Engineering Library Blog

the place to learn interesting and useful facts about information resources and library services!

Librarians at the Library of Congress periodically create research guides on timely topics. They are dubbed “Science Tracer Bullets Online” (Historically, they were in paper format.) This latest was released on March 17th. This is what the ResourceShelf.com announcement reads: “Web and print resources compiled by the Science, Technology and Business Division at the Library of Congress. This guide lists relevant sources of information on alternative fuel vehicles and includes electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and personal transportation vehicles, as well as the technology of fuel economy and alternative fuels. It also includes advanced autoignition and lean-burn combustion processes for improving engine fuel economy.”

These research guides include books, conference proceedings, technical reports and papers, dissertations, key journals, and databases (abstracting and indexing services). A caveat: Princeton does not necessarily have all the resouces listed, but our call numbers are likely to be the same as in the Library of Congress, and of course, we will be happy to obtain any resources lacking at Princeton, via Interlibrary Loan, or Document Delivery. Princeton will have most of the databases accessible electronically via the Main Catalog or under Articles and databases from the Library’s homepage.

IEEE hosts regularly scheduled online seminars and training events which are free to all users of IEEE online technical information. Current 60 minute courses include ‘Searching with IEEE Xplore’. Free open demonstrations of IEEE products, for existing and potential customers, including tips on how to search in IEEE Xplore. Advance registration is required and space is limited. For more information and schedule, click here. Princeton has a subscription to this scholarly, technical, full text database on electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.

The Librarians at the Engineering Library are also very glad to answer any questions or provide instruction in the use of IEEE Xplore.

“TechXtra is a free service which can help you find articles, books, the best websites, the latest industry news, job announcements, technical reports, technical data, full text eprints, the latest research, thesis & dissertations, teaching and learning resources and more, in engineering, mathematics and computing.’ Many items are full text. The contents are described specifically in a table found here:

Do read the “about section”. It will not take the place of Library subcription indexes/databases, like Engineering Index, which should be searched first, but it does provide “deep web” searching of collections missed by Google. Where the Library has subscriptions to series, there should be a link. When you can’t find full text access without logging in or paying, do request papers, etc., via Interlibrary Loan or Document Delivery. TechXtra’s search engine is still under development for more refinements, truncation, for example. There is a slight emphasis on the United Kingdom.

Engineering Librarian, Adriana Popescu writes: “…we now have online access to all Elsevier journals. For some journals, we can access articles back to the first issue, for others we only have access from 1995 on. The catalog records may take a while to update, so please remember to check the www.sciencedirect.com site to see if we can download Elsevier articles before we submit [Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan] requests or purchase articles from ScienceDirect.

Happy 2008!

Elsevier journals are also included and indexed topically in subject-based databases, such as Engineering Index (Compendex) and selectively by Web of Science. Scopus, the other huge interdisciplinary database includes most, if not all, Elsevier journals, since it is being developed and maintained by Elsevier.

All Engineering Library books can now be renewed online. Please submit requests for book renewals through the online form available on the Engineering Library website (under Services) and on the Princeton University Library website (under Circulation).

“IEEE has taken the most requested training topics and created short digital tutorials to show users how to get the most out of IEEE Xplore. Whether you are new to the IEEE Xplore digital library or just looking for a refresher, these modules provide tips for using IEEE Xplore more efficiently. Topics for the tutorials range from setting up e-mail alerts and browsing content to advanced search techniques, creating complex searches from session histories and capitalizing on the many features of the AbstractPlus page. All under five minutes long, these instant training modules are perfect for catching up on useful pointers to help your research go smoothly. The modules can be found under “Digital Library Training” on the Client Services Center site and more will be added soon. See IEEE Xplore Training Videos”

Source: What’s New @ IEEE, August, 2008