Retrieval and reference

Retrieval and reference

de Jong, T.M. (TU Delft Technical Ecology and Methodology (OLD))
van der Voordt, Theo (TU Delft Real Estate Management)

de Jong, T.M. (editor)
van der Voordt, D.J.M. (editor)

2002

Knowledge from study may be transferred in different ways: in words and images, via lectures and exhibitions, in the form of articles or books; and electronically.
For the time being, the form used most frequently is written publication in text and illustration. However publishing on CD-ROM and the Internet are witnessing rapid development. Maybe this is going to have important consequences for the way in which people are searching for information. In this contribution we discuss some points needing attention for optimal accessibility of knowledge from study and suitably dealing with the sources used. We refer to handbooks for the conventional playing rules of reporting in writing such as clear and interest evoking titles of chapters and paragraphs, clear structure and table of contents, avoiding unnecessary jargon, a clear summary and their like.a,b The emphasis in this Chapter is on adequate pointers to references and the use of key-words.
Before embarking, first, something about the way to stimulate potential readers to take notice of the information. It starts already with the cover and the titlepage. These give a first impression of what is waiting for the potential reader. With this author, text or images present themselves. One glance should make clear what the subject is; although it is sometimes attractive to confuse the reader. Starting from cover and title page, the reference data (copyright notice, year of publication, ISBN number, place of issue and publisher), table of contents, foreword (written by a recommending outsider or referee) and introduction, the reader is introduced from his own world into the world of the author. The author and those responsible for the lay-out should picture themselves in this process and shape the publication from the vantage point of potential readers (the target audience), their questions, their pre-suppositions, or lack thereof.
Possible pre-suppositions of the reader should be supplemented or corrected. With this it is prevented that potential readers are thinking after a while “What the hell is this?” A clear text on the back cover, an index of key-words, a list of references and a sensible use of footnotes and final-notes are important conditions as well in order to achieve a publication that invites reading.

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Ways to study and research urban, architectural and technical design

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© 2002 T.M. de Jong, Theo van der Voordt