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Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing

Content of this instruction:. Critical thinking skills Keyword vs. subject searchInformation Cycle: scholarly vs. non-scholarly materialPrimary vs. secondary sourcesSubscription databases from Library via the web vs Web search engines Knowledge base of the library Discipline/Subject Specific

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Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing

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    1. Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing

    2. Content of this instruction: Critical thinking skills Keyword vs. subject search Information Cycle: scholarly vs. non-scholarly material Primary vs. secondary sources Subscription databases from Library via the web vs Web search engines Knowledge base of the library Discipline/Subject Specific Databases Format Article, technical reports government documents Availability (Print/Electronic) Subject experts

    3. Disciplines Business/Financial Engineering Agriculture

    4. Formats Articles Technical Reports Government Documents

    5. Availability Electronic Print Note: using both the print and electronic will increase the odds of finding useful information and better “composite sketch” of the topic, company, or industry

    6. Critical Thinking – deciding about how to search and what types of sources to use – driven by audience analysis. 1. Keyword vs. subject search 2. Information Cycle: scholarly vs. non-scholarly material 3. Primary vs. secondary sources 4. Subscription databases from Library via the web vs Web search engines

    7. Critical Thinking – 1. Keyword vs. subject search keyword search – Synonyms: targeted, exact, specific Example: company name subject search – use when keyword fails. Synonyms for subject search: classification, category, broadened searching Example: industry, product type SUBJECT SEARCHING: 1. One way to search by subject is use a broader term (the broader classification of the topic), - The broader classification for Chevrolet is General Motors, then automobile as an industry a synonym, or a related term that describes it. Modifying a search by adding synonyms separated by Boolean OR will increase the number of results. While not synonymous with the original, a related term will produce different, yet possibly useful, results. 2. Another way to search by subject is to search with the hyperlinked subject descriptors found in many databases and online library catalogs. -These terms are usually found adjacent to a citation and abstract of an article. -Some classification schemes use a broad to narrow structure (hierarchical classification). ---- ----Understanding the broad to narrow structure can help focus a paper–searching via narrow or ----broadened terms. Dropping a search term increases the number of results obtained because the search is less specific. Relevant material may be found Browsing is another way to search by subject. Browsing the citations found in bibliographies of articles and books might yield additional material on a topic. After using the catalog to identify call numbers for books of interest, browse the circulating and reference shelves in the same call number range for relevant material. SUBJECT SEARCHING: 1. One way to search by subject is use a broader term (the broader classification of the topic), - The broader classification for Chevrolet is General Motors, then automobile as an industry a synonym, or a related term that describes it. Modifying a search by adding synonyms separated by Boolean OR will increase the number of results. While not synonymous with the original, a related term will produce different, yet possibly useful, results. 2. Another way to search by subject is to search with the hyperlinked subject descriptors found in many databases and online library catalogs. -These terms are usually found adjacent to a citation and abstract of an article. -Some classification schemes use a broad to narrow structure (hierarchical classification). ---- ----Understanding the broad to narrow structure can help focus a paper–searching via narrow or ----broadened terms. Dropping a search term increases the number of results obtained because the search is less specific. Relevant material may be found Browsing is another way to search by subject. Browsing the citations found in bibliographies of articles and books might yield additional material on a topic. After using the catalog to identify call numbers for books of interest, browse the circulating and reference shelves in the same call number range for relevant material.

    8. Critical Thinking – 2. Information Cycle: Analysis increases along the cycle scholarly vs. non-scholarly material Web (scholarly/non-scholarly) vs subscription database (scholarly except for news accounts)

    9. Critical Thinking – 3. Primary vs. secondary sources preference of primary source materials over secondary Primary source material: the article, speech, etc., verbatim – a good approach to get exactly what was said Secondary source material A summary someone wrote by looking at the primary source. May contain an analysis in the context of the discipline.

    10. Critical Thinking – 4. Subscription databases from Library via the web vs Web search engines Understanding the distinction

    11. Knowledge Base Subject Specific Databases Business/Financial Engineering Agriculture Format article, technical reports government documents Availability (Print/Electronic)

    12. Business/Financial Goal: to increase your searching ability in business and financial sources keyword search – company name Subject search – Industry Product type

    13. Electronic Hoover’s Factiva Business Source Elite ProQuest Direct Edgar

    14. Print D & B Million Dollar Directory – NAICS (North American Industrl Class. System) 2000 SIC (Standard Industrial Class.) Manual Standard and Poor’s Register – Corporations International Directory of Company Histories

    15. Print cont. – definitely consult: Value line investment survey. Stand & Poor’s Industry Surveys Oklahoma Manufacturers Register Oklahoma Directory of Manufacturers and Processors D & B Regional Business Directory

    16. Summary - Business/Financial keyword (specific) vs subject (category) searching Subject searching Value line investment survey – composite stats S&P Industry Survey – many tables and graphs Articles – description of the industry or the company itself Further assistance – Librarians, reference desk.

    17. Engineering Electronic Compendex EBSCO Acad Search Elite ASTA (Applied Science and Technology) Biological Abstracts (multiple years) Medline INSPEC IEL (IEEE Electronic Library) Science Direct Web of Science

    18. Agriculture Electronic ASAE (American Society of Agricultural Engineers) CAB Abstracts EBSCO Agricola - compiled by the U.S. National Agricultural Library (NAL) Biological Abstracts (multiple years) Biological & Agricultural Index USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) www.usda.gov

    19. Technical Reports - defined Are written to convey new developments or final results of scientific and technical research. Are usually funded by government departments or corporate bodies. Deliver technical information to the funding organization. Provide a forum for peer information exchange. Anne Graham, Barker Engineering Library, MIT, grahama@mit.edu, http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/techreports/definition.html, Accessed August 14, 2004

    20. The most important resources for locating tech reports and other info produced by the Government for this technical writing course. Library Catalog Regular search Limited to gov docs Science.gov – site searches 30 Government agency databases and makes use of 1700 agency selected websites pertaining to science. May not be able to pull the full text from this source. Contact Gov Docs Gov Docs Dept – 5th Floor of Library Gov Docs Librarians Print vs electronic over date ranges Identify agencies relevant to your topic Tech Reports - locating

    21. Tech Reports - locating NTIS http://www.ntis.gov/ All (nearly) government publications are available from NTIS (National Technical Information Service) OSU Gov Docs will request the item in Microfiche – take the NTIS record (abstract and other data) to Gov Docs- 2 weeks- patron photocopy the mf copy

    22. Government documents - defined a record of activities of government’s numerous agencies, regulatory bodies, and departments content ranging from agriculture to zoology and impact on all academic disciplines. Authorship by agency, a unique classification system, and a variety of output formats often confound users, Primary source materials readily available from government sources include verbatim testimony obtained from congressional hearings and environmental impact statements.

    23. Government Documents – identifying relevant materials Search the following in this order Library Catalog Regular search Limited to gov docs GPO Access from the OSU Library Indexes and Databases Page GPO Monthly Catalog from the OSU Library Indexes and Databases Page Google UncleSam from the OSU Library Indexes and Databases Page Gov Docs Dept – 5th Floor of Library Gov Docs Librarians Print vs electronic over date ranges Identify agencies relevant to your topic

    24. Government Documents Primary source material: Example: Congressional hearings appear Congressional LexisNexis – via Indexes and Databases page. Science.gov – www.science.gov Thomas - (legistative information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/ Secondary source material Example: search for Congressional hearings in a source with major newspapers like New York Times – ProQuest

    25. How can I tell it is a Gov Doc A government agency: EPA, etc Found the publication in the “GPO Monthly” (Catalog of US Gov Pubs) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html Call numbers in Gov Docs 5th floor Libr SuDocs (slashes and colons) Jackson numbers (3 letters) OSU catalog limited to Gov Docs on the limit tab _____________________________ Exception to the above – sometimes non-Gov publisher items are placed in Gov Docs _

    26. Government websites via agency or service Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov/ Catalog of US Gov Pubs http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html EPA www.epa.gov Science.gov www.science.gov NTIS (National Technical Information Service) www.ntis.gov/ USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) www.usda.gov Dept of Labor http://www.dol.gov/ Business stats

    27. Summary Search respective databases & print sources subject (category) searching as well as Keyword (specific) Locate primary sources as needed Visit Gov Docs – Library, 5th Floor

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