Introduction to
Engineering
Julia Gelfand
Fall 2007
Engineering Librarian
Science Library 228
949-824-4971
This introductory
course will orient you to many contemporary trends and issues in
engineering. One assignment you
must complete is to write a brief biography of a famous engineer in the
specialty of your major. In order
to do this, you are encouraged to do a fair amount of preparatory reading. This handout will demonstrate how to
find appropriate resources and information. Your point of departure is the Library Homepage from where you will navigate
to find appropriate information
There are three
things you should do as new students to UCI:
1.
register
your UCI Photo ID at the Library Loan Desk in order to place library
transactions and select a pin number
2.
buy a
copy card so you can print and photocopy at any of the libraries - this works
like a debit card and can be added to when it gets low or
expires
3.
make
sure that you have authenticated yourself to use library resources from off-campus by
following instructions to load VPN
4. and
remember that you have 2 week loan periods at the Science Library and 5 weeks at
Langson Library.
FINDING BOOKS
1.
Using ANTPAC (UCI) - appropriate subject
headings include:
Engineers - Biography - Remember that there
are many books or biographies in the Business Collection at Langson Library that describe successful engineers' work
by
starting new companies - about founders of IBM, CISCO, Ingram Micro,
Adobe
Acrobat, Google, Yahoo, Silicon Valley pioneers,
etc.
2.
Using MELVYL
(UC)
3.
Using WORLDCAT (global)
4.
Using AMAZON.com (commercial)
Appropriate subject headings may
include:
Aeronautical
Engineers - Biography
Electric
Engineers - Biography
Civil Engineers -
Biography
Computer
Engineers - Biography
Corporate
turnarounds - Case Studies
Engineers -
Biography
Industrialists -
Biography
Scientists -
Biography
Corresponding Call Numbers for browsing
- arranged by LC Call # -
General Biographies in Cs; Business Applications & Commercial Sectors in
HDs by industry in Langson
Library (LL), Science Biographies in Q145; Engineering Biography in different
areas of Ts at Science Library (SL)
REFERENCE WORKS - non-circulating collection in all libraries;
Examples include:
1.
Notable
Scientists from 1900 to the Present, 6 vols - SL REF
Q141 N728
2.
World of
Invention: History's Most Significant Inventions and the People Behind Them - SL
REF T15 T174 1994
3.
New York
Times Scientists at Work: Profiles of Today's Groundbreaking Scientists from
Science Times - SL REF Q 141 S34 2000
4.
American
Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in
Physical, Biological and Related Sciences, 21 st ed,
2003 - SL REF Q 141 A474 2003
5.
Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science -
SL REF 141 B5285 2000
6.
Is there
an Engineer Inside You?: A comprehensive guide to
career decisions in Engineering. SL
Bar TA157 .B294
2002
7.
Reference Guide to Famous Engineering
Landmarks of the World... - SL REF TA15 B42 1998
8.
Quick
Reference - from this site, click on "Directories" and scroll down to some
general online biographical sources and encyclopedias,
.
9.
Consult
the
Subject Guide
for Biographical Information or the Subject
Guides for different specialty areas of Engineering
(6)
FINDING ARTICLES
1.
Using
Article Databases (A&I) with UC eLinks to library
holdings & fulltext content
·
Compendex -
(Engineering Index)
·
Web of Science/Science Citation Index -
1945+
·
Expanded Academic
ASAP - general database
·
Business Source Premier - focuses on
business & management themes
·
Google Scholar - academic content from
Google - will match to eLinks
2.
Review past issues of Prism, a monthly journal of the American
Society for Engineering Education - T 61 A83 (current issues in the Science
Library Current Periodical Reading Area and earlier bound issues in the
DRUM. Also selectively covered in
Education Index for online access - Also recommend reviewing other journals such
as New Scientist, Discovery, Science
News, Science
3.
Professional Societies by specialties - for
example - look up websites, http://www.ieee.org
·
IEEE - Electrical
Engineering
·
ACM - Computer
Engineering
·
AIAA - Aeronautical or Aerospace
Engineering
·
SAE - Automotive
Engineering
·
ASCE - Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Seismic, Construction
·
ASME - Mechanical
Engineering
·
Or consult the AssociationsUnlimited Database
WHAT IS A
BIOGRAPHY?
Definition: according to Merriam
Webster Online Collegiate Dictionary, "the account of the life of
something;" "a usually written history of a person's
life."
TRIVIA ABOUT ENGINEERS - recommend, "Rereading the Smiles" in ASEE's publication, Prism at http://www.prism-magazine.org/may04/refractions.cfm
ENGINEERING SPECIALTIES - by subject, department - partial list
includes:
Aerospace, agricultural, bioengineering, biomedical, ceramic, chemical,
civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, manufacturing,
mechanical, metallurgy, materials, naval, nuclear, ocean, transportation,
etc
SEARCHING THE INTERNET - Different Sources
1.
Biographical Dictionary - http://www.s9.com/biography/search.html
2.
Biography.com - http://www.biography.com/
3.
AccessScience - online edition of McGraw Hill
Encyclopedia of Science & Technology
4.
Famous
Engineers - http://www.engineeringk12.org/students/fun_section/famous_engineers.htm
5.
Engineering Your Future: Famous Engineers -
http://www.engineeringk12.org/precollege/famous.cfm
6.
Famous
Engineers - http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Stu/hnaseer/interest.htm
7.
Wiki Famous Engineers - http://ertw.com/engineering/FamousEngineers.html
8.
Eric
Weisstein's World of Biography for Engineers - http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/topics/Engineers.html
9.
Bright Sparks: A register of people involved in the
development of science, technology, engineering and medicine in
10.
Chemical
achievers : the human face of the chemical sciences -
http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach
11. Distinguished Women of Past and Present:
Invention - http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/subject/invention.html
12. Civil Engineers - Famous Engineers - http://www.icivilengineer.com/Famous_Engineers/
13. Super Scientists: A Gallery of Energy
Pioneers - http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/scientists/
14. Google -
or another major search engine - search by engineer (specialty if known)
biography
15. Google
Image Search - under Famous Engineers one can find lots of content &
images
EVALUATING
INFORMATION
Audience
Authority
Purpose
Objectivity
Currency
Coverage
Accuracy
Relevancy
CITING YOUR SOURCES - key is consistency for help consult one of
the sources at http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/reference/citation.html
1.
Traditional Print Sources - for BOOKS -
author/editor, title, location/city
of publisher: Publisher, date, pages; - for ARTICLES, author, "title," Source, volume #, issue #, date:
pages
2.
Online
Content - source, URL, date consulted/searched
NEED ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION?
·
Use Ask-a-Librarian services
for Chat, eMail Reference, reminders to go to the
Reference Desks, schedule Research Consultations or contact Engineering Librarian