CME Graduate Seminar Info Sheet 2010 (CHE 870 and METL 871)
Library and Information Resources
Jim Clasper, Assistant Engineering & Applied Science Librarian x61452
October 21, 2010

 

 

Important basics:

• College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) Library web site at www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/ceas
  • 850 Baldwin Hall -- Floor Plan http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/ceas/plan/plan.html
  • Jim Clasper is Assistant Engineering & Applied Science Librarian at x61452
  • Ted Baldwin is Head of the CEAS Library x64211
  • John Tebo is Head of the Chemistry/Biology Library at x61494
  • SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts ) web version now available
• 10 Things for CEAS Gradute Students to Know
• Finding out about journal titles and books: use UC Library Catalog,  Full Text Journals, and Books Online
• Finding out about journal articles, patents, theses: use Engineering Databases and Engineering Reference Guides
• Engineering Reference Guides
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering Business
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Science - Ceramics
  • Materials Science - Metals
  • Materials Science - Plastics
  • Patents

Defining a topic:

• Look at theses at UC, in OhioLINK (keyword search and limit material type to thesis)
• Look at books, reviews, encyclopedias and handbooks to get background information
• Check out faculty or researchers whose names you know and see what they are doing in databases and web sites
• Use the funnel approach
  • name a broad area name a subarea name a specific topic within the subarea
  • what aspect to look at: theory, application, design, material, construction process, function, use data
  • what are your independent variables? your dependent variables.

Search tips:

• For author searching, beware varying forms of name.
  • In Science Citation Index, only initials are used, e.g. Angelopoulos, A . Try their new Author Finder!
  • Within a database, browse author name index if not sure of the form, or to pull up variants of same author's name and even misspellings!
  • There can be many researchers with the same name. Verify person by topic of research and location, keeping in mind where they were working at the time an article was written.
• For subject searching, start with keyword
  • Know how to use truncation, wild cards, and proximity operators in the database
  • Combine synonyms (OR words together) to create a set of terms for a concept
  • Combine sets with AND to limit search to the intersection
  • Use search history to combine search statements
  • Examine records in search results to see what subjects have been assigned (if any) to the record. These subjects may be used to expand to all records on the same subject.
  • Expand to related articles, if opportunity exists (usually based on common references)
  • Use citing features, if any
• To narrow your results
  • use advanced searching capability
  • use " " or ( ) to identify a phrase unless database automatically does it
  • use limit features such as date, material type (journals only, conferences only, patents only, theses only, online only), or treatment (theoretical, applied, historical, scholarly, review, etc)
  • search your topic in title only (this works great in internet searches)

Where to look (see Reference Guides):

• UC Library Catalog and Books Online and OhioLINK ETD Center (electronic theses and dissertations from Ohio)
• Compendex (two versions available at UC; recommended EI Village version)
• SCOPUS (cited references)
• Science Citation Index Expanded (ISI Web of Science) (cited references)
• Academic Search Complete
• Specialized indexes
  • SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts ) web version now available
  • Reaxys (organic chemistry database) - includes Beilstein Database, the Gmelin Database, and the Patent Chemistry Database
  • CSA Materials Research Databases
  • MRS Online Proceedings Library
  • Scientific.net - much international conference material from TransTech
  • INSPEC for electrical, computer, physics
  • IEEExplore for full-text of all IEEE and IET
  • SPIE Digital Library
  • Proquest Dissertations and Theses
  • NTIS for government-funded technical reports
  • Aerospace & High Technology Database (published literature and technical reports)
  • USPTO Patent Databases (better for searching)
  • Note some electronic resources are loaded on CD-ROM stations in the CEAS Library (e.g., SciGlass or ACerS-NIST Phase Equilibria Diagrams Database)

Web searching:

• Engines
  • SCOPUS has web component
  • Scirus is the search engine that SCOPUS uses, for the scientific community only
  • Google Scholar
  • Google Patent Search - good for viewing/printing patents, but not current, not search full text, not include applications
• Tips
  • Use advanced searching to control words, where it searches, domains
  • Limit to title to reduce results

What's cool:

• Knovel for full-text books such as Handbook of Composites, Properties of Crystalline Silicon, Aqueous Organometallic Catalysis, and Chemistry of Precious Metals. Some of the books such as Polymer Handbook are interactive, meaning you can put your own values in the tables. Now with access to the ASM International Materials Collection.
  
• CRCnetBASE for full-text books online such as the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Dictionary of Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds, Carbon Nanomaterials, Ceramic Matrix Composites: Microstructure, Properties and Applications
• MatWeb Material Property Data
• ACerS-NIST Phase Equilibria Diagrams ver. 3.2 (2008) on CD Rom Station #1 in CEAS Library Reference area
• SciGlass 7.3 (2009), the largest glass property database containing data for 330,114 glass compositions, including 15,592 halide and 31,317 chalcogenide glasses. It provides also property predictions and calculations, help you solve R&D problems - on CD-Rom station # 1 in the CEAS Library.
• Structure searching in SciFinder Scholar - draw your compound's structure and search it against the database for literature, safety information, purchasing information, regulation information
• RSS feeds from databases or other alert mechanisms

Retrieving the material:

• If it's online, follow the links such as or to the full-text.
• If a journal title is not in the UC Library Catalog, try Full Text Journals for items we own but are not represented in catalog.
• If it's not owned by UC, use ILLIAD to acquire through Interlibrary Loan. Set up an account!

Presenting your work:

• RefWorks for Citing References
• Top Ten Hints for Formatting Citations Properly
• AMA Style examples (used by AIChE) and More examples
• ASM International style for one of its journals (see examples under "Styling of References" under "Instructions for Authors" )
• Copyright Information (UC Libraries)
• Plagiarism Tutorial (UC Libraries)
• Plagiarism Intro (CEAS, .ppt)

 

created: dfb 9/26/07; last modified: jwc 10/19/10