Item
Definition and Use
Examples
Finding Aids
Books
- Single or multi-volume substantial written text by one or more authors or editors.
- Usually has one publication date.
- May be print or electronic.
- Content may be an overview or very specific and in-depth and will vary based on audience.
- Content will not be as current as articles in current journals.
- Includes specialize formats such as handbooks, encyclopedias, or dictionaries
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
- Perry's chemical engineers' handbook
- Fundamentals of wireless communication engineering technologies
Library Catalogs
- Advanced search
- Google Books
Popular Journals
- Also called magazines.
- Regular occuring publications (weekly, monthly).
- Audience is anyone.
- May be print or electronic.
- Content current and "newsworthy.
- Contain many illustrations and advertisements.
- Articles are short and simple in format with no bibliography.
- Time
- People Magazine
- Nation
- National Geographic
- Science News
Indexes
Trade Journals
- Also called "profesional," "industry-specific," or "special interest" periodicals.
- Audience is working professional in a particular industry.
- Purpose to disseminate info in an industry or business.
- Advertisements are specific to industry.
- Articles fall between popular and scholary and may or may not contain a bibliography.
- Articles are short to medium in length, use industry jargon.
- May be published by an association or trade organization.
- Mechanical engineering
- Electronic design
- Aerospace America
- Packaging
- Nuclear news
Scholarly Journals
- Contains results of original research by scholars and experts.
- Articles are in-depth, use jargon, and have bibliographies.
- Articles are peer reviewed.
- Audience for the journal are other scholars and experts.
- Limited advertisements and illustrations.
- IEEE Transactions on Computer Engineering
- Modern Applied Science
- Australian Journal of Structural Engineering
- International Journal of Energy Research
- Academic Search Complete.
- Web of Science
- Compendex Plus
(Main Campus ONLY) - IET/IEEE Electronic Library
(Main Campus ONLY with 15 users) - Engineering Village
(Main Campus ONLY) - Environmental Engineering Abstracts
Indexes
- Database of citations, and abstracts of popular, trade, and scholarly articles.
- May include additional subjects applied by database producer.
- May include fulltext of article
- Allows one to search multiple journals for articles on same topic at the same time.
- Academic Search Complete.
- Web of Science
- Compendex Plus
(Main Campus ONLY) - IET/IEEE Electronic Library
(Main Campus ONLY with 15 users) - Engineering Village
(Main Campus ONLY) - Environmental Engineering Abstracts
- List of Databases A-Z.
- List of Journals A-Z
- Find a Journal Title
- All Databases (old page)
- Main Campus
Databases: Subjects - Main Campus
Databases: Titles - Main Campus Research Guides
Preprints
- Copy of paper or article prior to formal publication.
- Usually the most current info available.
- E-print Network
- Author of Paper
Conference Papers
- Summary or text of presentation at meeting
- May or may not be formally published as a traditional book or journal article.
- The Author
- Catalog if book
- Index if article
Standards
and
Specifications
- Publication that describes an established norm for manufacturing or performance.
- Publication that codifies specific guidelines for design or management of a process.
- Publication that lists specific formulas, definitions, or regulations.
- Building codes
- ANSI Standards
- ASTM Standards
- ITU standards
- NIST How to Find Standards
- Standards Infobase (main campus login required)
- Search NISO
- ANSI University Outreach
- Ask your Librarian
Technical
Reports
- Detailed lengthy reporting of research or study.
- Usually produced by companies, organizations or government agencies.
- Information not usually available from other sources.
- May be classified or proprietary and not available to public.
- NASA/TM-2012-217252 Full-Scale Turbofan-Engine Turbine-Transfer Function Determination Using Three Internal Sensors
- City of Albuquerque Red Light Camera Study
- RP-FPL-561 FPL roof temperature and moisture model : description and verification
Patents
- Legal document granting person or company exculsive rights to an invention for limited time.
- Invention may be mechanical, chemical or biological.
- Not a trademark or copyright.
Maps
Charts
Diagrams
- Produced to show spatial relationships.
- Visual summaries of extensive data.
Other helpful sites
- Engineering Gateway from ResearchGuides at TUFTS
- Hesburgh Libraries Senior Design Guide--Engineering Literature from University of Notre Dame
- How to ... from the Kresge Engineering Library at University of California, Berkeley
- Engineering Library Research Guide from Alberstons Library at Boise State University
- Engineering Subject Guides from Syracuse University
Some of the informaton on this page was found at
Engineering Gateway at TUFTS and
Hesburgh Libraries Senior Design Guide--Engineering Literature at the University of Notre Dame
and modified for use by UNM Valencia Campus Library.
