Homework Assignment for Intro to Mechanical Engineering 100

For this assignment you will find information on the topic listed at the bottom of this assignment description. Find materials in the library and its online resources (a book, a reference book, one journal article) and find information on the web. Write a short paper (less than one page) on the topic. References cited in the text must be included in a bibliography at the end of the paper.

Your assignment is due to Professor Rost October 25, 2004 when your class meets. Submit your assignment in paper format.

You will need UCLID/OhioLINK (the online catalog) to complete the assignment.
Access UCLID/OhioLINK through
           six workstations in the Engineering Library, or
           sixteen workstations in the Information Commons, or
           the Engineering PC and Unix labs.

Assignment

1. Choose a topic from the list below.

2. Find a book with information on topic.

• Connect to UCLID from the Engineering Library homepage.
• Search by keyword for your topic.  Use the help information at the bottom of the search page.
• Browse the list of books found and select the most appropriate records for review.
• Find one book in the Library and locate pages in it relevant to your topic.
• Note the call number and subject headings for the book you selected for the assignment.
• Hint: email the UCLID/OhioLINK record to yourself for printing or editing.  It has all the information you need for citing it in your paper.  Select Export this Record, then View Marked Records. Choose Full Display format.

3. Find a reference book:

• From the Engineering Library homepage, click on the link called Reference Guides. Select Mechanical Engineering from the list of guides.
• Review the titles listed in the section of the guide entitled HANDBOOKS and ENCYCLOPEDIAS.
• Use the call numbers provided to find the books in the Engineering Reference collection, or use the same call numbers from the relevant book titles you found in Step 2 above.
• Find and read the specific pages in the selected Reference book with relevant information.

4. Find an article on your topic in a journal (magazine, periodical).  Choose one of the following four sources.

• Applied Science and Technology Abstracts
• From the Engineering Library homepage, select Databases Online - A, then Applied Science and Technology Abstracts.
• Search by keyword or subject for your topic.
• Choose the record that is most appropriate. Use the "Find a copy" feature to find the article.  Read the article.
• If you want to export the record to your email, mark and store, then email using the brief format (for citing) or full format (to examine subject headings).
  The "Appears in" information shows the journal title and issue that your article is in.  This information is essential for citing your reference properly.

OR

• Mechanical and Transportation Engineering Abstracts
• From the Engineering Library homepage, select Databases Online - M, and then Mechanical and Transportation....
• Search for Keywords or Descriptors.
• When searching this database, check the box that says "Journal Articles Only." Use Find a Copy to locate the article you need. Read the article.

OR

• LexisNexis Academic
• From the Engineering Library homepage, select Databases Online - L - LexisNexis Academic .
  Select News - General News. Set Source to Major Newspapers or Magazines and Journals.  Read article.
  OR select Business - Industry & Market - Automotive..., Manufacturing..., or other area from the Industry pull-down menu.   Read selected article.

OR

• Academic Search Premier
• From the Engineering Library homepage, select Databases Online - A - Academic Search Premier .
• Find your terms using the Default Fields. Read full-text of article.

5. To find a website:

• Choose a search engine such as Yahoo, Google, AllTheWeb, or even Vivisimo or Dogpile for a metasearch engine.
• Search for your topic. (Use the Help or Advanced Search features to form a search query.  For example in AltaVista you can use quotation marks to identify a phrase, a "+" sign before a word or phrase to ensure it will be included, and domain:edu to limit to educational sites only.)
• Select non-commercial or authoritative sites with current pages and clear authorship. There is a lot of wrong information on the  web!

6. Write up your findings.

• In your own words, write a short summary on your topic based on your findings.  DO NOT cut and paste information from the abstracts or articles you found.  Without proper citing of quoted material, this would constitute plagiarism. [Each reference in your text should be identified by a number in brackets corresponding to its number in the bibliography.]
• In the bibliography at the end, cite each source (book, reference book, journal article and web site) you used in preparing the summary. 
• Use the ASME format to cite your sources. 
• Be sure to include the relevant page numbers for the book, reference book and journal article. 
• To cite a web site for this assignment, include who is responsible for it, the title of the web page, the location (URL beginning with http://), and the date of the material if any. [Add the access date in brackets.]

Topic to research

• Thermodynamics: Describe the materials that coffee cups are made of and how they are shaped, from a heat transfer perspective (contains heat, doesn't burn hands, inexpensive, safe).

10/18/04
03mech100.html

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