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Computer-Integrated Machining

This Research Guide provides information about computer-integrated machining resources found in the CCCC libraries and online. Emphasis in Tool, Die, & Mold Making.

Trade Sources versus Popular Sources

Open Book IconWhat's in them?​

Current news, trends, events, and advertisements for professionals working in a specific field.

Icon representing staffWho writes them?

Professionals in the industry. Often trade journal articles are written by people with extensive experience in a specific industry.

Helpful hint! Look for an author's bio in an article.  This will give you more information about the author's background and experience.

Icon representing the readerWho reads them?

  • Other professionals looking for insights and discussions of current industry issues
  • Students looking to gain understanding of what it really means to work in a particular field.

Graduation Cap iconWhen should you use them?

  • When you are looking for credible information from an informed industry professional
  • When you need evidence to support your professional conclusions
  • When trying to gain information about trends or news in an industry

Multiple documents iconWhat do they look like?

  • length: most articles are 1-5 pages, although some can be longer
  • vocabulary: may use technical or industry-specific language (often called jargon)
  • images: includes some images to illustrate concepts, and figures are common in technical professions
  • journal: title is highly specific (ex. Canadian Mining Journal) and often references the industry itself, contains advertisements targeted at working industry professionals

Open book iconWhat's in them?​

Entertaining or generally informative articles about a variety of subjects. Often these sources can take the forms of editorials or blogs that reflect an author's personal bias rather than focusing on the facts.

Person iconWho writes them?

People who may have conducted interviews or research to learn about the topic, but who are not scholarly experts in the field.

Group of people iconWho reads them?

 A general audience.  The writing should not require specialized expertise to read.

Graduation cape iconWhen should you use them?

  • If you need basic facts or background information to get started learning about your topic
  • If you want to understand a very recent current event 
  • For fun!

Documents iconWhat do they look like?

  • citations: very rarely include citations, but when they do, the formatting is not correct.
  • vocabulary: use every day language (some more specific popular magazines, like The Economist might use technical jargon, but will often explain or define it when they do).
  • images: lots of pictures
  • magazine: glossy pages and lots of ads

Watch out: Popular magazines and blogs cover a lot of subjects, and can be formatted in a variety of ways.  The tips listed above will not be true 100% of the time.  Critical thinking about audience and authorship are important when trying to identify popular articles!

Help!

Need Help? IconNeed a little extra help?

Contact your librarian.