Engineering 190W - Spring 2013 - Stupar Section  

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 to several sources relevant to each task.

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 website will direct you to information resources and services, specifically, the online databases and will give you access to all that is defined by "Resource Tools" and "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)

When using Online or Internet Resources, consider Search Engines vs. metasites - evaluate resource - be attentive to domain -may include .com, .edu, .org, .gov, .net

Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources - http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm

1. Scope of coverage
2. Verifiable information - can be documented
3. Authority control - authorship - who, affiliation, where
4. Currency - note the date, the update, does it reflect the right period of time
5. Timeliness
6. Evaluate the source - establish criteria that is meaningful to covering the topic>
7. Objectivity - reduce bias
8. Accuracy
9. Design & Presentation
10. Ease of use
11. Citing Internet resources - URL & date of the search
12. Capturing and citing
13. Copying
14. Establishing relevancy

In order to avoid plagiarism and to honor intellectual integrity, make sure that you cite the authority in a bibliographic reference to anything that is not your original writing or creation - that means when you quote a passage, insert a graphic image, figures, or illustration, that you cite the original source. The style manual you choose to follow should document how you cite electronic resources. Standard formats include the following reference elements:

Standard formats include the following reference elements:

For a Journal article or conference proceeding:

Author(s) - last name, first name, MI, - [include multiple authors if noted] (date), Title of article. Source of Article/Title of Journal. volume #, (issue #): pages. If it is only an electronic publication with no reference to print pages, then you cite the DOI - Digital Object Identifier and the date last visited.

If it is a conference paper, then you cite the Source of the Publication, Title of conference, date and location of meeting.

For books, the format is:

Author, editor of volume or chapter, (imprint date). Title of chapter in Title of Book, edited by editor if different. City of Publication: Publisher, page references. Note if it is an eBook.

For full volume:

Author, (date). Title of Book. City of Publisher, Publisher: pages

ACM Style Guide  - there are some examples in the link to MS Word in the list of references provided that can be used as a model for different writing elements

*** IEEE Citation Style ***- The IEEE Style Manual notes the specific ways that references and footnotes are to be handled.  You will be writing with a model of California Engineer - check it out at the Ayala Science Library Current Periodicals Room by journal title or for back issues, by call number TA 1 C28 in the Ayala Science Library Drum (round part of the Library)

MLA Style Format is documented in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 2009 at Langson Library Reference Desk at:                   REF LB 2369 G53 2009

APA Style - the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2010 is the current Style Manual and is found at Langson Library Reference Desk at: REF BF 76.7 P83 2010 - for additional support with the APA style manual please consult the APA Style & Citation Resources tab at http://libguides.lib.uci.edu/psychology

Other hints:

1. Avoid plagiarism, be ethical – OVERCITE!
   Plagiarism: what it is and how to recognize and avoid it. A guide prepared by the Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN http://www.indiana.edu/~wts?plagiarism.html

    

2. Consult http://www.turnitin.com, a plagiarism detection program - ask your professor if you are interested in this.

    

3. Be consistent

    

4. Work on your presentation skills
   • very important now
   • when interviewing for job

    

5. For additional information, consult with instructor, librarian, examine your style manual.

    

BIBLIOGRAPHIC MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE - allows you to discover, find, manage, recall and apply the citations you retrieve from all formats of work - journal articles, book chapters, edited volumes, standards, specifications, patents, conference papers & proceedings, lectures, etc. Neither Zotero nor EndNote support BibTeX or LaTeX, only the usual wordprocessing languages or Legal Style Manual.  For additional information, please visit the Bibliographic Management Software page.  A comparison of all kinds of different products are noted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_reference_management_software

For Chat, Text, eMail and to schedule a Research Consultation with a Librarian, use:

During Winter Quarter you can consult or verify Library Hours which are:

Monday-Thursday from 8am11pm

Friday from 8am-5pm

Saturday from 1-5pm

Sunday from 1-9pm

Gateway Commons is open Monday-Thursday from 10am-3am; Friday from 10am-9pm; Saturday from 5pm-9pm, Sunday from 5pm-3am. 

The Libraries will be closed on Monday,May 27 for the Memorial Day Holiday.

Researching from home? Use the VPN Links below to access our databases.   Instructions on connecting from off-campus should be followed - for additional information, consult with NACS at 949-824-2222

Web VPN

Software VPN

More Information Regarding the VPN

Increasingly many of our licensed library resources are available via mobile devices - this link will tell you what is available and on what platform.  

Your UCI PhotoID will serve as your copy card for xeroxing and printing.  It requires that money be added to it by inserting it in one of the Regenerator machines found throughout the UCI Libraries.  Enter a few dollars at a time and add to it when it is depleted.  Costs will be debited at the rate of 8 cents per copy or xerox made; 12 cents per page of printing and more for color printing. 

H o t s p o t r : Find a Wi-Fi hotspot in your area with Hotspotr, a Google Maps mashup that relies entirely on user input.  As with other Wi-Fi finders, you can search for hotspots by city, ZIP code or place, then get maps, driving directions, phone numbers, etc.