EGS 215: Workplace Writing: Finding Information on Writing and Communication in Your Profession

Here is a strategy to use when searching for articles, books, or e-books on writing and communication in your profession:

1. Search "writing in" or "communication in" as a Subject on one line.  There are formal subject headings applied to articles or books, such as "writing in art" or "communication in the social sciences," which might be relevant for your profession. Using those phrases can help locate them or other relevant subject headings.  Then add your profession or discipline as a keyword in the second line of the search.

This approach will work in Articles & More to find articles and in Books & More to find books or e-books.  Here is what entering the search looks like in Articles & More (you can see the tutorials on the Home page of this guide for more guidance on searching in these databases):

2. If searching "writing in" or "communication in" as subjects does not work well for your profession, try searching the name of your profession on one line and then "writing" or "communication" on another line. 

This approach can work well in Articles & More or Books & More.  But, you might find it more useful to find a database focused on your profession and search those terms there.  Our Subject & Course Guides list includes topical lists of databases for every major at Miami (including our Regional degree programs).  Go to a guide and look under "Best Bets" to find a related database for that area.  Then enter your search terms in that database.

3. You can try searching specific publications related to your profession (sometimes called "trade journals").  One way to find these publications is to search our E-Journal Titles directory, using the "Browse Journals by Discipline" option.  Choose a subject area to see journals related to that topic, or search a profession name to see if there are related journals.  The results can be large for some areas of study, so once you choose an area, use the "Limit by Subject" option in the left margin to make your search more precise.  Then, when you choose a particular publication, use the "Search within this publication" link to search articles published in that journal.

4. You will come across e-books in the Books & More search, but don't forget to also try O'Reilly E-books for e-books discussing writing and communication for professions in engineering, business, and IT.

5. Not finding what you need?  Contact me using the methods on the Home page of this guide, and I can help you find the right direction.