Term Project - Research

This week, I will be evaluating the abstracts you developed last week. While I do that, I encourage you to spend some time looking for relevant background information that will help you develop your project. This should include identifying some of the data sources you will need. I am happy to provide suggestions of places to look, but have a go on your own first!  

To get started, you could:

• look for background and context information for the topic you have chosen (who has worked in this area before, and what did they accomplish?);
• look for examples you can use to justify your choice of methods;
• look for application examples of the use of geospatial analysis in emergency management;
• identify and compile the data you need for your analysis (and touch base with me if you have any problems – the earlier the better!).

Each project will have quite specific needs, so you will need to think of the additional information you will need to write your report.

Some Suggestions...

• I encourage you to make use of our excellent Penn State library resources. You can skip the overview (but I don't suggest it) and go right to the library search as well. You probably know this, but the search functions include a lot more than books, e,g., reports, journal articles, dissertations, and theses. Many of the references are available in electronic form and can be downloaded. The library also has an "Ask a Librarian" chat that allows you to chat with a librarian in real time.
• Google Scholar is your friend. This is one of the primary ways academics now search for articles. It is also a good way of developing scientific 'social networks' as it is easy to follow links to other works by an author, or who they are working with, etc.  
• Finally, have a look at the recent proceedings from the ISCRAM conference. There are tons and tons of good stuff there. Oh, ISCRAM is a professional society for people working in the field of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management.