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Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing

Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing. Kevin Drees Engineering Librarian Created June 2004 Updated March 2005 drees@okstate.edu

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Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing

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  1. Information Sources for English 3323: Technical Writing Kevin DreesEngineering LibrarianCreated June 2004Updated March 2005drees@okstate.edu Edmon Low Library Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK KD 6/04

  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

  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. Tech Reports - locating • 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

  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 includeverbatim 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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