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Research
Guides |
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COURSE:
ECE 195 – Electrical & Computer Engineering Projects III |
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Contacts
Library
Web Site
General Research Information
Online
Catalog
Book Collection (print and electronic)
Article Databases |
Company &
Product Information
Patent
Searching
Google Tips
Other Libraries
Interlibrary
Loan / Referrals
Alumni Library Privileges
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Contacts
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Julie Castelluzzo, Electronic Services Librarian
Subject
specialist in electrical engineering and computer science.
email: juliec (at cooper.edu) |
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Library
Web Site |
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http://www.cooper.edu/facilities/library/library.html
(Oct. 13, 2008)
This Research Guide: http://www.cooper.edu/facilities/library/research_frameset.html
(Oct. 8, 2008) |
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Alumni
Library Privileges |
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Alumni
have access to the Cooper Union Library on site, but may no
longer borrow materials or use databases from off campus. Use your
alumni card to gain access to the Cooper Union Library.
As alumni, you
will no longer have access to the Consortium libraries (i.e., NYU, The New School, Cardozo School of Law). Our reciprical agreements with these institutions apply only to current students and faculty. It is possible to purchase an annual membership to Bobst Library for in-house use of materials (no borrowing privileges).
If you plan to remain in New York City, become familiar with the New
York Public Libraries, particularly the Science,
Industry & Business Library. (See section on Other
Libraries.)
We will continue to help you with referrals
to other libraries if needed. |
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General Research Information |
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See our General Research Information page for guides such as these:
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How to Find an Article (or Book) from a Citation
because you don't always get an online link to the full text!
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Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals
Instructors may require that a certain percentage of your sources come from 'peer-reviewed' or scholarly sources.
Citing sources and citation styles (more than one Web site)
Look at the examples for different types of sources, such as a Web site. Each source type has specific elements or fields that should be included in the citation..
Evaluating Web sites and other information sources (more than one Web site)
Is the source authoritative? How recent is the information? What is the point of view or bias of the author?
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Searching
for Books (and more) – the Online Catalog |
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The online catalog (aka BobCat) for our Library Consortium contains records for books, journals, newspapers, and other materials owned or selected by the Consortium libraries. Our Consortium includes the Cooper Union Library, most NYU libraries, and The New School libraries.
Records for electronic books and journals are included in the online catalog. You may see multiple formats for the same title.
We now have a site for the online catalog that is customized for Cooper Union:
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http://www.bobcat.nyu.edu/cooper (Oct. 8, 2008) |
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Tips: |
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- Always follow the "GetIt" link to see detailed holdings information, including circulation status (whether an item is checked out or not, when it is due back, etc. It may say "Available in your library (GetIt)" or "Available in the consortium (GetIt)" or "Online access (GetIt)."
- If an item is checked out, you can request that it be returned specifically for your use. Use the Request link in the left-most column of the item record.
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Generally, you will not find specific articles from journals or conferences in the catalog. For that, use one of the article databases listed later in this document. In those databases, some full text articles are included, but often your search results will contain citations and abstracts without full text. For instructions on how to find an article from a citation, see the research guide How to Find an Article (or Book) from a Citation.
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The default search is a keyword search for your query words wherever they may appear in the record. If you get too many results, try limiting the search to a specific field, such as title or subject. You can also search for an exact phrase instead of keywords The exact phrase search is equivalent to putting quotes around your query words.
- You can refine your results using the categories to the right on the initial results screen. For example, refine by subject, call number group, or resource type.
- To sort a result list so that the most recent publications are at the top, change the drop-down sort at the top of the results list from relevance to date-newest.
- Searches ignore punctuation and are not case sensitive.
- Some, but not all, electronic books and journals owned by the libraries have records in the catalog. See also the CU Library Web site and the Consortium libraries' sites for links to many other electronic resources.
- The catalog contains records for some libraries not in the Consortium (e.g., NY School of Interior Design and NY Historical Society). You do not have borrowing privileges at those libraries.
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Book
Collection (print and electronic) |
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- Cooper Union Master's Theses
The Library retains one copy of each Master's thesis produced by a student at Cooper Union.
Beginning with those published in 2004, there are brief records in the online catalog. To browse through them, select the tab for Cooper Union results only and search for the word 'theses' in the subject field. You can also search by author or title. For these prior to 2004, we have a card catalog that is sorted by author name.
The Master's theses are part of the Library's Cooper Archives collection and kept in a closed area. Bring the call number to the Circulation Desk and one of the Library staff will retrieve it for you to use in the Library. (They may not be taken out of the Library.)
- Knovel: Engineering & Scientific Online References
Offers the full
text of over 1600 titles in Engineering and Chemistry.
Most titles have records in the online catalog.
NOTE: Try to remember to use the Log Out link when
done with the Knovel site. Our license does not allow unlimited simultaneous
users.
- Links to electronic books and resources in the online catalog:
Some of these are free and publicly available, and some are purchased by one or more of the libraries in our Consortium.
On the first results screen, the GetIt link for an Internet resource will be either "Online access (GetIt)" or "Check library holdings (GetIt)." Follow that link. If this does not take you directly into the resource, look at the "Holdings List" tab or the "Check availability and location" tab on the next screen. You may see more than one type of electronic location:
Unrestricted: The resource is free and publicly available. The link should work from any computer.
NYU Restricted: You must be at a computer within the NYU network to follow the link (e.g. at Bobst Library)
Cooper Union Restricted: You must be at a computer within the Cooper Union network to follow the link.
Many records for books contain an unrestricted link to the Table of Contents at loc.gov (Library of Congress). These are not links to electronic books, just to the tables of contents. In those cases, check the Location, Call Number, and Status to locate a copy of the physical book.
- Browse books
in these sections (Library
of Congress classification system):
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Other
Libraries (See our Web site for links to other
library catalogs.)
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Consortium
Libraries
Cooper Union students may borrow books at most consortium libraries and use other materials while there. Your Cooper Union ID gets you in to the
Consortium libraries and serves as your library card. Be sure
you have a current validation sticker and register with our
library before going there. If you already registered with the Library but have not used your account recently, check with someone at our Circulation Desk to be sure your record is up to date.
Bobst Library
– NYU's main library.
70 Washington Square South
http://library.nyu.edu/
(Oct. 8, 2008)
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences Library
-- NYU library for mathematics and computer science.
251 Mercer St. (Warren Weaver Hall, at 4th St), 12th floor
http://cims.nyu.edu/library/ (Oct. 8, 2008)
New York Public Library: The Research Libraries
Science, Industry & Business Library (SIBL)-- actually a combination
of research library and lending library.
Open to the public.
188 Madison Avenue, at 34th St.
http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/index.html (Oct. 8, 2008)
Most of the collections at SIBL are for research on site only (non-circulating).
The Library is open to the public, but you need an Access Card to
use most materials, which are in closed stacks. You submit a call
slip to an information desk and wait for someone to retrieve the item.
For information about the Access Card, see
http://www.nypl.org/research/general/access.html
(Oct. 8,
2008)
Some items at SIBL may be borrowed, so it would be a
good idea to get an
NYPL Borrower's Card as well.
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New York Academy of Medicine Library–
1216 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd St.
http://www.nyam.org/library/ (Oct. 8,
2008)
The
second largest medical collection open to the public in the United
States. (The largest is the U.S. Government's National Library of
Medicine.)
Before you go, review their policies regarding Security and Stack Retrieval.
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Article Databases -- articles from Journals and Conferences
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Why Bother tracking down articles? |
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Why bother to find articles that are not immediately available online in full text? The answer is simple: If you limit yourself to free, publicly available online full text sources, you will miss most of the published material that exists on your topic. Most full text sources are not publicly available online for free. Many are available online for a fee, and libraries are paying those fees, but you must go through a campus network as an authorized user in order to reach them. Most publishers and authors do not give away their copyrighted material.
Taking the extra time to find the authoritative sources will give you a competitive edge over others who decide not to bother. Instructors can easily tell the difference between a 'quick and dirty' search and a more thorough one. |
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Searching for Articles |
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Use an article database to start searching. (See below for descriptions of specific databases.) The search results will show records with an article title, the name of the source (e.g., journal, magazine, conference proceeding) it appeared in, and the specific date and page numbers. Be sure to keep track of all that information, not just the authors and titles of the articles you want. Some of the databases include the full text of the article as well, but often getting the full text will require another search. Some of the databases also have a feature to search only peer-reviewed journals. |
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Peer-reviewed articles |
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Within the broader category of periodicals, those called 'journals' are usually more scholarly than those called 'magazines.' However, calling something a journal does not make it scholary. Some publications have a much more rigorous and formal process to decide what gets published and what does not, and peer-review is the gold standard. Any article submitted to a peer-reviewed publication is read by a group of professionals in the field the article pertains to. That group of professional peers either rejects it or approves it for publication.
Some material presented at conferences is later submitted for publication in a journal. If the conference proceedings are published in book form, often not all of the material presented will be published. Bottom line: it is easier to get your material presented at a conference than to have it published afterwards. |
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Getting the Article |
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See our General Research Information page for the guide on How to Find an Article (or Book) from a Citation.
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The CU Library |
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Our library subscribes to many different article databases. Those listed below should be particularly useful for this course. See our Web site under Article Indexes · Internet Resources for more electronic offerings.
Tip: Because our library is highly specialized, many sources you'll want will be at other libraries. However, we have many databases to use for your initial searching and our librarians will spend considerable time with you when you need help. We communicate with your instructors, and find out as much as we can about your needs for course assignments.
Tip: In some databases, the result lists may indicate that our library owns the item (or does not). This is not always accurate, for a variety of reasons. There are delays in uploading our data; it only indicates that we own a journal, not necessarily the specific issue you need; and to further complicate things, it may not list Cooper Union at all even though we do have the issue. Check the online catalog for library holdings to be sure which libraries have what.
Remote access to CU Library databases: All Web-based databases from our Library are available campuswide at Cooper Union. Off campus access is available via the Library Web site – follow the link to- Off Campus Database Access. Be sure that your library registration and contact information are up to date and that there are no blocks on your account. (The most common reason for a block is having $5 or more in fines.) |
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Professional Engineering Societies (ASCE, ASME, AIChE, IEEE)
The Cooper Union Library subscribes to most journals published by the major Engineering societies. Articles from these journals are indexed in Applied Science & Technology Abstracts and Compendex (see below), but you can also access the electronic journals directly from the Library Web site. See the page for Article Indexes -- Engineering & Science -- e-journals / e-texts.
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IEEE
Xplore
Full-text articles from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE – U.S.). PDF full text is included for IEEE
journals (e.g. IEEE transactions on audio, speech, and language processing, IEEE
transactions on consumer electronics, IEEE power & energy magazine, IEEE transactions on multimedia ). For conference proceedings, standards, and IEE publications,
citations to the articles will appear in search results, but no full
text links.
Starting date: 1988, with select content from 1913-1987.
NOTES:
Does not include Proceedings of the IEEE or Spectrum Magazine.
Try to remember to use the Log Out link when done with the IEEE Xplore
site. Our license does not allow unlimited simultaneous users.
A CD-ROM version containing full text for all 1988-1999 documents (including IEE and conferences) is available in the Library: the IEL. The workstation is located at the back of the main reading room.
This is one of the most expensive subscriptions maintained by the Library ( > $30,000 per year).
Compendex
on Engineering Village
Electronic version of Engineering Index. Abstracts and citations of journal articles,
conference proceedings, etc. Updated weekly, begins with 1969.
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Applied
Science & Technology Abstracts
Includes some full text. Covers scientific and technical publications,
including trade and industrial publications, and journals of professional
and technical societies. Updated quarterly, begins with 1983.
- PubMed / MEDLINE
Produced by the National Library of Medicine, PubMed / MEDLINE covers the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. Contains citations and abstracts from current biomedical journals. Starting date: 1949.
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EBSCOhost
Masterfile Select
Full text from over 700 periodicals; indexing
and abstracts for over 2,000 periodicals covering nearly all subjects.
Starting dates and update frequencies vary.
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Company
and Product Information
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Business
& Company Resource Center
Available from the
Library Web site, under Article Indexes · Internet
Resources – General Interest – Basic Reference
Sources.
Includes company profiles, industry ranking,
products and brands, stock prices, investment reports, industry
statistics, corporate chronologies and histories, consumer
marketing data, emerging technology reports, industry newsletters
and business journals, press releases, and more.
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ThomasNet
Information on companies and their products, with contact information and direct links to the manufacturers' Web sites. http://www.thomasnet.com
(Oct. 8,
2008)
- Global Market Information Database (at NYU only)
Strategic analysis and market statistics for dozens of global industries. Reports are available on the following subjects: Detailed Market Size Data; Country Marketing Parameters; Marketing Forecast Data; Brand and Company Information; Business Information Sources.
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Google Tips
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- Advanced Searching in Google
On the main Google search screen, to the right of the search box is an Advanced Search link. Use the Advanced Search to limit by date, domain, format, usage rights, and more.
- Google Scholar (BETA)
Searches scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports. Includes some full text, but most results will contain only citations and abstracts. There is no list of included publishers, titles, or dates of coverage.
- Google Book Search (BETA)
Note: Due to pending lawsuits charging copyright infringement, Google has not fully implemented its plans for this project.
Google has scanned the full text of entire books and made that text searchable. The book content comes from two sources: publishers and libraries.
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