Tips for Finding Case Studies
Don't rely on searching just for "case studies" or "technical reports." While some writers and researchers will include the actual phrase "case study" or "technical report" in the title of their report, many don't!
Search for your topic and read the abstracts (summaries) to see what each document is really about.
Search Tip 2: Combine different articles
If you're looking for something really niche or specific, you may have to read several articles then take what you learn from each and merge them together.
For example, look for articles on construction generally in your specific type of soil, then find separate articles on the broad category of your product (e.g. if the product brand was a type of geomembrane or geosynthetic, search those words).
Search Tip 3: Try different databases
Always search more than one database. Different databases have different content from different magazines, journals, etc.
Search Tip 4: Sources outside Seneca Libraries
Consider searching the websites of companies that have been involved in actual projects, or that make or use certain products, for free case studies, technical reports, or product information.
It may be confidential or proprietary information between the firm and the client, but you could contact them to see if they would be willing to share some of their information with students.
Actual projects that have been done for a given city or municipality, and their supporting documentation, might be freely-available on city websites, through city planning or engineering departments, or through the provincial or federal governments (e.g. Ontario Ministry of Transportation).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.