INFO 4401 Chapter 2 Literature Review

Summary

The video explains how to prepare Chapter 2: Literature Review for a final-year project report. This chapter follows the introduction and summarizes current knowledge relevant to the project, drawing on academic books and articles.

Purpose of a literature review

A literature review should:

• Give readers context about the project and its topic.
• Explain what has already been studied or developed.
• Justify the proposed research or project.
• Identify gaps in existing studies or products that the project could address.

Steps for reviewing literature

1. Choose search databases. The presenter names Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, ACM, and a database transcribed as “Alivia.”
2. Find relevant studies or products. Select material related to the project’s research question or proposed system.
3. Understand each study’s research question.
4. Review its methodology to understand how the research was conducted.
5. Consider its results. Use relevant findings to support the proposed project. If findings conflict with the project’s aims or assumptions, discuss possible reasons for the difference.

Writing about sources

Write the review in your own words. The video describes two approaches:

• Quotation: Reproduce a source’s exact wording in quotation marks. Use quotations sparingly, especially when wording cannot be paraphrased effectively—for example, statistics, precise definitions, or an expert’s specific opinion. The author’s name may appear before the quotation, or in a citation at the end.
• Paraphrasing: Restate a source’s idea in new wording while preserving its meaning, and cite the source. Depending on the sentence, the author and year may appear at the beginning, middle, or end.

Suggested Chapter 2 structure

Follow the project-report guideline. The video describes a broadly similar structure for both system development and multimedia projects:

• 2.0 Introduction: Explain the purpose of the review and how it builds understanding of the project and existing work.
• 2.1 System review / review of related products: Introduce the systems or products being examined.
• 2.1.1 Existing products: Review at least three products related to the proposed project. For example, a project about a science-learning course should examine relevant learning applications, while a game project should review relevant games.
  • Describe each product and its content.
  • Discuss relevant features, such as interactivity, drag-and-drop functions, music, video, animation, and other multimedia elements.
  • Include screenshots to show what the products look like, if useful.
  • Identify each product’s advantages and disadvantages.
  • An advantages-and-disadvantages table may be included, but it should be followed by written discussion; a table alone is not sufficient.
• 2.2 System adaptation: Explain which useful features from existing products will be adopted or adapted, and identify gaps or shortcomings the proposed project will address. For example, a project might build on the use of video, animation, and audio to improve learner engagement while adding more videos or voice-over support.

The video illustrates these sections with a multimedia course about growing organic food sustainably. The example shows how to describe a product’s content and multimedia features, evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and use that evaluation to motivate proposed improvements.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: One presenter, whose name is not given in the subtitles.
• Search sources named: Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, ACM, and a database transcribed in the subtitles as “Alivia.”
• Illustrative citation names mentioned: Gibaldi (2003) and Smith (1990).