Each OCN 1010 student to complete a course project dealing with the use of new or recent technology in the recovery/exploitation of a marine resource. You can pick your own resources or choose one from the list below.

Research will include the following (each is a major heading in your report) topic areas:

1. Introduction, including why the resource is important to humankind
2. Location of the resource
3. Value ($) of the resource
4. Traditional or classical methods to recover the resource
5. New technology, including its cost, to recover the resource
6. Discussion of the impact of the technology on both recovering the resource and on the sustainability of the resource

Report format:

1. Cover page, with report title, your name, and
2. Table of contents
3. Report headings - the same as above; do not deviate
4. Reference page (at least 4 hard literature references; others can from WWW, database, and personal communication--an expert that you talked with.)
5. Illustrations; include illustration number and legend at the bottom of the page

Size of the report

8-12 pages, typewritten (excluding cover page, table of contents, reference page, and illustrations)

Deadlines:

Some Ocean Resources

Research Methods

Research starts in the Florida Tech library which has a great web page with wonderful navigational links.

There are four library sources of information available to you for your project:  1) books and technical reports, 2) journals, 3) US Government Documents, and 4) Interlibrary Loan 

On books and technical reports:

The library electronic search tool may be helpful in finding a book or technical report dealing with the resource you are researching.  However, realize that the search tool  is keyword based and thus if your resource is not listed in the title of a document it may not appear as a "hit" when you use the library search.  Thus, you may have to go directly into the stacks to browse the books/technical reports seeking information on your resource by examining book indexes or table of contents; this is tedious work but can provide a wealth of information.

On journals:

The university subscribes to a large number of marine-related journals; they are located on the second floor of the library.  When you have about an hour "to kill" go to the second floor to become familiar with the location of the current journal issues and also the locations (the "stacks") of the bound issues. Some journals are on microfilm; there are readers available to you with copying facilities.  If you have questions find a librarian assistant to help you.  The library also subscribes to some journal search tools; talk to a librarian on the use of these tools and the cost.

Government Documents

The Florida Tech library has an extensive collection of government documents.  Thus while represents an abundance of information, finding specifically what you want may prove to be a larger task than you expect. You must be patient, however. Researching for a project of subject is time consuming.  

Interlibrary Loan

Florida Tech has an excellent interlibrary loan system. If you discover an important book or journal article you need for your research and it is not in the library you need only to complete a loan request which can be done on-line. Ms Victoria Smith is the Interlibrary Loan Librarian and has provided outstanding service to previous students. One important note:  The receiving of the article or book can be time consuming (2-3 weeks or even longer); thus do not wait until the last moment in making an interlibrary loan request.     

Library Staff

The Florida Library staff are excellent and I know most of them both professionally and personally. They are in the library to give you as much help as possible, both in seeking information and in telling you how the library works.  Ms Kathy Turner, Instructional Programs Librarian, has also been extremely useful to previous OCN1010 students.