AE 500 Information & Research Sara Memmott, Librarian

Outline  Your personal information network  Creation of Information  Management/Organizational Information  Gathering & Evaluating Information  In-Class Assignment

Where do you go when you need information?

How do you create information?

Creation of Scientific Information  Event  Person/Researcher  Primary Sources – may be refereed  Secondary Sources - news  Tertiary – compiled information

Example - Secondary

Example - Primary

Management/Organizational Information Background or “big picture” information that is valuable in the workplace Trends Competitors

Information Reduces Uncertainty  Information helps you anticipate change  Crucial for strategic planning and problem solving

Use of information  What information is needed?  Collect the information  Analyze the information: create knowledge or intelligence  Take action

Types of Information  Internal – created within an organization  External – created outside  Primary – created for a specific purpose  Secondary – useful, but created for another purpose

Types of Information

Evaluating Information  Intelligence – not just facts  Is the information useful: Current Valid Objective Complete Original

Gathering Information  Regular Reading  Library Resources: Collections Databases Librarians

Library Collections  Start at library web site  Library Catalog Library Catalog  Find a Specific Journal Find a Specific Journal

Search for Topics - Databases  Engineering: Engineering Science Direct Engineering Village ProQuest Direct Many More

Assignments  Best Papers Assignment  In-Class Assignment