EMGT 500 Engineers and Information

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EMGT 500Engineers and Information

• Joel Seewald, Engineering Librarian
• seewaldj_at_umd.umich.edu
• 313-583-6326

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Engineers Information Outline

• Your personal information network
• Creation of Information
• Management/Organizational Information
• Gathering Evaluating Information

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Where do you go when you need information?
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Creation of Scientific Information

• Event
• Person/Researcher
• Primary Sources may be refereed
• Secondary Sources - news
• Tertiary compiled information

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Management/Organizational Information

• Background or big picture information that is
  valuable in the workplace
• Trends
• Competitors

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Why is information useful?

• Reduces uncertainty in a changing world
• Crucial to problem solving
• Crucial to strategic planning anticipate change

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Flow - use of information

• What information is needed?
• Collect the information
• Analyze the information create intelligence or
  knowledge
• Take action

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Types of Information

• Internal created within an organization
• External created outside
• Primary created for a specific purpose
• Secondary useful, but created for another
  purpose

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Types of Information
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Gathering Information

• Regular reading
• Library resources
• Collections
• Databases
• Librarians
• Libraries will vary

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Evaluating Information

• Intelligence not just facts
• Is the information useful
• Current
• Valid
• Objective
• Complete
• Original

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Library Collections

• Start at library web site
• http//library.umd.umich.edu
• Library Catalog

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Research Databases

• Business Management
• Articles
• ABI/Inform
• Emerald Library
• Lexis/Nexis
• Company Information
• IBIS/World
• Mergent Online
• Hoovers Company Records
• Lexis/Nexis

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Research Databases

• Engineering
• Science Direct
• Emerald Library
• SAE

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Assignment

• In-Class Assignment