Additional Resources
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This guide contains materials that might be of use while you are completing your CEGE 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.
Creating a search query
For most databases and even Google you can combine search terms to write a search query that databases understand. A good search query will give you a good selection of highly relevant results. Below are a few examples of how to build a search string using climate change as a topic:
- Use quotation marks to search words as a phrase, e.g., "climate change"
- Use an asterisk with a word stem to search for variations on a term, e.g., sustain* for sustain, sustainability, sustaining
- Use the word AND to link together concepts, e.g., "climate change" AND sustain*
- Use the word OR to search for synonyms, e.g., "climate change" OR "global warming"
- Use parentheses to group terms, e.g., "climate change" AND (policy OR law
Remember that searching is an iterative process—as you search and learn more about a topic, you will be able to refine your strategy.
Find Science & Engineering Articles
- 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.
- American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Civil Engineering DatabaseThe Civil Engineering Database indexes all ASCE journals, conference proceedings, books, standards, manuals, magazines, and newspapers. Full text is available for most journals from 1983 to present.
- Environmental Engineering AbstractsEnvironmental Engineering Abstracts covers the world literature pertaining to technological and engineering aspects of air and water quality, environmental safety, and energy production.
- Transport DatabaseTransport database searches journal articles, technical reports and conference papers on highways, traffic, road safety, marine transportation, and economic and social aspects of transportation systems. It combines three databases: the Transportation Research Information Services (US), International Road Research Documentation (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), and TRANSDOC (European Conference of Ministers of Transportation). Limited to 4 simultaneous users.
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.
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
Patents
- 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.
- 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.
Sustainability
The following are just a few of the Libraries' many resources on sustainability.
Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology by ISBN: 9781441908513Publication Date: 2013-02-27This encyclopedia includes 550 peer-reviewed articles on the science and technology of providing for the sustainability of the Earth.
Engineering for Sustainability by ISBN: 9780444538468Publication Date: 2012-05-01This book addresses sustainability as part of the engineering design process.
Engineering for Sustainable Communities Principles and Practices by ISBN: 9780784414811Publication Date: 2017-09-01This book from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) addresses sustainable engineering methods throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure projects and systems.
Engineering Ethics
The following are just a few of the Libraries' many resources on engineering ethics.
Social, Ethical, and Policy Implications of Engineering by ISBN: 9780780347120Publication Date: 1999-09-24This book provides an in-depth examination of technology's role in society.
Global Engineering Ethics by ISBN: 9780128112199Publication Date: 2017-07-07This book introduces engineering ethics and provides case study illustrations of concepts in action.
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.
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Last Updated: Dec 8, 2022 3:01 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/course/CEGE/4103W