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Finding Market & Industry Information
The following databases are key resources for finding information on science and technology-related industries and markets. Keep in mind that you may need to think a little more broadly when looking for information on an industry (e.g., adhesives rather than pressure-sensitive adhesives).
For help finding other types of business- and market-related information, contact Caroline Lilyard or see the Business Reference website.
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Frost & Sullivan Market Research ReportsUse for business research and to find Frost & Sullivan's market and industry reports for over 300 markets and 250,000 companies for industrial markets organized into categories for Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Chemicals, Materials, Food; Electronics and Security, Energy and Power Systems, Environment and Building Technologies, Healthcare and Medical Devices, Measurement and Instrumentation, Information and Communication Technologies, and Industrial Automation and Process Control.
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IBIS World (Business)Search industry reports for the United States, Canada, China, and global topics. Each report provides an overall current picture of an industry, including overviews, leading companies, sales information, and authoritative sources for researching hundreds of industries. Includes Business Environmental Profiles that summarize key drivers for industries in the U.S.
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BCC Research (Business)BCC provides market research, forecasting, and industry intelligence reports. BCC reports provide information on major economic, scientific, and technological developments in industrial, pharmaceutical, and high technology organizations.
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GlobalData MedicalProvides medical device industry intelligence covering 16 therapy areas.
Finding Background Information
Encyclopedias and handbooks are a good way to get a broad overview and context for a subject and helpful for deciphering research articles. References at the ends of articles lead you to further relevant information.
Other helpful sources of background information are review articles and trade magazines. You can find those using databases like SciFinder-n and Compendex and limiting by Document Type or Treatment Type.
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Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical TechnologyWritten by prominent scholars from industry, academia, and research institutions, Kirk-Othmer presents a wide scope of articles on chemical substances including their properties, manufacturing, and uses. It focuses on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering and fundamentals and environmental and health issues concerning chemical technology.
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KnovelOnline access to books, databases, and conference proceedings from a number of publishers that cover all areas of engineering and includes content relevant to related sciences (e.g., chemistry and earth sciences). It includes interactive graphs and tables.
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Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry"The worlds's largest technical encyclopedia," this is also a very trusted source of information on a wide variety of fields that involve chemistry.
Finding Materials Property Data
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Tutorial: How to Find Chemical and Physical Property InformationFinding chemical and physical property data is not always easy because there is no one place where all types of data for all substances is located, and it is not always clear where to look or whether you have looked in the right places. This tutorial will show you how and where to search.
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ASM Alloy Phase Diagram Center OnlineExplore, search, and view binary and ternary phase diagrams and associated phase data by utilizing multiple search functions. Helpful conversion tools are also included.
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ASM Handbooks OnlineFind data on metals properties and performance.
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KnovelOnline access to books, databases, and conference proceedings from a number of publishers that cover all areas of engineering and includes content relevant to related sciences (e.g., chemistry and earth sciences). It includes interactive graphs and tables.
Finding Materials Pricing Information
Chemical and materials pricing information is quite valuable and not readily available to academic institutions. See the Chemical Engineering Economics guide, particularly on Bulk Chemical Prices, from the University of Texas for general advice. We subscribe to many of the resources listed so use MNCAT Discovery to access them rather than the links listed on the UT page.
Metal Prices and Indexes
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London Metal Exchange Free Data ServicePrices for aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, steel, plastics) NOTE: Requires free registration
Finding Research Articles in Materials Science
Articles are the primary way scientists communicate research results. Use an article index or database to find articles on your topic; the citation includes article information like article title, author, journal name, issue, year, and the abstract.
When you are starting to delve into a new subject, review articles are your best friends. Most article databases will allow you to limit your search just to this type of publication or document. The long reference lists in review articles are also a good way to identify key articles.
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Tutorial: Using citations to find journal articles and booksLearn how to use citations in journal articles to identify other relevant articles and books and use Libraries Search to find them.
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SciFinder-nSciFinder-n is the updated version of SciFinder and is the best database for topics related to chemistry and adjacent fields. It includes journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and patents. Find substance and reaction information as well as suppliers and chemical regulatory data.
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Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences.
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CompendexCovers scholarly and technical periodicals, conference proceedings, and report literature in all engineering disciplines including applied physics, electronics, materials science, and related fields in science and management. Indexes nearly 3000 sources worldwide.
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PubMedSearches MEDLINE, which is the primary source of journal articles for the health sciences (fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, public health, health care systems, and basic sciences). Coverage is from the 1940s to the present.
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Tutorial: How to read and comprehend scientific research articlesLearn tips on how to read a scientific article, how to find the main points of the article, and how to take effective notes.
Finding Patents
Patents are a good source for technical detail, research data, and drawings. Most information in patents is not published elsewhere. Companies often publish in the patent literature before, or instead of, journals.
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Tutorial: Patents and patentabilityIn this tutorial you will learn about the different types of patents, how patents relate to inventions, what makes an idea patentable, and the parts of a patent.
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Tutorial: Patent searchingThis tutorial explains the benefits of using patents in your research and how to search using Google Patents in conjunction with the USPTO Patent Database.
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Google Patent SearchAllows for full-text searching of patent grants and applications from the United States and several other major jurisdictions.
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Derwent Innovations Index (Web of Science)Derwent Innovations Index merges patent information from Derwent World Patents Index with the patent citation information from Derwent Patent Citation Index. Users can conduct patent and citation searches of inventions in chemical, electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering.
Finding Standards & Regulatory Information
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ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital LibraryProduced by the American Society for Testing and Materials, this resource provides instant access to the current digital edition of the Annual Book of ASTM Standards.
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StandardsFind standards from a variety of organizations available via the University of Minnesota Libraries in print and online. If you are unable to find a standard you need, contact us! We may be able to get it for you.
Off-Campus Access to Library Journals & Databases
In addition to going through links on the library website, we have 2 other ways to access resources from off-campus.
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Proxy Bookmarklet for off-campus accessAdd this button to your browser toolbar and click on it to reload a page and authenticate as a U of M user.
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Virtual Private Network (VPN)Download and log in to VPN before accessing resources