Have questions?
Contact me for research help on this subject.
Engineering Librarian
This guide is designed to support the Industry Sector Profile and Sustainability Plan Framework group project.
Search tips
The following search tips tend to work across different databases:
- Use the word AND to link concepts together: cardboard AND mulch
- Use the word OR with parentheses to search for synonyms: cardboard AND (mulch OR compost)
- Use quotation marks to search for a specific phrase: “Waste Reduction Model”
- Use an asterisk to search for multiple endings of a root word: reduc* - to find reduce, reducing, reduction
When searching Google, try adding the following to your topical keywords:
- site:gov, or site:edu, etc.: get results from that specific site type/domain
- filetype:pdf: get only PDFs as results
- Add keywords for the type of source you are looking for, for example: data, statistics, report
- Tutorial: Creating an effective search strategyDevelop effective search strategies for your research papers, case studies, or discussion posts.
Business resources
- NAICS Code LookupSearch by NAICS Code or keyword to see a full code description, along with top companies in each industry and brief company profiles.
- EMIS ProfessionalFind company and industry information, reports, statistics, proprietary mergers and acquisitions, credit analytics, benchmark indicators and trend comparisons to help understand emerging markets.
Environmental resources
- Agricultural & Environmental Science DatabaseSearch journals and literature on agriculture, pollution, animals, environment, policy, natural resources, water issues and more. Searches tools like AGRICOLA, Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management (ESPM), and Digests of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) databases.
- Libraries SearchSearch the University of Minnesota Libraries to find books, scholarly journal articles, news, magazines, media, and other items in the University's collection. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- ScopusSearch for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
Citing sources
- Tutorial: What are citations?Understand what citations are, why they are important, and how to create and use them.
- APA formatting and examples (From Purdue OWL)Examples of the APA citation style.
- Citation Managers (e.g. Zotero, EndNote Online, etc.)Citation managers are software packages used to create personalized databases of citation information and notes. They allow you to: import and organize citation information from article indexes and other sources; save links to pdfs and other documents; format citations for your papers and bibliographies using APA and many other styles; and include your own notes.
About peer reviewed, scholarly research
You need to find and use at least two peer reviewed journal articles for your report. If you're unfamiliar with that type of source, or want some tips on how to read them effectively, take a look at the tutorials below:
- Tutorial: Exploring a scholarly research articleLearn about the components of a scholarly research article.
- Tutorial: How to read and comprehend scientific research articlesLearn tips on how to read a scientific article, how to find the main points of the article, and how to take effective notes.
- Tutorial: How scholarly research gets published in peer-reviewed journals and where to find it allLearn how scholarly research articles are published in peer-reviewed journals. Use a library database to access it all.
- Tutorial: What does it mean to be a scholarly source?Learn what a scholarly source is and how if differs from other types of sources.
Last Updated: Sep 4, 2024 10:24 AM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/SSM/4407W