INTRODUCTION TO LIBRARY RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING
(ENG1002)
Professor Mazouz

LIBRARIAN: Gary Parsons

Objectives:

Following this session you should know how to:
 

1.  Use the Catalog to locate books and other materials owned by the Library
    
2.  Log into EZproxy (when, how and why)
    
3.  Understand the difference between an electronic journal and a database
    
4.  Become aware of and use some of the most important engineering databases
    
5.  Use SFX to connect to full - text articles in different databases
    
6.  Cite your sources
    
7.  Get more help

I. Locating books in the Library:

1. FAU Library Catalog: click on Catalog or Books. The following types of basic searches are available:

A.        Search for Keyword(s): Searches for terms anywhere they appear in the catalog record. Search terms can be truncated with a ?  e.g. engine? will search for engineer, engineering, etc.

B.        Browse Organized Lists: Use this search when you already know an author, title or subject heading. Some of the available options include:

• Author’s Name: last name first, you don’t need to capitalize
• Title: if a title starts with “The,” “A,” or “An,” omit that and skip to the next word
• Subject, LC: must be entered in a very specific manner. You may get a cross-reference, suggesting an alternate search term. If you’re not finding anything with a subject search try a keyword search instead.

C.        Journals/Serials: This search lets you know if the Library has a certain journal or magazine. However, it does not search for articles in journals. To do this, use a database instead (see below). After searching for a journal title, click on the “Location” line to see which dates the Library owns. (Note: not all electronic journals are cataloged. There is also a link to a separate list of all electronic journals available at FAU.)

 

The Advanced search screen allows you to combine terms using “and, or, not” as well as limiting a search by location, date, format, or language.

II.  Off - Campus Connect (EZ-Proxy)

To connect to the electronic journals and databases provided by the FAU Libraries from off-campus you must first log into EZ-Proxy using your 14-digit Owl Card number. It is not necessary to do this while working on the FAU campuses.

III. Searching for articles in databases

To search for articles click on “Indexes/Databases” or “Articles.” There are both alphabetical and subject listings of databases. The Libraries provide access to many databases containing information useful to professional engineers and engineering students. Some of these are listed below:
 

A. Applied Science and Technology Full Text
Indexes the latest findings in every area of science, engineering, and technology covering trade and industrial publications, journals issued by professional and technical societies, and specialized subject periodicals.

B. Compendex 
Covers significant engineering and technical literature from journals, technical reports, engineering society publications, books, and conference proceedings and papers.

C. ENGnetBASE. 
Consists of a compilation of essential engineering information, including data, facts,   figures, graphs, equations, illustrations, and charts.

D. Elsevier Science Direct  
Scholarly journals in engineering, science, and social science disciplines. Lots of full text.  

E. IEEE Xplore:IEEE/IEL Electronic Library  
Contains the full text of all IEEE/IEE Journals, Conference Proceedings, and Standards   from 1988 to the present.

F. INSPEC  
The largest English language file of bibliographic information and abstracts on the world's output of published works in physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computing, and information technology.

G.  All Engineering Databases  All of your databases are accessible from this link.

H.  360 Search   FAU's very own mega search engine. It search across many databases at once.

also note: our Engineering Electronic Journals

 

IV. Other Sources of Note

     Career Hints  in Engineering and other fields from our Career Center.

 Help with advanced mathematics is available from our Reference books located in the T (technology) and QA (mathematics) sections of the library.   Some of these books also available from the ENGnetBASE database collections of handbooks.

Ethics: a good definition from the ubiquitous Wikipedia.   Any good search will  yield lots of good sites.

Google has two advanced result search devices: Google Scholar and Google Government.

 In this field you will always need to be familiar with the United States Patent office.

V. Citing your References

Engineering disciplines use different styles to document resources used in writing papers. Your professor will normally tell you what style to use; if not, be sure to ask. A useful Web site providing information on citation styles is provided by Purdue University.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html

Chicago/Turabian styles

MLA style

V. Getting Additional Help

Ask-A-Librarian email reference help

Reference desk phone number: 561-297-3785

Make an appointment with a librarian: One-on-one reference consultation