Library News for Engineering

New Resource: Knovel Expanded!

The e-book database, Knovel, has now been expanded to include titles relating to Sustainable Energy.  Titles include the ASHRAE GreenGuide, Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines, Dictionary of Energy and many more.  For an entire list of the books available, please visit their website.

Database Spotlight: Compendex

If you're looking for a broad yet deep source of engineering research, Compendex is a great place to start.  Compendex is the most comprehensive bibliographic database of engineering literature available, and it covers all areas of engineering.  Compendex is the current digital version of the information that was formerly available in print as the Engineering Index, with the advantage that now the entire collection (1969-present) can be searched with the click of a button.

As always, if you have any trouble accessing or using this resource feel free to contact me.

Resource Spotlight: Knovel

Knovel is the primary source for engineering reference books on campus.  Having these materials available electronically is especially useful because it allows for searching all texts simultaneously, and they can be accessed from anywhere (see the proxy instructions if you're having trouble connecting from off-campus).  Knovel contains ebooks on a range of STM subjects, but its main focus is engineering.  The collection includes subject specific handbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries, and new titles are being added all the time.

Check out this video about searching Knovel to get started.

New Resources for BME

The Libraries have just purchased two new electronic reference sources that will be of interest to Biomedical Engineers:

Encyclopedia of Medical Devices and Instrumentation

Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering

Also, check out the new additions to the Materials for Medical Devices Database, which includes new information on specific forms and conditions, an orthopaedic module, and a cardiovascular module.

I-CARES Distinguished Seminar: Where in the World Will Our Energy Come From?

Dr. Nathan Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, will be on campus tomorrow to discuss the future of renewable energy and some of the challenges that must be overcome in order to secure our energy future.  Dr. Lewis joins us as part of the I-CARES Distinguished Speaker Series.  Hope to see you there!

WHERE IN THE WORLD WILL OUR ENERGY COME FROM?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
4:00-5:30 PM, 
Reception Following
Lab Sciences 300
Washington University in St. Louis

Call for Posters: WU GIS Symposium 2008

If you've done a project using GIS, the upcoming WU GIS Symposium on November 18th and 19th is a great opportunity to share your research.  Olin Library will host a map gallery/poster session that is open to anyone with a GIS project to showcase, and it's a great way to connect with other GIS users on campus.

Here are some details:

• Poster sessions will run from 2pm-5pm on the 18th and 1pm-5pm on the 19th, and presenters need to be available on one of these days for a few hours to talk about their poster/project
• Any project based on GIS is accepted (including digital projects)
• 1st and 2nd place prizes: $100 and $75 bookstore gift cards
• Printing is available for free
• Submit all poster projects to Scott Horn.  He can also be contacted for additional information.

Be sure to put the symposium date, November 19th, on your calendars!

New Books for the Week of September 15, 2008

Beyond the Box: Televison and the Internet	Buried Pipe Design
Lean Maintenance	Plastics Fabrication and Recycling
Industrial Polymers, Specialty Polymers, and their Applications	Power struggles : scientific authority and the creation of practical electricity before Edison
Transceiver and system design for digital communications	Coming clean : breaking America's addiction to oil and coal
Biofuels Engineering Process Technology	Digital signal processing techniques and applications in radar image processing

Database Spotlight: Applied Science Full Text

Applied Science Full Text is a general STM database available via WilsonWeb.  It indexes over 350 periodicals on subjects including engineering, physics, mathematics, and computer science.  Indexing is available back to 1983, and full text coverage begins in 1997.  Applied Science Full Text can be searched concurrently with other WilsonWeb databases, including General Science Abstracts, and citations can be directly exported to both EndNote and RefWorks. ASFT is another great resource for broad and/or cross disciplinary research.

Database Spotlight: Web of Science

A major resource offered under the Web of Knowledge umbrella, ISI Web of Science includes five databases: Science Citation Index, Expanded Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Index Chemicus, and Current Chemical Reactions.  This broad scope works well for cross-disciplinary searching, and Web of Science can be a good starting point for research papers.  Another valuable feature is its advanced citation searching and indexing, which allows for easy tracking of citations across the scholarly literature.  Users can set up alerts to be notified every time an article they are tracking is cited.  Web of Science and other Web of Knowledge products offer a lot of options for personalization, and are seamlessly integrated with EndNote citation management software.  Online tutorials are available, or contact the library for assistance.

New Subject Guides

If you haven't already checked out the library's new Research Guides, take a look.  The guide for engineering can be found at http://libguides.wustl.edu/engineering, and it's a great place to start your search for subject specific books, articles, and online resources.  Comments and suggestions are welcome!