WR 327 Technical Report Writing: Home
What's in this guide?
The resources in this guide will help you identify, acquire and evaluate the secondary research sources called for in your Annotated Bibliography and the Formal Technical Report.
From the lecture on Writing Technical Reports:
"Secondary research takes you into the library or other sources of knowledge to find possible solutions and to discover additional background on the problem. Using secondary sources requires you to supplement your ideas with expert testimony drawn from articles, books, and other texts."
Access to many of the resources mentioned in this guide will be through the PSU Library web site. Take the video tour below to familiarize yourself with navigating the site.
What kind of information do you need?
Books - Provide overview, background, theory in depth.
Journal articles and conference proceedings - Results of research studies are reported initially in journal articles and in conference papers.
U.S. Federal Databases - Provide a wealth of technical information on all manner of topics.
Regional, State and Local - Resources related to city, county and state government in Oregon.
Evaluating Your Sources for their authority, credibility, accuracy, currency, is essential to the success of your proposal.
Using the Citation Style appropriate to your discipline allows you to properly attribute information you draw on from others, minimizes distractions for your reader, and builds your credibility as you are practicing the habits of the relevant discipline.
Subject Guides in Technical Disciplines
The Library has more than a hundred subject guides focusing on the most important resources and strategies for doing research in all the disciplines the University offers. These guides point to important databases, types of information used in various disciplines, 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 a few:
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Engineering and Technology Management
Environmental Science & Management
Human Resource Management and Leadership
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
