Technical Communication

QUICK Library Research HELP. University Library provides assistance in many ways during library hours, especially during academic sessions:

• By phone : 317-274-0469 or 317-274-0472
• By chat Monday - Friday 9 - 4 at left side of page: Research Help
• By e-mail: renewal@iu.edu
• By text: (66746)
• In-person at the 2nd level lobby Information/Reference desk

Please note that the library's QUICK HELP service can't help you learn to use a Purdue resource unless the resource is also available at University Library. 

For ADDITIONAL HELP, contact resource/research specialist Randall Halverson. He is happy to support your classwork or research via email or Canvas message suggestions or by appointment. Email is an effective medium to send questions: rhalver@purdue.edu or rahalver@iu.edu. For best results, please include your course and section number and background details, especially 

• details about your project topic, such as your personal or professional interest in the topic,

• whether you want to focus your topic and explore possible research directions, or search for "big picture" overview sources or in-depth specialized sources, etc.,

• search resources and strategies that you've already tried.

To request a RESERVATION to meet, please use the library's "Make an Appointment" page, selecting my name from the list of subject librarians. If my time options shown on the calendar don't work for you, you are welcome to send 2 or 3 days/times you could meet by email. I'll respond. :~)

Early-on; explore directions for research

Databases listed just below can help you explore and focus your topic and potential solutions.

Find concise, practical trade journal articles and readable magazine articles using ProQuest Research Library. Find readable, especially credible professional society "magazine" articles giving overviews of computing topics and IT applied to many STEM topics by searching IEEE and ACM and limiting to magazine articles. Other resources such as ebooks can also help provide background or additional detail on a topic.

Search additional, specialized sources to find journal articles and conference papers

Try focusing on two or three core article databases resources listed just below, testing several search strategies to find the most relevant articles.

Purdue Indy students and staff are expected to be able to access Purdue University resources at any time from anywhere and set Google Scholar to show links to Purdue full-text by following instructions at page. Also see specific Suggested Purdue Resources listed and linked in box below this one.

Purdue University Indy students and staff will be able to access almost all University Library electronic resources (campus databases and direct access full-text content), but only within University Library. See page. THIS RESOURCE SITE FOR REMOTE ACCESS to Purdue e-resources has details, if for example, you don''t see "Full Text at Purdue" links in Google Scholar search results. 

Search hint: When available, using classification category browsing* may provide more comprehensive results than keyword searching.

"OPEN" Patent Resource Sites:

Global Patent Index (GPI) - European Patent Office (EPO) "... More than 500 000 patent documents are added every month." Site claims "We provide access to the largest single source of technical information in the world: our databases containing millions of patent documents."

Google Patents - "Search and read the full text of patents from around the world. "

The Lens "... over 268+ million scholarly works, 153+ million global patent records... drawn from diverse data sources." Started in 1998 to "render the global patent system more transparent", it is increasingly recommended by users of patent resources. Provides discovery and analytics tools and "cited by" information, and promises privacy. Short videos demonstrateToolset features such as "Explore which articles influence what patents and who is building products".

PATENTSCOPE, from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Scroll down to the FAQs, including "Where can I find the drawings accompanying a patent application?"

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - The government's free, searchable database of United States patents, patent applications, and trademarks. It provides coverage of patent materials from 1790 to the present.

"HOW TO" resources:

Also see a collection of IT-related standards included with IEEE Explore and linked with IEEE's browse options, and a set of standards included with SAE Mobility. Also, please note that ASTM JOURNALS and EBOOKS can be browsed using pull-down menus at the ASME resource.

Orientation to standards; Purdue Libraries TOOLs and COLLECTIONS of STANDARDS

Learn more about Standards and Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs);  browse options for FREE ACCESS to STANDARDS

Sample open access resources (OER) listed below are linked at the Open Textbook Library or at the OER Commons.

Also see:

• Open Textbook Library: Search or browse by subject  Conditions of Use (Creative Commons license) are noted by title.
• OER Commons  The Advanced Search page provides Additional Search Criteria, including limiting by Creative Commons license use permission at lower right (Unrestricted Use, Conditional Remix and Share... etc.).
• Open Educational Resources IUB guide pages: Finding, Evaluating, Creating

SAMPLE OER RESOURCE SEARCHES

SAMPLE OER ITEMS

Please complete the library session evaluation linked below (requires IU login).

Your participation is greatly appreciated and will help us improve our instruction! 

End-of-Class Evaluation QR Code