“The accumulated body of scientific-technical writings published to serve the informational needs of, primarily, scientists, engineers, and research workers, and, to the extent that it can be understood, the general public. This vast literature is worldwide in origin, international in language, diverse in subject content, varied in form, uneven in quality, and expensive. An ever-increasing portion of it is being produced, stored, and retrieved or published electronically, and is being made available on film, tape, CD-ROM or magnetic disk, or through remote terminals as well as in print-on-paper format. See also: Compact disk; Computer storage technology.”
1. Primary Literature:
“The primary sources of scientific-technical information are the first (and often the only) published records of original research and development, and accounts of new applications of science and engineering to technology and industry.”
- Journal Articles
- Patents
- Technical Reports
- Conferences Proceedings
- Dissertations
For your information:
When to use: materials for your research, experiments, and essays…
How to find: HOMER (especially for printed primary literature), electronic databases, e-journals (full-text)
2.Secondary Literature
“Organized works and compilations that derive from or refer to the primary-source literature make up the secondary sources of scientific-technical information…”
- Review Materials (e.g. Handbooks, Encyclopedias, and Treatises)
- Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry
- Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry
- Spectra, Properties, Data, etc.
For your information:
When to use: materials for your research, experients, and essays…
How to find: HOMER (especially for printed primary literature), electronic databases, e-journals (full-text)
3. Tertiary Literature
“Guides to the literature, directories (of persons, organizations or products, for example), and textbooks are often looked upon as tertiary sources. Popularizations, biographies, histories, and similar relatively nontechnical publications are thought of as being about science rather than of science.”
- Textbooks
For your information:
When to use: main materials for your courses’ readings
How to find: HOMER (especially for printed format), e-books (e.g. NetLibrary, ebrary)
Source:
George S. Bonn, Linda C. Smith, “Literature of science and technology”, in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill, http://www.accessscience.com, DOI 10.1036/1097-8542.386900, last modified: May 30, 2002.
