The purposes of this assignment are to 1) help you get started with researching your semester project for the course and 2) make sure the topic you stated in your pre-proposal will work.  Based on what you report through this assignment you may want to re-focus the topic you have proposed in your pre-proposal.

To complete this assignment, answer these questions in a concise email. 

1.       What topic have you proposed with your pre-proposal?

2.       List two (or more) indexes you can use to find journal articles for your project. See note D below.

3.       List key terms useful for your project.

4.       How many articles did you find that are closely related to your project?

5.       List four or more citations for articles that you think will be useful for your project.  Use correct bibliographic form (use the form on the Web or see the last pages of the course pamphlet).

6.     Based on what you’ve found, do you have enough sources to research your project or do you need to redefine your topic?

7.     Based on what you have found, do you want to re-focus your project?  If yes, how?

A.     A. In your email write sentences and paragraphs (not a numbered list).

B.     B. With your email, use this subject line: Library assignment. Your name and section number

C.     C. Write this as a formal email, so check spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

D. D. Use University of Idaho Library indexes for this assignment. To do this:

1. Go to the UI Library Web site at http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/

2. Click on "Find Articles." A new page will open with three options.

3. Click on "Choose a Database Subject" scroll down box.  A list of general research areas opens.

4. Choose an area related to your project and click on "Go there." A list of indexes related to your field will appear.

5. Choose an index.

6. Use the index to search your project key terms.

   •  Some useful indexes for engineering and computer science are
    Compendex, Inspec, IEEE Xplore, and Applied Science and Technology Index.

   •  A good general search index is Ebsco Search, which is available through the "Find Articles" window (see step 2 above).
    

7. Use the “ArticleLinker” icon or “locate article” link near an article citation to see if the UI Library owns the article in full-text online or in print. If the Library doesn't own the article, you can order it using the Interlibrary Loan service.

If you need help finding indexes for your topic, feel free to email Diane Prorak <prorak@uidaho.edu>.  She's a great research librarian and can offer good advice.  If she's not available, try libref@uidaho.edu, call 208-885-6584, or go to the Reference Desk (lobby of the library, first floor) and ask the people there for help.

This works best on a University computer, but you can also do this from home.  To open the indexes you will need the BAR CODE (not student ID no.) from your Vandal Card.  If you've never checked a book out from the Library or if you've never accessed the UI Library from off campus, you may need to take your Vandal Card to the Library so they can get your Bar Code number.

CITATIONS:  See pp. 71-73 in the course pamphlet.  Basically, a citation includes:
Author name, article title, journal title, publication information (volume, issue number, page numbers, date).