... start with what you know and use that to identify keywords and to clarify concepts.  Keep track of all of your research - write it all down.

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Census and Demographic Data

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Computation in Architectural Design

Materials Science and Engineering 

Mechanical Engineering

Personal Content Management

General

Look at databases listed in related subject guides for additional and more specific resources.

• Avery Index (Primary index for architecture journals)
• Dissertations and Theses
• DSpace at MIT 
• JStor
• Web of Science (great for ranking articles by citations)
• ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library

Sustainable Design

• Building Green Suite
• GreenSpec Database of Green Building Products (part of Building Green Suite)
• High Performance Buildings Database (part of Building Green Suite)

Google Scholar can be a great place to search full-text papers, articles, and dissertations. Try the Search Tips and read about Scholar's coverage.

To take advantage of Google search, visit Inside Search Help.

Dissertations are gold mines. They contain original research and can lead you to understand problems or the field you are exploring, key figures in the field, research the dissertation built upon, and more difficult-to-find sources that their authors have tracked down. 

You might want to start with MIT dissertations and theses through Dspace in case related research on your topic was done by MIT alumni. An additional resource to search is the Proquest's Dissertation and Theses Global database. Don't forget to mine the footnotes and bibliographies for related and valuable primary and secondary source leads.   

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