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Information Sources forEnglish 3323:

Technical Writing

Kevin Drees

Engineering Librarian

Created June 2004

Updated March 2005

[email protected]

Edmon Low Library Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK

KD 6/04

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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 theweb vs Web search engines

Knowledge base of the library Discipline/Subject Specific Databases

FormatArticle,

technical reports

government documents

Availability (Print/Electronic)

Subject experts

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Disciplines

Business/Financial

Engineering

Agriculture

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Formats

Articles

Technical Reports

Government Documents

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Availability

Electronic

Print

Note: using both the print and electronicwill increase the odds of finding useful

information and better composite

sketch of the topic, company, orindustry

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Critical Thinkingdeciding about

how to search and what types ofsources to usedriven by

audience analysis.1. Keyword vs. subject search2. Information Cycle: scholarly vs. non-

scholarly material

3. Primary vs. secondary sources

4. Subscription databases from Libraryvia the web vs Web search engines

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Critical Thinking1. Keyword vs. subject search

keyword searchSynonyms: targeted, exact, specific

Example:

company name

subject searchuse whenkeyword fails.

Synonyms for subject search:classification, category, broadenedsearching

Example:

industry, product type

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Critical Thinking

2. Information Cycle:Analysis increases along the

cycle

scholarly vs. non-scholarlymaterial

Web (scholarly/non-scholarly) vs

subscription database (scholarlyexcept for news accounts)

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Critical Thinking

3.Primary vs. secondary sourcespreference of primary source materials

over secondary

Primary source material: the article, speech, etc., verbatim

a good approach to get exactlywhat was said

Secondary source materialA summary someone wrote by

looking at the primary source.May contain an analysis in the

context of the discipline.

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Critical Thinking

4. Subscription databases from Library

via the web vs Web search engines

Understanding the distinction

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Knowledge Base

Subject Specific Databases

Business/Financial

Engineering

Agriculture Format

article,

technical reports

government documentsAvailability (Print/Electronic)

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Business/FinancialGoal: to increase your searching ability

in business and financial sourceskeyword search

company name

Subject search

Industry

Product type

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Electronic

Hoovers

Factiva

Business Source EliteProQuest Direct

Edgar

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Print

D & B Million Dollar Directory

NAICS (North American Industrl Class.System) 2000

SIC (Standard Industrial Class.) Manual

Standard and Poors Register Corporations

International Directory of CompanyHistories

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Print cont.definitely consult:

Value line investment survey.

Stand & Poors Industry Surveys

Oklahoma Manufacturers RegisterOklahoma Directory of Manufacturers

and Processors

D & B Regional Business Directory

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Summary - Business/Financial

keyword (specific) vs subject (category)searching

Subject searching

Value line investment surveycomposite stats S&P Industry Surveymany tables and graphs

Articlesdescription of the industry orthe company itself

Further assistanceLibrarians, referencedesk.

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Engineering

Electronic Compendex

EBSCO

Acad Search EliteASTA (Applied Science and Technology)

Biological Abstracts (multiple years)

Medline

INSPEC

IEL (IEEE Electronic Library) Science Direct

Web of Science

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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

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Technical Reports - defined

Are written to convey new developments orfinal results of scientific and technicalresearch.

Are usually funded by governmentdepartments or corporate bodies.

Deliver technical information to the fundingorganization.

Provide a forum for peer informationexchange.

Anne Graham, Barker Engineering Library, MIT, [email protected],

http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/techreports/definition.html, Accessed August 14, 2004

T h R t l ti
mailto:[email protected]://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/techreports/definition.htmlhttp://libraries.mit.edu/guides/types/techreports/definition.htmlmailto:[email protected]

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The most important resources for locatingtech 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 pertainingto science.

May not be able to pull the full text from this source.Contact Gov Docs

Gov Docs Dept5thFloor of Library Gov Docs Librarians

Print vs electronic over date ranges

Identify agencies relevant to your topic

Tech Reports - locating

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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 inMicrofichetake the NTIS record(abstract and other data) to Gov Docs- 2weeks- patron photocopy the mf copy

Government documents defined

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Government documents - defineda record of activities of governments

numerous agencies, regulatory bodies,

and departmentscontent ranging from agriculture to

zoology and impact on all academicdisciplines.

Authorship by agency, a uniqueclassification system, and a variety ofoutput formats often confound users,

Primary source materials readilyavailable from government sourcesincludeverbatim testimony obtainedfrom congressional hearings andenvironmental impact statements.

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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 Dept5thFloor of Library

Gov Docs Librarians

Print vs electronic over date ranges

Identify agencies relevant to your topic

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Government Documents Primary source material:

Example: Congressional hearings appear Congressional LexisNexisvia 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 YorkTimes ProQuest
http://thomas.loc.gov/http://thomas.loc.gov/http://www.science.gov/

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How can I tell it is a Gov DocA 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 5thfloor Libr SuDocs (slashes and colons)

Jackson numbers (3 letters)

OSU catalog limited to Gov Docs on the limittab

_____________________________

Exception to the abovesometimes non-Govpublisher items are placed in Gov Docs _

G
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.htmlhttp://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html

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Government websites via

agency or service

Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov/

Catalog of US Gov Pubshttp://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
http://thomas.loc.gov/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.htmlhttp://www.epa.gov/http://www.science.gov/http://www.ntis.gov/http://www.usda.gov/http://www.dol.gov/http://www.dol.gov/http://www.usda.gov/http://www.ntis.gov/http://www.science.gov/http://www.epa.gov/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.htmlhttp://thomas.loc.gov/

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Summary

Search respective databases & print

sources

subject (category) searching as well asKeyword (specific)

Locate primary sources as needed

Visit Gov DocsLibrary, 5th

Floor