21W.732.03: Writing and the Environment

Resources for Researching Your Topic

Use a variety of resources to find out about the many issues involving your topic. Start with these:

Choose a topic || Books || Articles || Refworks

Choose a topic

Try these sources for research topic ideas.

Science Magazine http://www.sciencemag.org/	Weekly publication Covers current science topics See "Collections, Explore by subject, View all subjects"
Environment & Energy Daily http://libraries.mit.edu/get/eedaily	Daily publication Contains special reports Geared to track action in U.S. Congress.
CQ Researcher http://libraries.mit.edu/get/cqresearcher	Weekly publication Covers current events & controversial topics Written by and for congressional staff Great background material! Allows for 5 users at a time--try again later if you get a "busy" message.
Find other reference sources (e.g. encyclopedias and handbooks) on your topic in Barton, the MIT Libraries catalog (see below in Books).

BOOKS provide:

Summarized knowledge on established areas of research. Can give thorough overviews of a topic.
A good starting point for selecting and refining a topic.
Bibliographies and reference lists other important works on a subject.
A chapter may target the aspect of the topic you want.

Books on the environment are found in each library at MIT: Map of library locations

BOOK CATALOGS
Barton, the MIT Libraries catalog http://libraries.mit.edu/barton	Search here first! Includes books and journal titles owned by all of the MIT Libraries.
Boston Library Consortium libraries catalogs	If MIT Libraries do not own the book you need, get a borrower's card from the reference desk to borrow books from BLC libraries. Search each of the BLC libraries' catalogs separately, then go to that library and check the book out. Consortium Library Cards are available at the Barker Engineering, Dewey, Humanities, Rotch & Science Libraries Service Desks, and the reference staff can advise you on this option.

ARTICLES provide:

Very current perspectives on an issue.

A great place to find highly specific information on a topic. Often the first place where new research is discussed.
Cover many publication types: journals, magazines, newspapers, chapters in books, conference papers, trade journals, etc.
Some articles are "review" articles.

NOTES:

- MIT Libraries subscribe to many journal article databases; some contain full text, others contain citations or abstracts only.
- You may want to search more than one to be comprehensive. .
- From off-campus, you need certificates to access these databases.

MIT LIBRARIES DATABASES
Vera Multi-Search http://libraries.mit.edu/vera	Search all MIT Libraries' e-resources by title Find articles on your topic

SELECTED ENVIRONMENT DATABASES
Environment Index http://libraries.mit.edu/get/envipol	Covers a wide range of environmental topics. Includes policy aspects.
Web of Science http://libraries.mit.edu/get/webofsci	Includes coverage of social science & humanities unless you specify science. Can limit to review articles.
Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management Collection http://libraries.mit.edu/get/espm	Offers comprehensive coverage of the environmental sciences.
For more databases see the MIT Libraries Environment Research Guide

Refworks

Refworks is a web-based resource designed to help you to organize references and create a bibliography. It allows you to search, retrieve relevant citations, and build your bibliography. It allows users to create individual or group accounts, and makes it easy write papers, or post your results to web pages.

To access Refworks from off campus, use Vera or the Vera shortcut: http://libraries.mit.edu/get/refworks.
For more information about Refworks, please see: http://libraries.mit.edu/help/refworks/index.html.

This page was last updated on Thursday, 16-Jul-2009 08:02:33 EDT