Presentation to Civil Engineering Grad StudentsOctober 16, 2007

by Linda Michtics, Liaison Librarian for Engineeringmichtic@mcmaster.ca, ext. 23882

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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find one good article use hyperlinked words from descriptors

(main heading; controlled terms, uncontrolled terms, etc.) or authors to find other relevant articles

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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

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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

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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.)

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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

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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

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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)

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Visit: Research Help Desk in Thode Library, 1st Floor

email: thoderef@mcmaster.ca Call: ext. 24256, Mon-Fri, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. MSN: library@mcmaster.ca M – F 11 -3 AOL/Yahoo!: maclibraries M – F 11 -3 Contact Linda Michtics, Liaison Librarian for

Engineering: michtic@mcmaster.ca or ext. 23882

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