1. Presentation to Civil Engineering Grad Students October 16, 2007 by Linda Michtics, Liaison Librarian for Engineering michtic@mcmaster.camichtic@mcmaster.ca, ext. 23882

2.  to provide you with information on sources and services available through the McMaster Library which will assist you with your research 2

3.  I am looking for articles on the design of the ‘Confederation Bridge’ and I want to know the most efficient and effective ways of searching for them. 3

4.  by subject (Civil Engineering) under the Databases tab on the Library’s homepage  by list of Primary Science and Engineering Databases on Thode’s homepage left nav bar (Note: this is a small subset of many electronic databases to which the Library subscribes)  by contacting the Library or your Liaison Librarian 4

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8.  Compendex – good database to use as it covers all aspects of engineering  ASCE’s Civil Engineering Database  Web of Science – Science Citation Index  Applied Science and Technology Abstracts  other specialized databases on list depending on your topic 8

9.  identify main concepts  identify synonyms for these concepts (tip: use online thesaurus)  when phrase searching, enclose phrase in quotation marks eg. “confederation bridge”  use boolean operators: and, or, not  use proximity operators eg. near  use asterisk symbol * (truncation) for plurals or alternative endings : eg. canad* gets canada, canadian, canadians  use wildcard symbol ? eg. wom?n for woman and women 9

10.  most comprehensive bibliographic database of research for all engineering disciplines  includes references from over 5,000 engineering journals, conferences and technical reports  online coverage from 1969 to the present  updated weekly  use online tutorial and online help in Compendex 10

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18.  find one good article  use hyperlinked words from descriptors (main heading; controlled terms, uncontrolled terms, etc.) or authors to find other relevant articles 18

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23.  use RACER if article is not available at or through McMaster libraries  RACER = online Interlibrary loan system  searches Ontario university library catalogues as well as many others  average of 5 to 10 days to receive material  FREE 23

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25.  receive emails to keep up-to-date on latest research in your area(s) of interest  offered by various database producers, societies and journal publishers  registration required but it’s FREE  for list, click on Database Alerts from the left nav bar on Thode’s homepage 25

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28.  web-based citation management software  FREE to Mac students  registration required  create one or several accounts  store unlimited number of references  can move your RefWorks database into another database programme (eg. Endnote, ProCite, Reference Manager, etc.) 28

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31.  contains all material in all four campus libraries  includes materials the Library owns or has access to such as: print books, e-books, print journals and e-journals (by title only), government publications, conference proceedings  check location information and status from a catalogue record 31

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34.  contains online full-text journals, magazines and newspapers  Note: always check the Library Catalogue if you can’t find something as we may have it in print or even online 34

35.  searches across many disciplines and sources from one place  includes peer-reviewed articles, theses, books, etc. published by professional societies, preprint repositories, universities  can link directly to full-text papers that McMaster subscribes to if you see get it @ Mac (this works from on-campus and from home if you’re logged into LibAccess) get it @ Mac 35

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37.  Visit: Research Help Desk in Thode Library, 1 st Floor  email: thoderef@mcmaster.cathoderef@mcmaster.ca  Call: ext. 24256, Mon-Fri, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.  MSN: library@mcmaster.ca M – F 11 -3library@mcmaster.ca  AOL/Yahoo!: maclibraries M – F 11 -3  Contact Linda Michtics, Liaison Librarian for Engineering: michtic@mcmaster.ca or ext. 23882michtic@mcmaster.ca 37