Spring 2008 - Donna Riley
Reference contact: Rocco Piccinino x2952

FINDING BOOKS

You will also find the Reference Books at the Young Science Library very helpful for this assignment. The reference section is on the first floor of the library. Browse the following call numbers:

SB - Horticulture
SF - Animal Science
T - Technology (general)
TA - Engineering (general)

Any call number beginning with "T" will be engineering/technology related - browse and discover!!! For a complete list of engineering-related call numbers, CLICK HERE.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Library Databases

Begin your research using this list of databases. For a more comprehensive list of engineering-focused databases, visit the Engineering Subject Resources Page. For biology-focused databases, visit the Biology Subject Resources Page.

Look for SC Links: , or use Smith's Journal Locator to access journals by title. Connect to the Five College Library Catalog to find call numbers for bound periodicals kept in the basement floor of the Young Science Library.

Journal Finding Tools

Journal Locator
Search by journal title to find full text of a KNOWN item. Only have a journal abbreviation? Look up the full title of a journal using one of the following resources.

JAKE (Jointly Administered Knowledge Environment)
PubMed Journals Database
All that JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources

PATENTS AND STANDARDS

Use these links to search for patents on various topics. Try to keep your searching simple, or you may not get adequate results. For the corn syrup example, I searched on: corn syrup AND production.

[PATENTS] BUBL LINK Catalogue of selected Internet resources: Patents and Inventions
Andersonian Library, Strathclyde University.

[PATENTS] European Patent Office

[PATENTS] LSU Libraries: Patents and Trademarks

[PATENTS] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

[PATENTS] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Web Patent Database

REFERENCE TOOLS

Encyclopedias

Britannica Online
Full content including over 80,000 in-depth articles, detailed maps, multimedia, and research tools.

INTERNET SITES

You will use the internet (more specifically, Google) to find other literature about your topic. For instance, if you were performing research on the production of corn syrup, you may want to find advocacy groups or organizations related to your topic; such as:

Corn Refiners Association
CRA High Fructose Corn Syrup Fact Sheet
American Beverage Association
How Stuff Works

BEWARE, however of bias and untrustworthy information from advocacy groups (read the fact sheet above to get an idea of BIASED information). It is up to you to evaluate all your sources of information, whether they are print or from the internet.

SEARCHING TIPS

Whether you are searching for books in the Five College Library Catalog, or searching for scholarly literature in a library database, it pays to be organized as you start your search. I like to break down searching into a three step process:

STEP 1
Write down as much information about your topic as possible. Answer the following questions:

• What is your topic?
• What questions do you have?
• What do you know? What don't you know?

Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.

EXAMPLE: I am performing a life cycle analysis project, and I am interested in learning more about the production of corn syrup. How is the syrup produced? What are the inputs and outputs? Is there more than one way to produce corn syrup?

STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.

EXAMPLE: corn syrup, production

STEP 3
Now create a list of synonyms of your key concepts. Think broadly, think narrowly! This step is helping you expand your search by expressing your query in a variety of ways. If you get too many results, then you can work on focusing your search.

You will use the word lists you developed in Step 3 to create search strategies. Use "OR" between synonyms and "AND" between concepts. For instance:

corn syrup AND (produc* OR refin* OR manufactur*)

DOWNLOAD this worksheet (with *bonus* search tips!) to help you organize your search strategy.

HELP WITH CITATION STYLE

You are expected to select a standard citation style and to document sources correctly and consistently. If needed, suggestions for formatting your bibliography are given below.

HELP FROM A LIBRARIAN

See Need Help? Ask a Librarian! to send a question via e-mail at any time or live (chat) during reference desk hours. Or contact Reference librarian Rocco Piccinino directly.

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