Useful
Shortcuts
Library
Catalogue
for material that the Library has in print or
electronic format
Databases
for information in journals and newspapers.
Links to the full text may be included.
For sources of general comment see databases which cover a
wide range of journals and newspapers such as
Academic Search
Premier
Australia/New
Zealand Reference
Centre
eLibrary Australasia
Expanded academic ASAP
Factiva
Web of Science
from specific publishers are
Academic
OneFile
Scopus
for business aspects try
Business
Source Complete
for social aspects try
Sociological
abstracts
PsycInfo
for
engineering aspects try
Compendex:
Engineering
Index
CEDB:
Civil
Engineering
DataBase
INSPEC
ENGINE
Scitopia
for Australian aspects
try
APA-FT
Australia/New
Zealand Reference Centre
eLibrary Australasia
ENGINE
Which
library has this journal?
Intercampus
Requests
Essay,
thesis, report writing - some ideas
Referencing
styles
Image
and
Copy Centre
Ask a
Librarian
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You may be
interested to learn about how to read references
before you start searching for your assignment task and collecting
information.
Finding information
To get an understanding of aspects of your topic, some
background information is useful so, try encyclopaedias and
handbooks. (1)
For more detailed discussion find other books and handbooks through the
Library
Catalogue (2)
Once you know which aspects of the topic you want to develop for your
report, you will need to read comment and opinion written in journal
articles. Use
specialised files, known as Databases, to find out what articles and
papers might be
relevant. (3)
(1) Handbooks and Encyclopaedias
Handbooks and encyclopaedias can be useful sources of basic
information.
In engineering and technical subjects, handbooks and
encyclopaedias are aimed at professional engineers.
Encyclopaedias in print format are located in the Library's Reference
Collection, Level
3, South or in the Main Collection, Levels 1 and 2.
Encyclopedia
of
chemical processing and design (McKetta). 68 volumes
1976-99.
Reference collection 660.03 E54
Check the index in volume 2 for aspects of energy sources
and applications, eg. solar energy; solar power generation applications.
Wiley encyclopedia of electrical & electronic engineering.
24 volumes 2007.
Reference collection 621.303 W381w
Check the index in volume 24 for the names of forms
of sustainable energy eg. biomass energy;
solar energy, wind energy.
CRC
handbook
of
mechanical engineering. 1997.
Reference
collection 621.02 K922e
A useful
coverage in Section 7: Energy Resources, and Section 8: Energy
Conversion.
Electrical
engineer's
reference book. 16th ed. 2003.
Reference collection 621.3 E278 16
Section
F: Power Generation includes part 27: Alternative Energy Sourcess.
Engineering handbook.
24 volumes 1995
Reference collection 621.303. W381w
Standard handbook for
civil engineers. 4th
ed. 1996.
Reference collection 624 M572s
There are two encyclopaedias in electronic format which cover aspects
of chemical
engineering and include ???????????? -
Kirk-Othmer
encyclopedia of chemical technology.
and
Ullmann's
encyclopedia of industrial chemistry. current
In both Kirk
Othmer and Ullmann's,
type the search strategy in the
"Search this
title" bar in the right hand column.
in economics and commerce
Encyclopedia of business.
2 volumes
Reference collection 650.03 E56
in social sciences
Encyclopedia of human analysis
Reference collection 650.03 E56
(2) The Library
Catalogue will lead you to books about
aspects of your topic, available in or through the Library.
From the rectangular boxes across the top of the screen, click on the
one
labelled [Catalogue]
This will bring up the Catalogue
search bar.
At by:
pull down and select Keyword
(use and, or, not, " ")
Before you
start a
Keyword search -
Think
about the concepts in your topic
think of terms, words and phrases,
that could be used in the title of a book that
could provide information for aspects of your topic.
At the Search
for: bar type in the
words that you think could appear in the title or subject headings of a
book that could be useful to you.
Type the computer command and
between each word
to tell the system to find only those Catalogue records which include
each word you have selected.
eg.
teamwork and
engineering
Click on the [Search]
button to bring up the Search Results:
that is the titles that match your search
strategy.
The Brief Record
format indicates the location of the book and whether
it
is on loan. Click on the title for more details in the Full
Record.
The Full Record
describes the physical format of the book and lists the Subject Heading(s):
which may give leads to more books on the topic. Click on a Subject Heading:
to bring up a list of headings that you can select from to find other
relevant material.
To improve your
search
strategy to get more relevant results, think about other
words that an author might use in their title, which would still be of
interest to you.
eg.
teamwork and
engineering and
australia
Where the search word could be singular or plural, use the truncation
symbol ?
to tell the system to find all words beginning with the
letters you have typed
eg.
teamwork? and
engineer?
and
austral?
There might be other words which could be used for each concept so combine
search terms with the
operators and,
or, " "
eg.
(teamwork?
or
"team work?")
and
(engineer?
or
manage?)
and
austral?
Remember to use brackets ( )
around the set of search terms where you
separate words with the OR
command
(3) Databases listing journal articles
and papers
You
cannot use the Library Catalogue directly to find out which journal or
newspaper articles are available through the Library.
To find out what relevant
articles or papers have been written, and where they were
published, you need to
search databases. The Library's
subscription to some databases may include access to the
full text of the article.
First,
choose a database
depending on your topic.
Your topic looks at many issues.
In addition to databases covering
technological issues, consider databases covering business or social
issues
etc.
Is an Australian database
appropriate?
Examples of possibly useful databases are:
for general issues,
including public comment
for business
and management aspects
for social
aspects
for engineering and technology aspects
for an Australian focus
This is
only a selection of available databases.
Remember, if you need information not
covered by the databases above or in the column to the left, check the [Resource guides]
on the Library web page,
or contact
the Engineering Librarian
for
more possibilities.
Second,
searching
effectively.
Search techniques vary in databases but most use the the same basic
search
principles as used when searching in the Library's Catalogue by Keyword (use and, or,
not, " ").
Before you start a
search -
- Think
about
what information you would like to find to support your case.
<>Think of
terms, words and phrases, that could be used in the
title of an article that might give the information you need.
Remember that journal articles are usually on a specific
topic - do not use
general search terms.
- Consider
searching for a named device, project, company, structure, place name
etc. as well as more widely for the type of project and type of
utility
- Truncate terms. *
is the most
common
truncation symbol, but there are others. Check the database help
information.
- Combine search terms with Boolean
operators, and, or, " "
Remember to use brackets ( )
around search terms separated by the or
operator.
If
you need a better understanding for the database you are using, check
the help screens for that database to find out about techniques for
truncation, phrases, etc.
Next,
dealing with the results
- Look at the titles - are there other, useful, search terms
in the
titles and
abstracts of the first
articles you retrieve? Consider 'improving' your search strategy!
- Look for a refine
search option to modify ("improve") your search.
- Click on the Title to display the abstract or full
record. The abstract
gives a summary of the article plus subject terms.
- Look for the 'boxes' to mark
useful records.
- Look for icons and instructions for emailing, printing
or saving your
results.
Finally,
once your database search has given references to articles, you
need to
find the full text
of the
article.
- In many cases,
the Library has paid for full text access through our subscription to
the database, so you will be provided with an .html or .pdf link to the
electronic
full text of articles. Alternatively, look for the blue
rectangular box to
go to Check fulltext options.
This link will check the Library Catalogue to see if the Library does
provide electronic access to that article.
- If not, always search the journal
title (not the article title) in the Library
Catalogue.
For journals available in electronic form
the Library Catalogue record provides a Link to e-Resource: and indicates
the years available electronically.
For journals in print form the
Library
Catalogue record lists the Location:
(which library), Call Number:
(where in that library) and what the Library
Has: (which issue our set starts with, and if it has finished,
the last issue)
Check
the date and volume number of your reference against the Catalogue
information to make certain that the Library provides access to the
article
you want.
REMEMBER - the Barr Smith Library does
not hold all journals indexed in the databases.
To find out if a journal is available in Adelaide, you can also try the
Other
Catalogues option to search the catalogues of UniSA and
Flinders
University libraries
Report writing
If you need some ideas for ways of presentating the arguments in your
essay or
seminar, try some of the guides
to report writing and presentation.
Referencing styles
When
you are listing works that you have consulted to write an essay, you
should use a definite referencing or citation style. A referencing
style is simply a standardised way of writing down the elements of
information about a book or journal or electronic source.
The Library provides a guide with a range of examples in An introduction to the author-date
(Harvard) referencing system which is widely used in
the engineering literature.
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