ChE (Chemical Engineering) Graduate Seminar - 2012 Info Sheet
Library and Information Resources
Ted Baldwin, CEAS Library, x64211 Ted.Baldwin@uc.edu
October 21, 2010

 

 

 

Important basics:

• CEAS Library website: www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/ceas/
  • Location: 8th floor, Baldwin Hall
  • Twitter @UCEngrLib and #CEASLibrary, Facebook www.facebook.com/CEASLibrary
  • Hours and Floorplan; Info Commons available to CEAS students 24x7 using card swipe
  • Ted Baldwin is Head of CEAS Library, 513-556-4211 (Office is 860C Baldwin Hall)
  • Jim Clasper is Assistant Engineering & Applied Science Librarian, 513-556-1452
  • John Tebo is Head of the Chemistry/Biology Library at x61494
  • SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts) web version now available
• Search books and journals by title: use UC Library Catalog and Books Online
• Search journal articles, conference papers, patents, theses: use Databases and Full Text Journals
• Engineering & Applied Science Reference Guides
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering Business
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Science - Plastics
  • Patents

Defining a topic:

• Look at theses/dissertations at UC, and 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.
  • For example, in ISI Web of Knowledge (Science Citation Index), only initials are used, e.g. Chong, A. Try ISI's Author Finder tool.
  • 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 and tools, if any are provided.
• 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 can be helpful for internet searches

Where to look (also, see Reference Guides):

• UC Library Catalog and Books Online and Electronic theses and dissertations
• Compendex
• Scopus (also searches patents)
• USPTO Patent Databases (also see Patents Reference Guide)
• ISI Web of Knowledge (Science Citation Index)
• 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
  • 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 e-resources are only on CD-ROM stations in the CEAS Library (e.g., SciGlass & ACerS-NIST Phase Equilibria Diagrams Database)

Web searching:

• Search Engines
  • Scopus includes websites in results
  • Scirus is the search engine that SCOPUS uses
  • Google Scholar
• Tips
  • Use advanced searching to specify what field it searches (title), type of domain (.com, .edu, .gov)
  • Limit to title to reduce results

What's cool:

• JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) for peer-reviewed experimental videos
• NIST-JANNAF Thermochemical Tables now online (watch out -large PDF file!)
• Structure searching in SciFinder Scholar - draw your compound's structure and search it against the database for literature, safety information, purchasing information, regulation information
• Personal Logins and Search Alerts in databases:
  • ISI Web of Knowledge - citation alerts, saved searches
  • IEEE Xplore - search alerts, alerts on new issues of journals
  • Scopus - search alerts, citation alerts,
  • Other alert services: search alerts, journal table of contents, etc
  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
• 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 "Find Full-Text at UC" to locate full-text options.
• 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 or is held at SWORD (SW Depository), use ILLiad to acquire through Interlibrary Loan. Login with your UC Central Login.

Presenting your work:

• RefWorks for Citing References - see the workshop list for to register for training on RefWorks and LaTeX.
• 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 information for instructors and students (UC Libraries)
• Plagiarism Intro (Authored by Professor Thomas Mantei/CEAS, .ppt file)

twb 10/3/12