Construction 394
Megaprojects

 

Learning Outcomes At the end of this session, the student will be able to: 1. Create a library “PIN” 2. Set up his/her account in “Refworks.” 3. Formulate a topic. 4. Narrow or Broaden the topic as needed 5. Locate background information (encyclopedias and books) 6. Locate primary literature (articles from journals and conference proceedings) 7. Determine whether an article is “Refereed” or not. (Using “Ulrich’s”) 8. Locate the full text of articles:      a. electronically (if available)      b. in paper format      c. using InterLibrary Loan 9. Download or copy citations into “Refworks” 10. Create a bibliography using “Refworks.”

 

Create Your “PIN”

From the any of the library's web pages, click on "My Account" in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  Follow prompts to enter name, university ID# and chosen library PIN.    (See instructions)

 

Set up Your “Refworks” account

Go to ASU Refworks access page, and log in with your name, university ID number and Library PIN.  Create a new account by filling out the new user information.  (see Instructions)

 

Planning Your Search

1. What is my topic?

Example: What was the impact of the Three Gorges Dam project on the surrounding communities?

 

2. Where can I find background information?

Encyclopedias and Books

Online Encyclopedias
a. From the Libraries’ Home page
b. Click on “All types of material”
c. Then click on “Encyclopedias”

 

Access Science
This is the online version of the McGraw Hill encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Search by keyword or topic.

 

Encyclopaedia Britannica
Great for background information on many topics.

Tip: Often it works well to enter only the name of the construction project in the online encyclopedias. Eg: “three gorges”

 

Books

a. From the Libraries’ Home page
b. Click on Find “Books and More” (or enter search in catalog quick search boxes located at the top of every library web page)
c. Keyword search— default is a phrase; must use “and” between words to find words anywhere
d. Example: three gorges:  finds 15 books

 

 

Articles

a. From the Libraries’ Home page
b. Click on Find “Articles”
c. “Popular” and “Scholarly” Articles:

a. Lexis/Nexis Academic
Newspaper, magazine, and scholarly articles

 

b. Academic Search Premier
Has both popular and scholarly articles
Tip: Check “Peer Reviewed” box to limit your search to scholarly articles

 

c. Applied Science and Technology
Has both trade magazines and professional journals

 

d. Compendex (Engineering Index on EV2)
The most comprehensive engineering database. Contains references to conference proceedings, journals, and more.

 

e. America: History and Life
History and culture of US and Canada from prehistoric to modern times. Some construction projects can be found here.

 

f. Historical Abstracts
History of the world from 1450 to present, excluding the US and Canada. Some construction projects in Europe can be found here.

 

g. Web of Science
Search entire database.

 

h. Sociological Abstracts
Theoretical and applied sociology.

 

How can I find out if a journal is “refereed” or not?

a. Use the “Peer Reviewed” limit feature within the database (available in Academic Search Premier.)

b. Click on “Find Articles” and enter Ulrichs
Ulrichsweb.com is a periodical index that describes journals and magazines.  Search the for journal title using the "Title (exact)" search option. On the screen with the search results there will be an icon next to the title when the journal is referreed/peer reviewed, and line saying "Referreed: Yes" on the screen with the complete information.

c. The journal’s home page often gives this information.  You can generally find the journal's home page by searching the journal title in Google.

 

Obtain Full Text

a. Links from within the database to electronic or call numbers for paper versions

 

b.  Search for Journals (both electronic and print) from library's Find Journals page. 

b. If the library doesn’t own, use InterLibrary Loan. Most articles delivered electronically by email.

 

Refworks: Two Features

Store Citations and Create a Bibliography

A. Direct Import of citations from these databases to Refworks (see instructions)

Academic Search Premier
Compendex
America: History and Life
Historical Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts

B. Email citations from databases to self and copy and paste into Refworks
OR Save and Import into Refworks (see instructions)

Applied Science and Technology Abstracts
Web of Science

C. Input references manually (see instructions)

 

“Write ‘n Cite”

Write-n-Cite is a software plugin to download that allows one to write their paper and insert the references into the text. (see instructions)