Librarians Publish Book on Teaching Engineering Research Skills

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Patricia Kirkwood and Necia Parker-Gibson. Photos by Russell Cothren.

In Informing Chemical Engineering Decisions with Date, Research, and Government Resources, University of Arkansas associate librarians Patricia Kirkwood and Necia Parker-Gibson outline approaches to developing and teaching information and research literacy skills in chemical engineering.

The book is intended to support individuals who teach engineering research skills, such as librarians and educators, as well those learning such skills—students and working engineers alike. It is available online free to campus users through the Libraries' catalog via subscription to Morgan and Claypool Publishers and is accessible online at www.morganclaypool.com.

Information literacy is the ability to find, access, interpret and use information. Just as a lack of information inhibits decision making, too much information presents its own set of barriers. Kirkwood and Parker-Gibson begin by describing the process of searching for and evaluating information. They show readers how to identify research needs, determine which tools are best suited for the project, and find and evaluate the resources.

The authors review traditional resources, such as encyclopedias, the Knovel database, handbooks, articles, journals, and patent literature as well as government documents and material from related organizations. Kirkwood and Parker-Gibson use case studies to illustrate how these skills are applied in the chemical or agricultural engineering field.  

Informing Chemical Engineering Decisions with Date, Research, and Government Resources is published in the Morgan & Claypool Publishers series Synthesis Lectures on Chemical Engineering and Biochemical Engineering. The series is edited by Robert Beitle Jr., University Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas.