Engineering Information: Putting It Together Honora F. Nerz NCSU Libraries

What is research?

What kinds of research do you do in College? Term papers Assignments Senior Design Project Preparing for Interviews

Why do engineers need to know how to do research?

(Adapted from) Rodrigues, Ronald. (2001). Industry Expectations of the New Engineer. Science and Technology Libraries, 19, Be Smart find out if an experiment has already been done; avoid needless repetition Contribute by gaining expertise in using online databases, the new engineer supplies needed ideas and information for engineers active in developing new products. Identify identify research frontiers where efforts are most likely to lead to technical and financial success for your company. Lead engineers that use information effectively, not only have a competitive advantage over those that don’t, they avoid the devastating cost of misinformation.

In other words… Information Literacy n. the ability to identify, locate, analyze, synthesize,and present information to solve a specific problem.

Educating Engineers “Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have: (g) An ability to communicate effectively; (i)A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; (j)A knowledge of contemporary issues.” -ABET Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, Criterion 3

The Libraries’ Piece… What we do… acquire and organize information resources (like books, journals, and electronic databases); assist faculty, staff, and students in identifying and using the resources; and strive to preserve resources for future users as a record of collective knowledge.

So where do you start? 1. What are you looking for? 2. Where would it be?  On the web? (for free?)  In a book? (print or electronic)  In a magazine, newspaper or journal? (print or electronic) 3. What kind of book/magazine/web site?  Who would want to read about this?  Who would want to write about this? 4. And if it’s in more than one source, is one source better (more respected) than the other?

5. Select a search tool & begin searching The free stuff:  World Wide Web – Google, Yahoo, etc. The not-so-free stuff:  The Library Catalog – a database that lists everything the Libraries’ own (mostly books).  Citation & full-text databases – products we purchase to allow subject searching across many publications (mostly journals).

An Information Problem What do engineers do? What can I do with an engineering degree?

Physical Sciences Engineering Life Sciences

Engineering books and journals are on the 8 th and 9 th floors of the library.

Call Numbers TTechnology TA Civil Engineering TA164Biomedical Engineering TJMechanical Engineering TKNuclear, Electrical Engineering TLAeronautical Engineering TNMetallurgy TPChemical Engineering

Where else can we look? 200 Databases (approx.)  Full text articles  Citations and abstracts to journal articles  Directories of information (companies, etc.)  Many reference books compiled into one source

A few last thoughts…  Always remember to cite your sources using a standard format such as APA or MLA. Failure to cite is plagiarism!!  If you’re not sure how to do something, just ask us!

Questions?

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