Engineering (General)

This guide is meant for self service. If at any time during the research process, should you feel the need for research support, then email us. We will arrange a convenient time to get together on Zoom, and other platforms.

Search

The research process

  1. Get background information from handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries
  1. Once your topic is narrowly defined, select databases to find specific articles that have been published in journals
  1. Look for films and images as non-literary forms of representation 
  1. Find books on your topic to gain greater depth and understanding
  1. Write down or store all the references you have consulted to include them in the bibliography of your research paper

Search tips

  1. Begin by defining exactly what you are searching for
  1. Be specific when determining keywords: synonyms/antonyms and terms to search
  1. Use the advanced interface of electronic databases and Internet search engines to help narrow your search
  • Limit results in electronic databases to full-text or peer reviewed journals only
  1. Use Boolean Operators to connect search terms by understanding how search engines operate
  1. Take notes during your research to keep track of where you have been, keywords searched, what worked and what didn't, etc.

Sources​ of information

Publication Cycle: to find primary and secondary sources of information, use tertiary sources of information: dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks. When a researcher publishes material, they follow the cycle clockwise. To find primary and secondary sources, follow the cycle anti clockwise.

Library search

OMNI: the Carleton University Library search interface. Please see Help With Using Omni

Subject headings

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) use controlled vocabulary to access and express the subject content of documents. Engineering (General) has largely been divided into the following subjects or research areas. This is a searchable index. Click on a link below to discover the Library's holdings in this area:

  • Add keywords
  • Use the filters on the left of the resulting screen
  • Typical filters are Available Online and Peer Reviewed Journals
  1. Analysis
  2. Biology
  3. Chemistry
  4. Chemistry -- Food science -- General
  5. Computer science
  6. Condensed matter physics
  7. Electrical engineering -- Electronics -- Nuclear engineering
  8. Engineering
  9. Engineering -- General
  10. Engineering -- Multidisciplinary
  11. Engineering -- Civil engineering
  12. Geographic information systems/Global Positioning System
  13. Materials
  14. Materials science -- Multidisciplinary
  15. Mathematical models
  16. Mathematics
  17. Mathematics -- Interdisciplinary applications
  18. Mechanical engineering
  19. Microscopy
  20. Multidisciplinary sciences
  21. Nanotechnology
  22. Physics
  23. Physics -- Applied
  24. Physics -- General
  25. Technology
  26. Video/film

Databases & books

  1. IEEE Xplore Digital Library: Provides access to the technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics.
  2. MathScinet: Consists of reviews and citations to the literature in mathematics and related areas. PEER REVIEWED
  3. SAGE Journals Online: Provides online access to over 1000 journals across a broad range of disciplines.
  4. Scopus: A multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of research literature and web sources.
  5. SpringerLink: A large collection of scientific eBooks and journals published by Springer on a broad range of subjects.
  6. Web of Science Core Collection: A multidisciplinary index of citations to articles in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
  7. Wiley Online Journals: Multidisciplinary Wiley journals (current issues and backfiles). 

PrePrints

  1. arXiv: arXiv is a free distribution service and an open-access archive for 1,769,134 scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. Materials on this site are not peer-reviewed by arXiv.
  2. Earth ArXiv: EarthArXiv.org is moving from the OSF Preprints platform to the Janeway preprint platform at the California Digital Library (CDL). In preparation for this move, EarthArXiv will stop accepting submissions on Friday August 21, 2020. EarthArXiv.org will redirect to the new service when it becomes public on October 1, 2020.
  3. TechRxiv: TechRxiv (pronounced "tech archive") is an open, moderated preprint server for unpublished research in electrical engineering, computer science, and related technology. By using TechRxiv, authors can quickly disseminate their work to a wide audience and gain community feedback on a draft version of their research. A preprint is a draft version of an article; final versions of published articles should not be submitted to TechRxiv.

Books

  1. SAGE Knowledge Encyclopedias: Carleton subscribes to the 2011 Encyclopedia Collection which provides perpetual access to 27 encyclopedias in the social sciences published between 2005-2011, as well as some other encyclopedias which have been ordered individually. Browse by Content Type: "Encyclopedias" and/or "Handbooks".
  2. SAGE Research Methods: With information on the full range of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods for the social and behavioral sciences, as well as methods commonly used in the hard sciences, the book, reference, and journal content in SAGE Research Methods helps researchers of all levels conduct their research.
  • Cases: Cases are peer-reviewed and come with pedagogical tools including learning objectives and discussions questions
  • Datasets: Datasets is a collection of teaching datasets and instructional guides that give students a chance to learn data analysis by practicing themselves
  • Video: Video contains more than 125 hours of video, including tutorials, case study videos, expert interviews, and more, covering the entire research methods and statistics curriculum

Supplementary

  1. The SAGE handbook of applied social research methods Bickman, Leonard, 1941- editor.; Rog, Debra J., editor.; Best, Samuel J., contributor. 2009 [electronic resource]
  2. How to Read a Book, v5.0 School of Information University of Michigan
  3. How to Read a Paragraph: The Art of Close Reading
  4. How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article: Tips and tricks to make reading and understanding social science journal articles easier
  5. How to Read for Grad School Miriam E. Sweeney
  6. Read Like A Graduate Student, Not A Mystery Fan William Doane

Minecraft (Education Edition) is free for Carleton students

Just download the installer from the link below (for Windows 10):

https://education.minecraft.net/get-started/alternative-download/

After install, launch the game and log in using your Carleton email address (cmail) and password then you're good to go. 

Content last reviewed: February 24, 2021

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Subject Specialist
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