Chapter Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, readers will be able to:
- Explain and apply how to find information in libraries.
- Explain and apply how to indicate sources of borrowed information.
- Explain and apply how to cross-reference.
Information Search
This section focuses on finding information for your technical documentation projects online and in physical libraries. Your job is to get good, specific, up-to-date information for your formal report project. You may not be able to read it all—you're not writing a dissertation, nor is your knowledge about your topic expected to be anywhere close to that level. But at least you know what's out there.
Check out the library system at Kennesaw State University. Here KSU students will find research help 24/7.
How do I get started with research?
Find a Topic, Narrow It, Brainstorm It
Before you head for the library or its Internet equivalent, you need a topic, some idea of the specific aspect of the topic you want to focus on, and some ideas about what to say about that narrowed topic. Problems fnding a topic and thinking of what to say about it are often called the dreaded writer's block.
Narrowing a topic is that process in which you go from an impossibly huge topic such as nanotechnology to something more manageable such as applications of nanotechnology in brain surgery.
Brainstorming a topic is that process in which you think of everything you can that you might write about in relation to your topic.
Know Your Booleans for Searching Online or in Databases
An important tool to have when you go searching for information—either in libraries or on the Internet—has to do with Booloean operators: AND, OR, NOT and a few esoteric others. The following table will help you become an expert in narrowing search parameters, especially in a huge database such as that provided by the university.
| Technique | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Truncation — adding a symbol to the root of the word to retrieve related terms and variant endings for the root term. Some databases have left- and right-hand truncation. | Expands your search | structur* finds structure, structuring, structures, etc. *elasticity will find elasticity, aeroelasticity, viscoelasticity |
| Boolean AND — retrieves only those records containing all your search terms | Narrows your search | finite AND element AND methods |
| Boolean OR — retrieves records containing any of your search terms; especially useful for synonyms, alternate spellings, or related concepts | Broadens your search | energy OR fuel pollut* OR contaminat* sulfur OR sulphur |
| Boolean NOT, AND NOT — attempts to exclude a term that is not useful or relevant | Narrows your search | "Advanced Materials" AND composite NOT wood |
| Proximity — retrieves terms within a specified distance of one another; variations of proximity searches are phrase searches, where the terms must be retrieved exactly as entered; NEAR, ADJACENT, WITH, and WITHIN searches | Narrows your search | "Styrenic Block Copolymers" (quotation marks ensure that the multiple-word term is searched as a phrase, but are not required for all databases) |
| Parentheses ( ) — groups terms with Boolean for more complex searches | Combines searches | "mechanical engineering" AND (handbook OR dictionary) |
