WR 227 Introduction to Technical Writing: Reference Works: Overview and Background
Why Reference Works?
Reference works are a good first step in your research and are useful for:
- a topic overview
- ideas for a paper topic
- learning the vocabulary used by topic experts
- keywords for searching or narrowing a topic
- important works on a your topic
- key authors on a topic
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
An excellent general science and technology encyclopedia with coverage of every area of science.
ACCESS SCIENCE - the McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology by ISBN: 9780071792738Publication Date: 2012
Here is a very short list of subject-specific encyclopedias the Library has.
- Encyclopedia of EarthThe Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE) is a collaborative, open, peer-reviewed reference resource about the Earth, its natural environments, and the relationship between the environment and society.
Encyclopedia of Immunology by Call Number: QR 180.4 .E53 1998 v. 1-4 -- Reference Collection, 2nd floorISBN: 0122267656Publication Date: 1998
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology by ISBN: 9780198529170Publication Date: 2006
Subject Research Guides and Reference Sources
The librarians at Portland State University Library have written library research guides for all the disciplines the University offers. These guides point to important databases, types of information used in various disciplines, or strategies that may be needed to do research in a particular topic area. There are several professional, science, and technical guides that might be of interest for technical writers. To name but a few that may be of interest to technical writers: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Technology Management, Environmental Science & Management, Legal Resources, Mechanical and Materials Engineering,
Check out the Reference Works pages in these guides:
Biology
Chemistry
Environmental Science and Management
Geology
Physics