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Module 3: Engineering and Technical Resources

Finding Engineering & Technical Information

If your topic involves designing, modeling and analyzing, planning, designing, and more, congratulations - that's engineering! Fortunately for modern society, engineering, or the problem solving process of designing stuff and/or making it better, governs a lot of the things we do and the stuff we interact with on a daily basis. Unfortunately for you in this assignment, that means that what constitutes "engineering" is a rather fluid and broad concept, so resources that cover how to engineer something may be found in a variety of different places. So first you'll need to figure out what you actually need to know.

How did scientists or engineers investigate this thing? (Scholarly engineering literature)

If you want to know how scientists or engineers in a research environment came up with an idea and tested its feasibility (or if your instructor has a requirement for using scholarly literature), you'll want to use one of the Libraries' databases for scholarly articles. These are materials written by researchers for other researchers, and they usually describe experiments and innovations using very technical language. You can find articles like this by using databases from the Libraries' Database Finder Links to an external site.. 

Suggested resources:

How has this thing been applied in the real world? (Business literature)

Sometimes the engineering info you need isn't in an engineering database at all! Information on processes, management, or how things affect the "bottom line" is more frequently found in business resources, even if it's in the engineering field. For instance, if you were interested in a particular type of device, the scholarly engineering literature would tell you how researchers identified a need for that device and how they conducted experiments to see whether the device was feasible. But in the business literature, you would find how that device was used in industry and whether or not it made an impact on processes there. Business resources are also a good place to find info on risk management or anything related to systems engineering (since those are all processes themselves).

Suggested resource: 

I need an overview. -OR- I just need to look up a value/method. (Handbooks)

Sometimes you don't actually need a lengthy description of how someone came up with something. You just need to know what a value is under certain conditions, or what commonly accepted methods people are using to accomplish something, or maybe you just want an overview of a particular engineering concept so you can know where to start your research. If so, skip the journal articles and pick up a handbook. Handbooks are essentially like discipline-specific encyclopedias that contain basic information on a particular scientific or technical area. Some of the databases above also have handbooks, but you can also check out the resources listed below:

Suggested resources:

How is this thing actually put together? I want drawings! (Patents) Or - How is this thing supposed to be built? (Standards)

If you're trying to figure out how to construct something, and the resources you've tried thus far haven't given you as much detail on the specifics as you want (what actually plugs in where, how long is that one spring, etc.), then you may want to try searching patents and standards.

People who apply for patents have to provide very specific drawings of exactly what it is they're trying to patent, so they can be a great resource if you want the nitty gritty on how something is actually put together. Be warned, though, that patents are usually so specific that it can be hard to figure out how they call the particular device you want. If you get stuck, ask a librarian.

Standards are also a great source of information since there are rules about how things must be built for safety reasons. For example, how thick should this building support be? Or what material should I make this pipe out of for this chemical? Engineers have tested and designed over years and documented what is needed for those making things in the future.

Suggested resources:

 

Questions?

For assistance developing your research strategies, or finding resources for your topic, or any other questions, please contact the engineering specialist. And remember that engineering is very cross-disciplinary, so be sure to check out the modules for chemistry, physics, business, and more!

Sarah Over, PhD - Engineering Librarian (sover@umd.edu)