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Guide to Computer Science Resources

The purpose of this guide is to help you identify the best resources for research on computer science.

Getting Started

A good approach when starting your research is to find one or two reference sources, such as encyclopedias, that can give you a broad overview of the topic. This will help give you some perspective and identify some of the key concepts and subtopics you might be interested in pursuing. Next, find books on the big concepts, for example history of computer science, to get in-depth information on the entire topic. Use journal articles, magazine and newspapers for information on specific issues and subtopics. Web pages from an open Internet search will vary in the type of information provided but are often useful for popular topics and for practical information, such as examples of programming code.

Reference sources

Subject-specific reference sources introduce you to a subject and provide an overview of the primary topics and issues. They are a good way to become familiar with a new subject area, determine a specific area you may wish to investigate, and identify keywords and related ideas that will help you search for information in other sources.

The following are some of the encyclopedias that can give you some background on the various subjects in your research assignments:

Encyclopedia of artificial intelligence 
Reference,  Q335 .E53 1992 v.1 - v. 2		 Encyclopedia of computer science
Reference, QA76.15 .E48 2000 
Encyclopedia of computers and computer history
Reference, QA76.15 .E53 2001  v.1 and v. 2		 Encyclopedia of information systems
Reference; T58.5 .E535 2003 v.1 - v.4

Where is Reference you ask? REFERENCE

Books

Books provide well-rounded, in-depth information about a complete topic. They are the backbone of your research report. Besides all the information they can give you themselves, they can link you to other resources in their bibliographies, endnotes, or footnotes. To search for books, use the library catalog.

  • Search by Keyword.  In our library's catalog, you can search by 'keyword' or by 'subject.' Most people start with keyword, which is simply using any words that describe your topic. To be successful, use just 2-3 words on the subject. Because books usually include several topics, you may want to use more general tExample: Search by Keyword erms. Make sure to put quotes around any two word or longer phrases.

 

  • Search by Subject.  Using subject headings is often the best way to find exactly what you want.Example: Search by Subject
Why search by subject heading?
1. When I typed in "computer history" in the catalog's simple search box, which automatically searches by keywords, I got 135 books in my results but many didn't look too promising.

2. Looking through the list, I found a book I liked on the second page, Computer : a history of the information machine. I clicked on the title to go into the record. Example: Search by Subject Heading

3. In the record I clicked on the subject heading 'Computers - History' and got 18 books that were exactly what I wanted.

 

  • Browse by Call Number. Once you have found a good starting place, many people like to browse the shelves. This method works pretty well since the library call numbers try to put related books together. Most books on computer science topics start with the call number QA0076. Topics that are more relExample: Browse by Call Numberated to telecommunication technology, such as the Internet and networking, are generally found in TK5101-5105. To browse by call number online, click on a promising title and then click on its call number (steps 2 and 3 above).

To search for Books at Cal State San Marcos

Library Catalog
Search our local collection of about 250,000 books.

Safari Books
A collection of over 300 O'Reilley programming and technology books. Many of these can also be found using the regular catalog search. This collection is oriented towards very practical, hands on computer topics such as programming languages.

Other Options

Circuit (1-3 day delivery)
Search the collections of other San Diego area libraries -- about 3,000,000 books. Find and request books directly online; pick them up at our Library in 1-3 days.

WorldCat (5-10 day delivery)
Search the collections of libraries world-wide -- about 52,000,000 books. Find a book in this database, and fill-out an Interlibrary Loan delivery request. Book will be delivered to Library for pickup.

Journal articles

Once you have a good overview of your research topic, find and read journal articles to develop a deeper understanding of what is known and not known on your topic. Research studies most often take the form of journal articles and investigate a very specific aspect of a particular issue. In computer science, papers in conference proceedings also tend to be an important source of information on recent research. Popular magazine and newspapers are a good topical source for general, business, opinion, and social-impact articles on computing.

Unlike book searches, keyword searching for articles is usually most successful if you use a larger number of words or multi-word phrases. Again, remember to enclose in "quotes" words you want to appear in a specific order.

To search for Journal and other articles

ACM Digital Library
A collection of over 200,000 journal articles and conference proceedings from the Association of Computing Machinery. Most are available in full text.

ScienceDirect
Provides full text access to over 1,000 journals covering all fields of science. 

Guide to Computing Literature
Bibliographic collection from major publishers in computing with over 1 million entries, some full-text. Includes books, journal articles, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, master's theses, and technical reports.

Academic Search Premier
A large, multi-disciplinary database offering full text for nearly 1,850 scholarly journals, including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed titles. Many are available in full-text.

Citing your sources

Usually your professor will specify which citation style you should use. Many people writing science and technology papers prefer to use APA so I have included several links below on how to use this style. If you prefer another style, the library's Citing Sources link has suggestions for other style guides.  

How to use the APA style
APA Guide Book Cover Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2001.

Using APA Style 5th edition
The OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University provides a myriad of example of works cited and in-text citations. Bookmark this page!

apastyle.org
Produced by the APA, this site contains a wealth of information about APA citation style. It is not a replacement for owning the Publication Manual, though.