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Construction Project Management: Search for Information

How to search for and find information on construction project management

Finding company and industry data

 

The sample assignment topic is largely about economic data including the size of the construction industry, its share of the global economy and regional markets.

A great place to look for this kind of information is the Library's company and industry databases. For example, search in any of the places below for the keyword construction and limit to Australian reports:

Finding books & articles

 

The Library Catalogue is a good place to search for books & journal articles. Watch the video to learn how. 

Example:

Below are a book & article found in the Library Catalogue searching for the terms: 

  • construction Australia future
  • construction industry trends 

These sources can be used for information on trends and future directions in the construction industry. 

Innovation in construction (2022) - book found in the library catalogue with the search 'construction industry trends'

'Internet of things in the construction industry' (2020) - article found in the library catalogue using the search construction industry trends

Tip:

When searching journal articles, try restricting your search to peer reviewed articles. Because peer reviewed articles have been double-checked by academic experts, it's easier to be sure that the words and ideas you're using are of sufficient quality for a university assignment. 

Evaluating your results

 

Not all the information you get from a search will be useful. If your results are not relevant go back and try different keywords in your search.

To evaluate whether your source is of sufficient quality use the S.I.F.T. Test. Click on the letters of the acronym to learn more:

Advanced Searching

In this search we're looking for two synonyms for construction, two possible locations, and either trends or challenges. The full search syntax is: 

("construction industry" OR construction) AND (issues OR challenges) AND (Asia OR Europe)

Remember:

  • Add a keyword if you have too many hits and they aren't focused enough on the topic. 

  • Remove a keyword or add more related terms if you don't get enough good hits. 

Notice that when you add the extra search terms it changes the top hits in the search? 

'zero carbon homes' - article found using boolean search in catalogue

Other places to search

 

'a survey ... of green building development in various countiries' - article from Proquest database

Finally, you can try running your search in more than one database. The three databases linked below all contain useful literature. The above image is an item found in the Proquest database.