Project 1
Student id: s23
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<title>Project 1: Annotated Bibliography</title>
<author xml:id="p1_s23">Monica Salas</author>
<version n="1" date="2016-07-03"/>
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</docHead>
<annotated_bib>
<problem_stmt> Mechanical engineers are involved in nearly all industries that require any
kind of problem solving; this ranges anywhere from infrastructure and public works, to
pharmaceuticals and product development. There are many engineering companies in Boston
in particular that are addressing issues of energy and sustainability. The problem that
particularly concerns me is city lighting. Companies like Philips Color Kinetics have
taken steps to make Boston more beautiful with the implementation of colorful LEDs in
the Prudential Tower and the Zakim Bridge; and even Northeastern has made steps to go
greener by installing energy efficient lights from Digital Lumens in many of their
campus buildings. Both these companies hire many mechanical engineers to develop
efficient LEDs that will last several times longer than a standard incandescent light,
will be resilient in bad weather, and will be much easier to install, monitor, and
replace. Mechanical engineers are partically<note type="instructor">particularly</note>
well prepared for this kind of work because of their understanding of a range of
engineering disciplines and general expertise in material properties and designing for
manufacturability. and Right now, many of the less commercialized parts of Boston are
still lit by old high pressure sodium lamps(?)<note type="instructor">this is a question
still after your research?</note> which are not nearly as energy efficient, are much
less bright, and are more apt to burn out and leave sections of road in the dark. In a
city full of families and college students, and with a public transportation system that
leaves much to be desired, street lighting can be major issue. Having more street lights
that are strategically placed in residential and high traffic areas would increase the
communities sense of security and pride in their city.<note type="instructor">so your
problem, as I understand it, is the implementation side (i.e. designing
efficient/resilient/etc. LED lights for Boston streets), rather than the problem of
gaining the political capital necessary to get Boston officials to invest in
upgrading city lighting?</note>
</problem_stmt>
<citation style="APA">
<author n="1">Ylinen, A.</author>, <author>Tahkamo, L.</author>, <author>Puolakka,
M.</author>, & <author>Halonen, L.</author> (2011, July). <title>Road lighting
quality, energy efficiency, and mesopic design - LED street lighting case
study.</title> General OneFile. Retrieved July 11, 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> This article written by doctoral candidates from Aalto
University for publication through the Illuminating Engineering Society discusses
the practicalities of transitioning to LED lighting for city street lights.
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</background>
<summary type="approach"> The approach to the discussion of LEDs in this journal is very
subjective. It discusses mainly the affect that LEDs would have on visibility for
drivers and pedestrians alike at night. The effectiveness and energy conscious
benefits of LEDs is undeniable, however Ylinen discusses the capital investments
that may dissuade a city from transitioning to new street lights. This article goes
into cost analysis, installation obstacles, and health impacts of LED street lights.
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</summary>
<relevance type="application"> This article is helpful to anyone interested in gaining
an in-depth and scientific understanding of how LEDs work and what exactly makes
them so much better to look at. It also gives a relatively concise description of
the financial benefits a city could reap from installing LEDs. The authors of this
article remained impartial and factual. </relevance>
</annotation>
<citation style="APA"><author>Welsh, B.</author> (2008). <title>Effects of improved street
lighting on crime.</title> Campbell Systematic Reviews. doi:10.4073/csr.2008.13 </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> Authors Brandon Welsh and David Farrington of The Campbell
Collaboration report on the collective findings of dozens of bibliographic
databases, literature review, and street lighting studies conducted by leading
researchers worldwide. They discuss the rigorous selection process they implemented
in selecting data worth reporting on and openly disclose their methodological
assessment of each study they included.<note type="instructor">this last sentence
seems more like their approach to me</note>
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</background>
<summary type="general"> Welsh and Farrington explore thirteen case studies that
considered crime rates and safety as relating to street lighting. Their conclusion
states that improved lighting in cities has a significant impact in making cities
safer both during the day and at night. However, cities will be unlikely to make
efforts to add lighting to roads unless there are other incentives, such as traffic
safety. <!-- can include <q> element(s) for quoted material -->
</summary>
<relevance type="application">This source is beneficial for anyone exploring a more
global perspective on the connection between street lighting and decreased crime
rates because of the broad range of case studies explored. It is also a good source
of examples because of the details Welsh and Farrington included about each of their
case studies. This journal article is an effective summary aimed for public
officials to gain a concise and inarguable understanding of the effects of street
lights on public safety.<note type="instructor">so that's how you would use it
then--to tackle the political issue of getting officials to agree to changing
the lighting?</note>
</relevance>
</annotation>
<citation style="APA"><author>Samuels, R.</author> (1995). <title>Defensible Design and
Management- University Campuses Final Report.<note type="instructor">only the first
word of a title is capitalized in APA format</note></title> Department of
Employment, Education and Training, Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved July 11, 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="source"> Samuels conducted an investigation on factors contributing to
safety on university campuses for the department of Employment, Education and
Training for the Commonwealth of Australia in order to understand what steps could
be taken to increase the feelings of security of their students.<note
type="instructor">is this background about the source (where it was published)
or summary about what the source contains?</note>
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</background>
<summary type="approach"> Although lighting is only one factor that Samuels says
contributes to student safety on campus, he expands on it quite heavily. Samuels
takes into account the general feeling of safety and security in pedestrians since
college campuses are so heavily travelled by walkers, not vehicles. He states, <q>“
The circumstances contributing most to feelings of insecurity, overall, were
walking to colleges and poor lighting”</q> (4). Samuels investigates four
colleges in Australia where he surveys students and listens to their concerns,
adding a human aspect into this study and accentuating how relevant abundant outdoor
lighting is to students.<note type="instructor">so this last sentence certainly
seems like approach to me (he interviews students; the first seems like general
summary according to the definition in the documentation</note>
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</summary>
<relevance type="application">Samuels doesn’t actively explore better ways of lighting
public areas, but instead focuses on the importance of adding lighting to public
spaces. He highlights the characteristics of areas that cause people to be concerned
at night. This argument is particularly relevant to students as many of the points
Samuels makes are very relatable to Northeastern’s campus.<note type="instructor">I
agree, but are you specifically hoping to make changes to Northeastern's
lighting? Because that is not exactly how I read your problem statement.</note>
</relevance>
</annotation>
<citation style="APA"><author>Tucker, L. E.</author> (2003, March). <title>Safer Stops for
Vulnerable Customers.</title> National Center For Transit Research (NCTR). Retrieved
July 11, 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="source"> Lisa Tucker, a research associate for the National Center for
Transit Research (NCTR)<note type="instructor">author background</note> wrote this text for the U.S. Department of Transportation in
order to express the NCTR’s concerns about the lack of lighting and safety
precautions at public bus stops.
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</background>
<summary type="general"> Tucker takes a professional approach discussing the feelings of
insecurity expressed by public transit patrons because of the lack of upkeep of bus
stops. The biggest complaint of these patrons is poor lighting at stops. Tucker
focuses mainly on “vulnerable” patrons, namely women, children, seniors, and
disabled people. She notes that most cases of violence involved in public
transportation do not occur in busses or trains, but on peoples’ commutes to and
from these modes of public transportation. Tucker bases her findings on data
collected by several different national surveys and speaks on the similarities of
their findings. By posing older women and other less defensible patrons as a victim
to their feelings of danger, Tucker frames improvements to transit stops as an
investment in the quality of life of transit users.
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</summary>
<relevance type="application"> This report poses an interesting focus on the importance
of lighting public areas. Boston has a particularly high number of crimes that occur
in MBTA stations and bus stops. These crime rates are even higher in neighborhoods
that are home to low income families purely because of peoples’ greater dependency
on the MBTA in these neighborhoods. The article mentions how many vulnerable patrons
opt for taking buses rather than walking to their destinations because it is the
lesser of two dangerous situations at night; the same can likely be said about
Boston citizens who are commuting to and from outer neighborhoods like Roxbury
Crossing, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester (which is coincidentally where many students
choose to live as well).<note type="instructor">this is a really good example of application, I think.</note></relevance>
</annotation>
<citation style="APA"><author>Gil-De-Castro, A.</author>, <author>Moreno-Munoz, A.</author>,
<author>Larsson, A.</author>, <author>Rosa, J. D.</author>, & <author>Bollen,
M.</author> (2012, May). <title>LED street lighting: A power quality comparison
among street light technologies.</title> Lighting Research and Technology, 45(6),
710-728. doi:10.1177/1477153512450866 </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> This is a technical paper published by the Society of Light
and Lighting, and composed by a team of PhDs in the department of computer
architecture, and electronics and electronic technology at the University of
Cordoba. <!-- can include <q> element(s) for quoted material -->
</background>
<summary type="approach"> Naturally, this is a very technical heavy reading with a very
methodical approach describing their research. The authors make good use of tables
and visual representations of their findings, which is helpful in understanding the
text accompanying their work. This article describes the ‘how’ involved in upgrading
street lighting. Like most, they expand upon LED lights in particular, and consider
LEDs the only option for retro fitting street lights. However to give credibility to
their study, they also engage the reader in the idea of electromagnetic and
electronic ballast assisted HPS lamps as a possible adaptation that could be made to
classic city street lights. The also experimented with an installed LED street lamp,
studying the current, voltage, wattage, and harmonics. This in order to understand
how a LED lamp would function as a street light and what possible shortcomings it
may have. They also reference other studies similar to compare to their own
conclusions. <!-- can include <q> element(s) for quoted material -->
</summary>
<relevance type="application"> This is a science heavy research paper that discusses
important points involved in the viability of LEDs. It communicates on a technical
level exactly why LEDs can be challenging to implement and what exactly makes
transitioning to LEDs city wide such a high capital expense. However it is presents
an airtight argument for LEDs over the existing HPS lamps. </relevance>
</annotation>
</annotated_bib>
<docReview>
<reviewer type="instructor" xml:id="kgs"/>
<report type="instructor" resp="#kgs">
<p>This is an interesting issue that I enjoyed reading about. I have two observations after reading through your annotated bib: the first is that it isn't always clear just how the source will help you, specifically, approach the problem you outline in the problem statement. This could be because most of your sources (I think except the last one) were topical, rather than methodological. That is, they give you information about LED lighting and street lighting, without giving you a clear method of tackling your problem (whether that is designing lights for Boston, advocating for the retro-fitting of lights in greater Boston, etc.). The second is that I think there were moments where you could have been more detailed in your markup--using, say, two background elements to more accurately describe the information you were putting into one. Or breaking up your longer summary elements into smaller chunks and labeling them more accurately.</p>
</report>
</docReview>
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