Penn State University Libraries - ENGL 202C: Technical Writing

Get background explanations and definitions from encyclopedias:

• Access Science (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology) basic science encyclopedia
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry chemistry, chemical engineering, and related disciplines
• HowStuffWorks a website with descriptions of processes
• Gale Virtual Reference Library a compilation of encyclopedias
• Oxford Reference Online a compilation of dictionaries

Use the library to find books, articles, and other resources that provide supporting information and a review of the problem you are investigating. Learning to choose appropriate information resources is an important skill. See these tips for how to evaluate information for help in selecting quality resources.

Find Articles: Articles in newspapers, magazines and journals are important for finding current, concise, or research information for your topic.

Tip: Learning the difference between scholarly, trade and popular resources is an important skill. Impress your professor by using scholarly resources!

Use LionSearch to quickly locate articles and books on a topic

1. Go to LionSearch
   
2. Enter and combine terms appropriate to your topic
3. Look at the best articles you retrieve and determine the subject terms used for those articles. Then revise your search using these new terms.
   Tip:  Look at the Refine your Search section to select just scholarly articles, or different Content Types (book, journal article, ebook, newspaper article etc), Subject Terms, Locations, Years and Languages. You may have to click on more options to see a complete list.
4. Save the relevant sources into the LionSearch temporary folder by clicking on the small folder icon to right side of the item.  When you are finished compiling your sources, click on the "saved items" link at the bottom of the screen and email or print (which allows you to copy into your clipboard) the references so you can easily add them to your project.  Choose a specific format to have the citations correctly formatted for your project! CAVEAT: computer systems make mistakes when autoformatting.  Double check your final paper against the appropriate Citation Style.
5. Click on the yellow Full Text link to see the full text of online articles and ebooks.  If full text is not available, click the title to see more information about where the book or article is located.
   

Alternative Article Search Steps: If LionSearch is giving you too many (or too few!) resources, try these steps:

1. Select an appropriate database.
2. Use Academic Search Complete for scholarly and popular articles on most any topic. There are lots of fulltext articles in this database too! But it might not have information specific enough for your topic
3. Try Web of Science for more scholarly resources in all subjects
4. Use a Research Guide to identify a database specific to your subject.
5. Once you find the citation in a database, try  the  button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you can use the ILLiad link to request it from another library (its free!).
6. Make sure you collect (write down or print off) all pertinent information (called the 'citation') including the journal title, volume, date, and page numbers for any item you will be using in your project.
7. Explore other databases and subject terms (which vary between databases) for more information.
   

Tip: Library databases are better resources than Google. Use them!

Google vs. LionSearch

Feature	GOOGLE*	LionSearch
Ease of use	Easy	Easy
Quantity	Lots of results; some junk	Fewer results, more relevant
Authoritativeness & Quality	Quite variable - requires evaluation	High quality. Lots of scholarly material.
Full Text	Some	Some
Age of resources	mostly less than 10 years old	Go back hundreds of years

*if you must Google, then use Google Scholar.

Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print! The first step is to figure out which piece of the citation to search. Ask yourself if it is a book or a journal article? For journal articles, look for two title-like entries - one for the article title + another for the title of the journal (or book) it appeared in. Always use the second title-like entry (a broader title) in the journal title section of the form.

Identifying Journal Titles in Citations

Sample Citation as it may be found in a database or from another article	Journal title
Dating metamorphic reactions and fluid flow; application to exhumation of high-P granulites in a crustal-scale shear zone, western Canadian Shield Mahan, K H; Goncalves, P; Williams, M L; Jercinovic, M J Journal of Metamorphic Geology, vol.24, no.3, pp.193-217, Apr 2006	Journal of Metamorphic Geology
Title: Climate change in northern Africa: The past is not the future Author: Claussen M.; Petoukhov V.; Brovkin V., and others Source: Climatic Change 57, no.1-2 (2003) p. 99-118	Climatic Change
The Stately Cycles of Ancient Climate Richard A. Kerr Science, Vol. 252, No. 5010 (May, 1991), pp. 1254-1255	Science
Anderson, G. T., C. V. Renard, L. M. Strein, and E. C. Cayo. 1998. A new technique for rapid deployment of rollover protective structures. Applied Eng. in Agric. 23(2): 34-42.	Applied Engineering in Agriculture

Find Books:You won't find entire books on narrow research topics, but they are useful for broad topics, reviews of research areas, and for specific information found in the book chapters (use the book's index!).

The CAT is used to search for books owned by Penn State. The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries (over 4 million items!). It does NOT provide a listing of journal articles but will tell you if we own the journal or have access to the fulltext. (See the articles section for help in finding individual articles)

• Use the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first).
• Use the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic.
• When you find an appropriate book, check its subject headings (listed on the "more" tab) and use those terms to retrieve more information.
• Write down the call number and location for any book you want.
• For more detailed searching information go to the Quick Guide to the CAT.

Tip: Use the I WANT IT button in the CAT to have things delivered for pickup or to request an item already in use.

Libraries Borrowing Policies: Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. You can borrow up to 200 items; most items can be charged out for 28 days before needing to be renewed. But books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code.

Tip: My Library Account shows you what you have checked out and allows you to renew your books without coming to the library.

Other Resources: Use a Research Guide for your subject to determine other resources that are important in your discipline!

Tip: What if Penn State doesn't own an item or no copies are available? If we do not own something or if all Penn State copies are in use, we'll attempt to get it for you - for free! Use InterLibrary Loan to request items. Most items arrive within 7-10 working days. Articles are scanned and delivered online to you; books and other loans will be delivered to the library of your choice for pickup.

Tip: Dont' forget to cite all your sources in the appropriate style for your discipline!

You need to locate an academic/scholarly (or peer reviewed) article in your field.

First: learn how to tell the difference between academic/scholarly journals and other magazines:

• Periodicals and Journals

Next: locate an academic/scholarly article by one of these methods:

• Look at a research guide to your field and:
  • Select a database and search on a subject that interests you (then use the Get It button to see if the article is online).
  • See if a list of important journals is included in the guide and browse through those journals for a suitable article
• Asking one of your professors what the top journals are in your discipline and browse through those journals for a suitable article
  • Tip: Find the journal online by using Citation Linker. If PSU doesn’t have the journal online, select the link to search the CAT to find if Penn State owns the print issues and where they are located.
• Use the Ulrich's Web resource to identify academic/scholarly journals by subject (items with the icon are refereed/peer reviewed)

Then: Evaluate the journal’s credibility by looking at the editorial policy and determining whether or not the journal uses a peer-review system. If it doesn't, then you should look for a more reputable journal.

Tip: Some databases divide your search results into categories, inclding scholarly journals.

You need to identify and evaluate a variety of information (library and internet) resources. These will be helpful for your literature review and other assignments in the course, as well as when you work in your chosen profession.

Tip: the green links will lead you to a definition of the term.

Identify at least one print and one online index to the periodical literature in your major field.

• Use your major’s Research Guide and check the “articles and databases” section to see what is suggested. Most indexes listed in the guides are online.
• For print indexes, your best bet is to ask at the subject library that covers your major.

Identify resources in your field from at least four of the following categories:

Tip: Essentially all these resources are reference resources and you can find many of them by browsing your major’s Research Guide, or the Reference Section of the library that covers your major (or ask at the reference desk in that library). However, not all disciplines have their own separate reference material and you may have to use a resource that has a broader scope.

• Specialized Dictionary
  • Search in the CAT for your major and the word dictionaries. Example: Chemistry dictionaries
  • Search Oxford Reference an online library resource for dictionaries
• Biographical Reference
  • Search in the CAT for your major and the word biography. Example: Biology biography
  • If necessary, use the American Men and Women of Science a general biographical reference for all of the sciences
• Subject Guide to the Literature
  • Your major’s Research Guide, is an online subject guide to the literature and is especially useful for Penn State students.
  • Select a Begins with (browse) search in the CAT and then click the down arrow in the second box and change the type of search from title to LC Subject Heading . Then try terms such as "biological literature", "engineering literature" or "physics literature".
• Abstracts
  • Tip: many abstract services are actually indexes which also include a summary of the article. Check in your major’s Research Guide and see if one of the indexes that you didn't use in the previous section includes abstracts.
  • Search in the CAT for your major and the word abstracts. Example: Statistics abstracts
• Encyclopedia
  • Search in the CAT for your major and the word encyclopedias. Example: Meteorology encyclopedias
  • Search Gale Virtual Reference Library an online library resource for encyclopedias
  • If necessary, use Access Science as a general encyclopedia for all of the sciences
• Handbook
  • Search in the CAT for your major or broad discipline and the word handbooks. Example: Nursing handbooks
• Bibliography
  • Search in the CAT for your major or a narrow subject area and the word bibliograhpy. Example: Physics bibliography

Identify at least one printed and one on-line Professional Journal in your field and cite its specific strengths and uses.

• Search in the CAT for your major or broad discipline and the word periodicals. Example: Civil Engineering periodicals.
• Entries with are available at least partially online
• Other entries will be available at least partially in print.

Describe the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (on-line) and its uses.

• Online this title is called the Catalog of Government Publications

Describe the Statistical Abstract of the United States as a reference tool.

• Online: Statistical Abstract of the United States

Glossary

• Abstract: Summary of an article, book, or other publication. Can be used to indicate a periodical index that also include abstracts as part of each item.

• Academic/Scholarly/Professional journal: A publication which has scholarly, or research, information, usually written by professors, researchers, or experts in a subject area, and not intended for the general public. Many scholarly journals are also peer reviewed.

• Bibliography: list of books, articles, or other sources (interviews, films) on a particular subject. Bibliographies may be found at the end of books or articles, or may be separate publications. Most bibliographies are on fairly narrow subjects. A bibliography should contain identifying information, for example title, author, publisher, date and place of publications of a book, so that the reader can locate the item.

• Biographical reference/dictionary: Information about people in a particular subject. They may cover a narrow subject (Example: The plant hunters : being a history of the horticultural pioneers, their quests, and their discoveries from the Renaissance to the twentieth century), or be fairly broad in scope (Example: Notable scientists from 1900 to the present, or American men and women of science).

• Citation: The information which identifies a book or article. Information for a book usually includes the author, title, publisher, and date. The citation for an article includes the author, title of the article, title of the periodical, volume, pages, and date. Sometimes called a bibliographic citation or a reference.

• Database: any online collection of information on a particular subject area. Often a periodical index, but may also contain full text information (the articles themselves), book citations, or other information of importance to the subject.

• Directory of information sources: a listing of resources important to a particular subject area.

• Encyclopedia: A work containing factual articles on subjects in every field of knowledge, usually arranged alphabetically. A subject encyclopedia is a similar work on a single field of activity or a single subject. An encyclopedia can be one volume or many volumes, depending on the amount of material included.

• Government Documents/Publications: Items published by a government (international, national, state or local). Often used to denote the United States federal government.

• Handbook: A reference source incorporating miscellaneous facts relevant to a particular discipline or subject, much of it presented in condensed forms, like equations, formulas, tables, graphs, or charts. An example is the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.

• Monograph: another word for a book.

• Peer Reviewed: Many scholarly journals use a peer review system for publication; this means that when articles are submitted for publication, they are reviewed by other scientists (peers) who judge whether the article is of suitable quality for publication.

• Periodical: Items with the same name published on a regular basis, such as journals , magazines , and newspapers.

• Periodical Index: An online or printed index to journal and magazine articles. Usually covering a particular subject, such as biology, engineering, or chemistry (Examples: Biological Abstracts, PubMed, Compendex). There are some broad, interdisciplinary indexes as well (Example: Web of Science).

• Professional Association: An organization for those who work in a specific profession. Examples: American Medical Association (for physicians), Association of Mechanical Engineers (for mechanical engineers).

• Reference: often used to mean citation

• Reference resources: resources that are used to answer short, concise information requests. Things like dictionaries, encyclopedias etc.

• Reference Section: an area in a library which houses reference resources. Separate from the general book collections. Items in reference sections usually can not be checked out of the library.

• Specialized Dictionary: A book which defines the terms of a specific subject, discipline, or specialized area of knowledge.(Examples: )

• Style guide or publication manual: Special handbooks that illustrate the accepted forms for citing references in bibliographies, footnotes, and endnotes. Some style manuals are for general use. Others are published by professional associations as form guides for articles in journals in that field of knowledge and research.

• Subject guide to the literature: a reference resource or online resource that describes special features of the scholarly literature in a given discipline, including important standard reference resources, periodical indexes and journals.

• Subject Headings: The standard terms used to describe a particular subject. Different databases often use different subject headings. In the CAT the Library of Congress Subject Headings are used. Subject headings are often called descriptors in online periodical indexes.