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LANG 2010 - English for Science I

Match Information Type to Search Tool

To answer your research question, you will need different types of information:

As a First Year student in LANG1403 you were introduced to how to find newspaper & magazine articles

Now you are developing as a scholar and need to become familiar with new types of scholarly information published by reputable publishers and organizations. If you have previously taken LANG1404, you may already be familiar with some of these sources.

There are different types and some of them require different search tools. 

Questions Info Type

What is the background or  history of the problem?

  • Example: On 26th December 2004, the Indian Ocean was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami which killed 230,000 people and caused widespread destruction. 

  • What is it?
  • Why does it happen?
  • What  incident(s) will you choose to show the urgency of the problem?
    • Why this but not others?
  • What hard evidence (history, statistics) can you find to show the situation needs action?
  • What would happen if no action were taken?
 Specialist Encyclopedias & Websites
What is the implication or importance of addressing this problem? Quick Sources of Facts and Statistics

What further research could be used to understand the issue  or problem?

  • Example: Although we cannot prevent tsunamis, early warning of their approach combined with physical defences and well-practiced evacuation procedures can save many lives.

What scientific knowledge could be used to analyze the problem?

 Scholarly Articles

What scientific knowledge or concepts could be applied to generate solutions?

  • Example: Electronic sensors were developed that could rapidly detect earthquake shaking on land and tsunami waves at sea. Computer models were developed that simulate tsunami impacts on communities; and satellites could now transmit signals to high-speed computers, empowering humans to issue local and pan-oceanic tsunami warnings in minutes.

How feasible and practical are the solutions?

What is the desirable outcome?

  • Example: The Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning & Mitigation System (IOTWS) now provides warnings to all Indian Ocean country members, reaching millions of people who had no warnings in 2004. Furthermore, tsunami hazard mapping and evacuation planning has been carried out for hundreds of coastal communities.

What could be the difficulties encountered during implementation?

 Scholarly Articles + Patents
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