Have questions?
Contact me for research help on this subject.
Engineering Librarian
Finding Research Articles
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.
- AGRICOLA Agriculture (Ovid)Search agriculture, animal husbandry, animal and human nutrition, forestry, plant pathology, plant science, human ecology, agricultural economics, and rural sociology. Limited to 8 simultaneous users.
- Agricultural & Environmental Science DatabaseSearch journals and literature on agriculture, pollution, animals, environment, policy, natural resources, water issues and more. Searches tools like AGRICOLA, Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management (ESPM), and Digests of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) databases.
- CAB Abstracts Plus Full Text SelectCAB Abstracts covers agriculture in its broadest sense, including crop production, forestry, environment, animal health and nutrition, veterinary science, agricultural engineering, biotechnology, soil and water, agricultural economics, recreation and tourism, rural sociology, and human nutrition and health.
**Please Note: The publisher's most recent update of the CAB Abstracts database on February 1, 2024, created is causing searches of the database to return incomplete and/or fewer results than expected. Publisher is working to fix but indicates problem may be fully fixed before early April, 2024. - ScopusSearch for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
- Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
Finding Patents & Standards
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.
- 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.
- ASABE Standards (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers)Find standards governing the engineering and data practices adopted by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Writing Resources
- Center for WritingThey take walk-ins, and both in-person and online appointments. Also find online quick help and resources for writers on the writing process, common assignments, grammar, punctuation, style and more. Put the polishing touches on your work.
Citing Your Sources
- Citation and research help (from Purdue OWL)Examples and instructions for how to cite many types of materials in MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA styles.
- Zotero (Citation tool)Free, web-based software that is useful for organizing your research sources, creating bibliographies and sharing sources with others.