Writing about mathematics, science, or other technical topics is no different than writing about other subjects. First off, It's always a good idea to start early. Library research takes time.
First, identify a general topic. After you do some background reading, you may need to narrow or refine your topic. Background reading is just that–skimming sources to get a general understanding of the subject. Despite not being an academically acceptable source, Wikipedia can be useful for this–but only as a starting place. General encyclopedias such as the online edition of Britannica would also be all right to get an overview. Once you have a general idea what you want to write about, you can focus your research, either on a particular person, a subject, or whatever.
Keep track of where you get information as you go along–nothing is more frustrating than trying to compile a Works Cited list when you can't remember where you got your information!
Above all, don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help.
The SFCC Library shares an online catalog with SCC at http://ccs.wash-id.net/ The catalog lists books, videos, magazines, journals, and other items held by one or both of the two libraries. Items requested from SCC can generally be delivered to the SFCC circulation desk overnight (except on Fridays, with delivery on Monday). For those of you at the various centers outside Spokane, delivery will take a bit longer, so please allow sufficient time.
SFCC is a member of the Washington-Idaho Network (WIN) of libraries. Students and faculty can use our online catalog to search for and request items from the libraries at Gonzaga, Whitworth, North Idaho College, the University of Idaho, and other regional libraries. Items will be delivered via courier, usually within 3-4 days, to the SFCC circulation desk, where they may be checked out. Again, those of you attending centers outside Spokane should expect a slightly longer wait, but we will get the items to you.
In addition, consider searching catalogs for libraries physically nearby, such as Eastern Washington University, the Spokane city and county public libraries, libraries in Stevens county, etc. Links to these are provided at http://library.spokanefalls.edu/LibraryandCatalogs.stm
Last but not least, Google has arranged to scan in the full contents of millions of books from the libraries of research universities such as Stanford, Harvard, University of Michigan, and so on. Due to copyright issues, Google may be allowed to display the entire book, snippets of it, or nothing at all. While http://books.google.com isn't the first place you should look, keep it in mind as an option.
Reference sources
The reference section in any library is a smaller version of the whole collection. Items in Reference are genrally not available to check out. You can of course make photocopies if you like. You can also browse similar call numbers in the circulating stacks to find sources which can be checked out.
The following are examples of reference books in our library which might be useful in writing and proofing a report in math or science.
| R 503 McGraw | McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (also online; see above) |
| R 509.22 Biograph | Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science |
| R 509.22 D561 | Dictionary of Scientific Biography |
| R 509.22 M178 | Modern Scientists and Engineers |
| R 509.2273 Bailey | American Women in Science: a Biographical Dictionary |
| R 509 Encycle | Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |
| R 510.922 Notable | Notable Mathematicians |
While the library has and will continue to buy printed reference books, the trend these days is to purchase reference books as online editions. This allows students to access the contents of such books from home at times when the library isn't open.
The following online reference books can be accessed almost any time, wherever you have an internet connection; off-campus users will need to put in their usernames (without the @stu part) and passwords:
Your research will most likely include magazines and scholarly journals. To find articles, you will want to use a database of periodicals, some of which offer access to complete newspaper, magazine, and journal articles. All of the following indexes are available from any campus computer; students who have Internet access from home can log in using their campus username and password, without the "@stu" in the username.
The World Wide Web has become increasingly useful for research. Since the Web is a new medium, using it for scholarly work requires caution.
Try to identify stable, reputable sources. Search engines return too many hits more often than too few. This is mostly due to a lack of proper indexing on the Web, and inconsistency among search tools. An excellent site which recommends various search tools for different purposes is
Finally, the following Web sites may offer useful advice and guidance:
Guides to the "How" of Writing
Whatever sources you use must be cited and attributed. Electronic and Internet sources are particularly troublesome because they can change and disappear. MLA style, developed by the Modern Language Association, is one format which has been adapted and modernized to include online sources:
MLA-Style Guides to Internet Citation
For authoritative information on MLA style, please consult MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., available at 808.027 GIBALDI 2003. There is also a copy at the Reference Desk.
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For comments or questions about this page contact SFCC Reference Desk
URL: http://library.spokanefalls.edu/guides/math.stm
Last modified: Friday, May 01, 2009 by GS