Engineering 190W – Scully Section Julia Gelfand
Communications in the
Professional World Science
Library 228
Spring 2008 jgelfand@uci.edu ; 949-824-4971
This
handout is to support students in this class on communication strategies and
technical writing for engineers. It is
organized to augment your assignments and serve as direction for conducting
research for a range of information products and sources, perfecting writing
and composition; developing presentation skills, etc. You have several assignments and this handout
contains recommendations about several sources relevant to each.
Building Research Skills
The UCI Libraries Homepage is your point of
departure and serves as a gateway to all online resources that are used for
teaching and research. This page will direct you to the online databases and
will give you access to all that is defined by "Finding Online
Resources" There are two
functions on this screen - to BROWSE
assuming you know the title; and to
SEARCH when you can search by title word or keyword. This new page allows you to search all online
resources collectively or by type:
Databases
Online Journals
News & Newspapers
Reference tools
Statistical
& Data Resources (mostly government information)
Connecting from
Off-Campus directions allow for
remote access to library licensed content.
FINDING
BOOKS:
Online
Catalogs:
ANTPAC – UC Irvine Libraries holdings (Langson
Library, Science Library, and Grunigen Medical
Library) - note format - can search by keyword; records at source level
MELVYL – UC-wide holdings (all 10 UC campuses) -
easiest way to use InterLibrary Loan (ILL) is via MELVYL Request
WorldCat -
Global library holdings with links to
Global Books in Print - directory of
books in print
Amazon.com - commercial inventory
- can be checked for items not in our collection and ordered via ILL
Library
of Congress Subject Headings – the authority
that offers the structured vocabulary for relevant output for searching Antpac & Melvyl by Subject
Headings. Keyword searching may retrieve
more output but may not be as relevant.
Keyword also searches the author, title, source fields and elements in
an abstract when searching in a database, as well as the Subject Headings.
SUBJECT GUIDES - available for each department in the Samueli School of Engineering to lead users to a variety of
information resources in broad subject categories. In
addition there are very thorough Subject Guides for Information &
Computer Science, Government
Information (including Local Orange County, California, US Federal and
International agencies and countries), Business
and Medicine
REFERENCE WORKS
Quick Reference
- leads users to a variety of online resources
Reference Universe - links to online
reference from print sources - reflecting different disciplines, not all in
ANTPAC
I.
Professional Vocabulary - Dictionaries,
Encyclopedias, Handbooks, etc
Selected
works:
AccessScience - online equivalent of McGraw-Hill
Encyclopedia of Science & Technology
Encyclopedia
Britannica Online
Wikipedia - no peer review
content in this encyclopedic resource; all contributed to voluntarily
Dictionary of computer science, engineering
and technology /
editor-in-chief, Phillip A. Laplante, Boca Raton, FL.
Images of technology: a pictorial dictionary
of Modern engineering research
/ Edited by Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Science
Library – Bar, TA9 I43 1999
Safari
Tech Books Online - collection of eBooks by O'Reilly
McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of engineering / Sybil P. Parker, editor-in-chief, New York:
McGraw Hill, 1993, Science Library – Reference, TA9 M36 1993 and annuals -
Van Nostrand’s
scientific encyclopedia /
Glenn D. Considine, editor: Peter H. Kulik, associate edoitor, New
York: Wiley-Interscience, 2002, 2 volumes, Science
Library – Reference, Q121 V3 2002
Thomas'
Register - directory for
global manufactured products or domestic products and services in North America
II.
Assignments
A. Technical
Writing and Communication & Resume Guides
Selected current resources &
texts (SL = Science Library (Ref on 2d floor); LL = Langson
Library (Ref on 1st floor))
Speaking
About Science: Manual for Creating Clear Presentations, 2006. SL Bar Q223 M67 2006
Careers in Focus: Engineering, 3rd
ed.
Resumes for Engineering Careers: With Sample
Cover Letters, 3rd
ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2006. SL
Writing
Power: Communication in an Engineering Center / Dorothy Winsor. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2003. SL Bar TA 158.5 W56 2003
Writing and Speaking in the Technology
Professions: A Practical Guide / edited by David F. Beer,
Writing
from A to Z, 4th
ed. / Sally Barr Ebest.
Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2003. LL
Reserves PE 1408 W773 2003b
A Student Guide to Writing at
Handbook of Technical Writing / Gerald J.Alred,
Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu,
New York: St. Martin’s 2003, SL Ref T11 B78 2003
MIT
Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, 2nd ed. / James G. Paradis and Muriel L. Zimmerman. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 2002. SL Bar Q223 P33
2002
Technical
Communication, 6th
ed. / Mike Markel. NY:
St. Martin's Press. SL Bar T11 M346, 2001
Technical Style / J.M. Haile,
Central, S.C.: Macatea Productions, 2001, SL-Bar, T11
H24 2001
Ethics in technical communication: a critique
and synthesis / Mike Markel,
Wetport, Conn.: Ablex Pub.,
2001, SL Bar, T10.5 M34 2001
Ethics in Technical Communication / Paul M. Dombrowski,
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000, SL Bar, T10.5 D66 2000
Technical Writing and Professional
Communication for Nonnative Speakers of English / Thomas N. Huckin,
Leslie A. Olsen, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991, SL Bar, T11 H823 1991
IEEE
transactions on professional communication (journal)
B. Ethics – appropriate subject headings may
include:
Engineering
ethics
Engineering
ethics – Case studies
Genetic engineering - Ethics
Genetic
engineering – Moral and ethical aspects
Medical
ethics – United States
Science –
Moral and ethical aspects
When searched in Antpac by Subject Headings,”
Engineering ethics” one retrieves 35 titles; by title the retrieval is 5
titles; by keyword 173 titles appear
Recommended journal is
Science and Engineering
Ethics
Appropriate websites
may include:
Online Ethics Home at the National
Academy of Engineering
Center for
Engineering, Ethics and Society, NAE
National Society of Professional
Engineers Engineering Ethics
III.
Citation format - be consistent and be aware
of how to cite bibliographic and textual materials available electronically,
including images, illustrations, data, etc.
Style
manuals & writing guides - many other guides are found at all Reference Desks
IV.
Communications issues
A. Avoid plagiarism, be
ethical – CITE, CITE, CITE!
Plagiarism: what it is and how
to recognize and avoid it. A
guide prepared by the Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University,
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts?plagiarism.html
B. Consult http://www.turnitin.com , a plagiarism
detection program - ask your professor if you are interested in this.
C. Be consistent
D. Work on your presentation
skills
·
very
important now
·
when
interviewing for job
·
at your
job as a professional
V.
Locating information / conducting research
A. Traditional Print Sources -
books, journals
1. Library of Congress classification ranges for browsing
Qs, Ts, TA-TK7800s at Science Library
HD range at Langson
Library
W - for medicine
2. Reference Works @ Science Library Reference (2nd floor) -
arranged in call number order – many titles now in General Stacks &
circulate
3. Bound journals are in the SL Drum (round part) on floors 4-6 in call
number sequence
B. Using Databases (subject and
keyword searching) - use the
1. Compendex (now on the Ei
Village platform) -
Engineering Index -
2. ACM
Digital Library - Full text of ACM journals, magazines and
conference proceedings
3.
INSPEC (electrical engineering, computer science,
physics and the ARCHIVE
4. Plunketts
Research Online - highly recommended
coverage of research trends in several key areas of study for this class
5. BIOSIS
(ISI) - covers the life
sciences, environmental sciences
6. IEEE Xplore - Full text of IEEE journals, conference
proceedings, and standards
7.
Web of
Science - Science Citation Index going back to 1900 -
no conference proceedings – must be selected under “Current Limits”
-
general
search
-
forward
searching
-
lateral
searching via "Related Articles" feature
-
cited
reference search engine– who is citing who. Unique
feature
8.
Business Source Premier - business/management databases
9.
Factiva
- full-text coverage of business literature and trends
10. Gartner - focuses on
high-tech industries and companies with full-text content - you must register
to use
11. Forrester
- a very new database available later this month
12. Knovel - a very
sophisticated database of
nearly 1500 full-text resources in Engineering, Chemistry,
Materials Science and Life Sciences - much more than just a bibliographic
database - allows you to normalize data. This database also features
Interactive Deeply Searchable (
13. ASME - publications of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers - search journals via Compendex
or on this site
14. ASCE - publications of the
American Society of Civil Engineers - indexed in Web of Science and Compendex.
15. MRS Proceedings Library (Materials
Research Society) - contains journals and conference proceedings
16.
17. PubMed - clinical medicine, health sciences,
dentistry, pharmacology, etc.
18. Expanded Academic
ASAP - a lot of full-text (PDF, Web-based, or plain text with no images).
19. Lexis Nexis Academic Universe- full-text
20. Environmental
Science & Pollution Management (
21. Philosophers'
Index - to support the study of ethics
22. Lecture
Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) - this series is by Springer - well
indexed in INSPEC but not always with eLinks - you
can go directly to the Springer website and enter the volume # and scroll down
to the particular paper, proceeding, chapter or lecture
23. Transport
- major database covering all facets of transportation - after searching, you
will have to consult ANTPAC. Remember
that the database has different time segments to search.
24. PAIS
(Public Affairs Information Service)
25. Energy
Central - specialize database on all applications of energy - generation,
expenditure, etc
26. SPIE
Digital Library - covers different aspects of optics
27. Google
Scholar - has eLinks to
28. Microsoft
Windows Live Academic (still in beta testing and focuses on Computer
Science, Physics and Electrical Engineering - has
29. Opposing
Viewpoints – good for pro/con statements or discussions of contemporary
issues, to argue or debate a particular opinion or persuasion; cites references
and helps one to organize ideas
30. Plunket Research Online – Current market research and trends analysis in a broad spectrum of industries including health, biotech and telecommunications are on the left toolbar and clicking on Market Trends will take you to the newest update of data in that sector; also contains statistics for the industry, a glossary of its vocabulary, company profiles and contacts, and industry associations and organizations.
31. Synthesis
Digital Library of Engineering and Computer Science – esp
Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Technology & Society (in particular) –
short treatises and monographs by highly respected scientists and engineers
Additional Specialized
Engineering & Business Databases - noted on the Engineering
Subject Guides and on Medicine at http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/subject/subpage.php?subject=med
and the GML Subject Page at http://medical.lib.uci.edu/
or on Business
C. Hints for specific topics and groups -
recommended databases & sources
D. Patent information
U. S. Patent
and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/
and How to Search the
USPTO database
Official source for U.S. patents and
trademarks in full text from 1976 (full page images available since 1790) with
links to the Library of Congress for copyright information. Definitions, application forms and
instructions, handbooks, notices, and patent attorney directory are just a few
of the products provided. Includes design patents and reissued patents as well
as patents currently in application process (coverage starts March 2001).
Full-text searching is available.
LexisNexis
Academic Universe
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
Under "Legal Research" is a Patent Research section for
searching of Patents (1971 to date), by individual category of Design Patents,
Plant Patents or Utility Patents. Can also search by keyword,
assignee, inventor, patent number, classification, and lawyer.
Google Patents - latest of the patent indexes to appear -
there is lots of help; not as formalized a search process - contains 7.3
million patents
Other valuable patent resources:
Patent
Searching Tutorial – from the University of Texas, Austin
European Patent
Office - index of patents originating in
Freepatentsonline
- Fulltext and images of US patents beginning with patent
number 4,000,000
Scirus
- Indexes over 13 million patents from the US, European and Japanese Patent
Offices and WIPO
E.
Internet Resources
Search Engines vs. metasites - evaluate
resource - consider domain - .edu, .com, .gov, .org, etc.
Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources - http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm)
1.
Authority control - authorship - who, affiliation, where
2. Currency - note the date, the update, does it reflect the right
period of time
3. Evaluate the source - establish criteria that is meaningful to
covering the topic
4. Citing
Internet resources - URL & date of the search
5.
Capturing and citing
6. Copying
F.
Specific Resources and Hints
1.
Government Information - major source - consult
ANTPAC or visit Reference desk on the First Floor of the Langson
Library. For Federal
US sources, check the websites of specific agencies such as the U.S.
Department of Energy Web page or specific state agencies at http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp
2. Professional Societies publications –
investigate IEEE, ACM, SPIE, ASEE,
3.
Work from an outline - begin with an anticipated title, write the
prospectus indicating the hypothesis and leaving notations for areas where
research or information is still needed.
4.
For
assistance in preparing presentations
you may find the following resources helpful in preparing a Powerpoint
presentation that can capture your ideas with some visual elements including
images, graphs, photographs, etc. For
some background in creating an appropriate presentation, consider the needs of
your audience and play to that group.
You may find the following resources and tutorials helpful:
Mastering Powerpoint 2000 - SL Bar T385 M8863 1999
And tutorials at:
http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/library/HHCL_New_Web/Teach_Learn_tutor_ppoint.htm
http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/tutorials/pptscratch-text.htm
Sources for images include: Google Image Search
and other search interfaces; remember to cite the source even if it is in the
public domain.
G. Additional Information & Assistance:
1.
Contact Liaison Librarian -
2.
Consult
Reference Desk at either Science (9-6) or Langson
(9-9) Libraries and (1-5 on weekends) - Remember that Library is open over
Presidents' Day Weekend, including Monday
3.
Use Ask a Librarian to get
help via the Chat/Online service, eMail Reference or
to schedule a Research Consultation