steps in referencing

next steps in types of academic writing

proofreading and editing

Thursday 11 October: 

creating a research approach for future writing