Finding and Managing Sources of Information

Making information your own

Search Strategies Subject search

uses keywords Snowball search

moves back in time – begins with recent publication

Citation search moves forward in time -- begins with

key paper

Snowball (a) and Citation (b)

Douglas (2003)Physical Rev. Letters, MIT

Nicol et al. (1998)

Gaiver (1996)Phys. rev. Letters

Bardeen (1994)

Haus (1975)IEEE Journal

Lugovoi (1976)Optics

Haus (1978)Internat’l J of Elect

Auschnitt (1986)Applied Phys Lett

Glasser (1995)IEEE Trans

(a)

(b)

Search Tools

Science Citation Index a CD-ROM in the McKinney Library

Applied Science and Technology Index Covers trade and industrial publications as well as

journals published by professional societies. Engineering Index

also the Engineering Index Annual (abstracts) Dissertation Abstracts

More Search Tools

Web of Science – links to cited articles on UT Library web site

SciFinder Scholar – download from ChE library Includes conferences and dissertations, etc. Has elegant search engine

Others?

More Search Strategies Star search

looks at “star” journals or institutions

Comprehensive database search

needs a search profile

Problems with Researching(list those you encounter) On Web:

Using other sources:

1. Evaluate

3. Document

2. Summarize

4. Organize

1. Evaluate all Sources of Information1. Does the information answer important questions for your

research? 2. Is the information current? Can you determine the date of

publication?3. Are presented facts and figures from reliable sources?4. Can you detect any biases in the way that information is

presented?5. Can you determine the author’s credentials and

qualifications?6. Is the publisher/sponsor credible? (for WWW sources, check

the domain).

2. Summarize the Information As soon as you finish reading a piece (article,

report, even an abstract), summarize it in your own words. summarize its contents summarize its relevance (or not) to your project summarize its relative importance to your project – will

you depend on it heavily? Summarizing makes a manageable paragraph out

of a much bigger work – save your summaries in a word file.

Summarizing1. Record bibliographic information.2. Skim for main topic. Write it down.3. Read carefully, marking as you go.4. Review marked information.5. Set source aside. Process 5-10 minutes.6. Quickly summarize:

Problem, Thesis, Main Points, Conclusion.7. Compare to original.8. Add your own critique: how useful for you?

Integrate information into your own work.

Describing information in your own words helps you integrate it into your own documents.

Be sure to differentiate between conclusions of fact and inference.

“Extensive laboratory studies suggest that enhanced bioremediation might be applicable to stranded

oil on the beaches of Prince William Sound.”

3. Document your Sources Help yourself retrieve information later! Help others learn from your work. Establish your credibility as a technical

professional. Show your work as part of a continuum of

investigation. Even design projects very often have multiple

designers and previous work to start from.

Most Important Reasons To keep the distinction between what youyou said,

developed, invented, discovered and what othersothers discovered/said.

To protect the expression of ideas (yours and others’). Patents Graphs/tables/figures Written expressions: parts of reports, proposals,

technical descriptions, web sites, etc., etc.

Documenting Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism Don’t plagiarize unintentionally – consider these

writing strategies: Quotation, paraphrase, summary

If in doubt about whether to cite source, cite it! Improper citation is way better than no citation.

Plagiarism is a problem for professional writers, not just students. Stephen Ambrose

“Over the weekend, the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes nailed Ambrose for heisting several passages of The Wild Blue, his recent best seller about World War II B-24 bomber crews, from historian Thomas Childers. Ambrose had footnoted Childers but still passed off Childers' elegant prose as his own.”David Plotz “The Plagiarist: Why Stephen Ambrose is a vampire.” http://slate.msn.com/?id=2060618Jan. 11, 2002.

Doris Kearns Goodwin“Goodwin's "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys" borrowed with insufficient attribution from three earlier works by other authors.”Bo Crader “A Historian and Her Sources” http://slate.msn.com/?id=2061056 January 28, 2002

Is 2nd paragraph a paraphrase of 1st? “On August 28, 1859, Custer returned to West Point. Cadet

James Barroll Washington, a great-great-grandnephew of George Washington, entered that year. He remembered hearing the crowd shout, 'Here comes Custer!' The name meant nothing to him, but he turned, and saw a slim, immature lad with unmilitary figure, slightly rounded shoulders, and gangling walk."

From Custer: The Life of General George Armstrong Custer by Jay Monaghan

"When he returned to West Point, Cadet James B. Washington, a relative of George Washington, remembered hearing the crowd shout, 'Here comes Custer!' The name meant nothing to Washington, who was just entering the Academy, but he turned and saw a slim, immature lad with unmilitary figure, slightly rounded shoulders, and gangling walk, surrounded by back-slapping, laughing friends."

From Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen Ambrose

How to use information from sources: Quote in full, using quotation marks. Use part quotation and part paraphrase. Paraphrase.

All 3 of these uses require both an in-text citation to the source and a complete Reference List at end of document.

ReferencesMiller, T.H. , “Septic Systems and Their Maintenance,” Maryland Cooperative Extension, http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/wye/personel/Miller/septic.html

Exact wording from a websiteAn alternative to the common drain field is the Seepage Pit (Dry Well). In this type, liquid flows to a pre-cast tank with sidewall holes, surrounded by gravel. (Older versions usually consist of a pit with open-jointed brick or stone walls.) Liquid seeps through the holes or joints to the surrounding soil.

How to “document:” Quote in full“An alternative to the common drain field is the Seepage Pit (Dry Well). In this type, liquid flows to a pre-cast tank with sidewall holes, surrounded by gravel. (Older versions usually consist of a pit with open-jointed brick or stone walls.) Liquid seeps through the holes or joints to the surrounding soil” (Miller 2004).

OR

Part paraphrase, part quotation P. Miller describes the Seepage Pit (Dry Well) as an

alternative to the drain field. “In this type, liquid flows to a pre-cast tank with sidewall holes, surrounded by gravel. (Older versions usually consist of a pit with open-jointed brick or stone walls.) Liquid seeps through the holes or joints to the surrounding soil” (2004).

OR

All paraphrase P. Miller describes the Seepage Pit (Dry Well) as

an alternative to the drain field (2004). In this drainage method, liquid seeps into the soil surrounding the pre-cast tank into which it has first flowed.

When you paraphrase, the author’s name can quite naturally become part of your sentence.

Other Resources to Help You Avoid Plagiarism UT’s Scholastic Dishonesty policy Excerpt from Media Writing (2nd Edition) by

R.W. Whitaker, J.R. Ramsey, & R.D. Smith. 2004, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Document your sources as you do the research.1. Collect information when you locate source.2. Format documentation according to

guidelines (see sections 59 & 60 in Reference Guide).

Collect these pieces of information: author, date, title of work, title of larger work,

publication info. For electronic sources, add this information:

electronic address, date of access

4. Organize the Information Store documentation info. in one word-

processing file. Cut and paste between browser and word file Collect enough info. to get back to that source. Copy and paste citation data from library’s online

catalog Annotate each entry as you go along.

Write brief description and note to yourself about usefulness of that source.

Be sure to save all info in one file – might as well alphabetize right from the start!

For Wednesday, September 20 Bring a proposal of any kind to class. Be

prepared to discuss its organization and purpose.

If possible, bring the RFP (Request for Proposal).