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This guide provides resources you might find helpful for completing your capstone design project.
Off-campus access to library resources
Current University students, staff and faculty should be able to get full text and online access to the University Libraries from anywhere. Here are three ways to access the library full text from off campus.
- Search the University of Minnesota library website. Log in with your UMN Internet ID and password to access resources.
- Log in using the U of M Virtual Private Network (VPN). You will need to download it VPN software to your computer from campus OIT (Office of Information Technology).
- Install the Libraries' Proxy Bookmarklet to your browser and click it to reload the page with your U of M login to get access to full text. Watch a proxy bookmarklet video (3 min) to learn more.
View examples and learn more on our How to get to full text from on and off campus Guide.
Find Science and Engineering Literature
- 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.
- ScopusSearch for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
- PubMedPubMed is a free database provided through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It indexes life science publications, with coverage back to 1946 for most journals.
- American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME)Search ASME journals from 1959 - present, conference proceedings from 2000 - present plus select proceedings back to 1955, and ebooks from 1993 - present with select titles back to 1944.
- SAE MobilusThe SAE Mobilus platform provides access for the University Libraries subscriptions to the SAE Journals and the SAE Technical Papers from 1998 to present. The Technical papers portion of SAE Mobilus references thousands of SAE Technical Papers covering the latest advances and research in all areas of mobility engineering including ground vehicle, aerospace, off-highway, and manufacturing technology. SAE was previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. 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.
Note that Google Scholar is a search engine, not a database. The databases listed above actively index the content within, making for better searching. Please do not rely solely on Google Scholar. Contact your liaison librarian for help getting started!
Find Business & Marketing Information
- Business Source PremierBusiness Source Premier indexes business articles from 2,200 journals and magazines in marketing, management, information technology, operations, human resources, accounting, finance and economics dating back to 1965.
Use this database to find academic literature on business and economic topics. - Mergent Online (Business)Mergent provides profiles of public corporations from around the world. It provides infomration on company histories, property, financials, subsdiaries, and joint ventures, plus access to press releases and historical annual reports.
Use this database if you are looking for information about a specific company. - IBIS World (Business)IBIS World provides industry reports for the United States, Canada, China, and selected global topics. Each report provides an overviews, leading companies, products and markets, sales information, and outlooks for an industry.
Use this database to gain an overview of a particular industry, including the major companies operating in it. - 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.
Use this database if you are interested in the global market for a specific type of industrial, pharmaceutical, or high technology product. - PitchBookPitchBook contains entries on thousands of private equity and venture capital deals. Each user must create a personal account while on campus using their valid @umn.edu e-mail address. Accounts expire in August of each year.
Use PitchBook to establish benchmarks, find real-time data on deals, identify and analyze comparables, and search investor details.
Patents
- Patents (United States)The USPTO Web Patent Database offers the full text of all US patents issued since January 1, 1976 and full-page images of each page of every US patent issued since 1790 through the most recent weekly issue date. The Publisher/Producer is the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- Google Patent SearchGoogle Patents Search is a good starting place for keyword searching to find useful patents and their classifications, helpful for more focused searching.
- EspacenetProvides an interface to the published patent application databases of the European Patent Office and European national patent offices.
Standards
Standards serve as a common language for engineers, designers and manufacturers, providing invaluable information to define quality and safety criteria; outline test methods and performance requirements; and provide rules and guidelines for products, processes and services. The Libraries have standards from a number of organizations in our collection. Search for standards in the Libraries catalog. Please contact sciref@umn.edu for additional support.
- 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.
- AASTHO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)AASHTO Provisional Standards & Standard specifications for transportation materials and methods of sampling and testing
- ACI (American Concrete Institute)ACI Manual of Concrete Practice standards are available in print in Walter Library.
- ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)To find an ASCE Standard, look up the standard by its title in MNCat Discovery
- ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers)ASHRAE standards are available in Walter Library, Room 206.
- ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)The most current editions of ASME standards are shelved in Walter Library Room 206.
- ISO (International Organization for Standardization)ISO has set over twenty thousand standards have been set covering everything from manufactured products and technology to food safety, agriculture and healthcare
Project Management Resources
Project Management by Call Number: TA190 .S59 2005ISBN: 0130413313Publication Date: 2004-10-20This book is intended for engineering students and covers topics from budgeting to scheduling and control.
Project Management Step-by-step by ISBN: 0814426573As the title suggests, this book describes, step-by-step, project management processes.
Writing & Presentation Skills
Presentation Skills for Scientists by Call Number: Q223 .Z36 2010ISBN: 0521741033Publication Date: 2010-02-11This guide covers the creation and delivery of scientific presentations, from identifying the audience through handling questions. The item is located in Walter Library.
A Math-Based Writing System for Engineers : Sentence Algebra and Document Algorithms by Publication Date: 2020
A Scientific Approach to Writing for Engineers and Scientists by ISBN: 9781118899793Publication Date: 2014-05-21This book from the IEEE PCS professional engineering communication series explains the mechanics of good writing.
The IEEE Guide to Engineering Communication by ISBN: 9781119070115Publication Date: 2017-08-30This book from the IEEE PCS professional engineering communication series provides explanations of the different styles of writing needed for different audiences.
FDA Resources
- FDA Recognized Consensus StandardsSearch "Recognized consensus standards" here. A recognized consensus standard is a consensus standard that FDA has evaluated and recognized for use in satisfying a regulatory requirement and for which FDA has published a notice in the Federal Register. A "consensus standard" is a standard developed by a private sector standards body using consensus process.
- Devices@FDAA resource for finding medical device information from FDA. It includes links to the device summary information, manufacturer, approval date, user instructions, and other consumer information.
- FDA Device AdviceDevice Advice is the Center for Devices and Radiological Health's self-service site for medical device and radiation emitting product information. It is an interactive system for obtaining regulatory information concerning medical devices.
Last Updated: Dec 28, 2022 1:34 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/course/ME/4054W