Materials science

Hurt, C.D. Informational Sources in Science and Technology, 3rd ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. p. 211

Materials science is a fascinating area. It deals with extant materials and materials no one has thought of yet. As such, it relies on some esoteric techniques and the literatures of a variety of different areas. Because materials science has a long history, the literature that produces it is reasonably well controlled. This is especially true relative to the rest of engineering and science.

Industrial engineering

Hurt, C.D. Informational Sources in Science and Technology, 3rd ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. p. 203

Industrial engineering is broad to the extreme. There is overlap in this section with chemical engineering, civil engineering, and virtually every other engineering area. It will not be a surprise to discover that the literature is not controlled very well.

The focus of industrial engineering is production. This focus drives this section to such broad limits. In seeking information in this area, be sure that all aspects of the requests are examined, not just the production aspect.

Electrical Engineering

Hurt, C.D. Informational Sources in Science and Technology, 3rd ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. p. 193.

Electrical engineering is immense in scope. Everything from microelectronics to the heaviest high-tension transmission lines lies within the discipline. The electrical engineer can be classified as anything from a lab-coated researcher to a field-oriented technician. 

Electrical engineering is a field with a great deal of research movement and a long history of data gathering, both of which are important components in the professional duties of the engineer. The information must be both specific and current. 

The literature of electrical engineering is well controlled. There are excellent abstracts and indexes available. The one area that is not well covered is gray literature. This is not a problem specific to electrical engineering, however.

Engineering/Technology

Malinowsky, H. R. Reference Sources in Science, Engineering, Medicine and Agriculture. Phoenix, Ariz. ; Oryx Press, 1994. pp. 118-119.

Engineering is the application of scientific or physical knowledge to the development of a product. Technology refers to the tools that are used to develop these products. Engineering is an old profession dating to the times before Christ, but it has become a highly technical field relying on “cutting edge technology.” The results of engineering surround our existence, but to achieve these results engineers consume an enormous amount of research and development time. Today’s engineering researchers have to have a strong background in the sciences. 

Specialization is the basis of all engineering. These specialized subfields include:

• Agricultural Engineering—an expanding field that is concerned with developing better ways to produce food and fibers. It includes machinery, plant engineering, genetic engineering, and soil engineering and works closely with areas of science such as chemistry, medicine, nutrition, botany, zoology, and environmental science.
• Chemical Engineering—a discipline that studies how basic raw materials, such as ores, salts, sulfur, limestone, coal, natural gas, petroleum, air, and water are converted into a variety of products through various chemical processes. These products include aluminium, magnesium, and titanium metals; fuels; solvents; synthetic fertilizers; resins; plastics; antibiotics; paper; and petrochemicals.
• Civil Engineering—a field that is basically concerned with the planning, design, construction, and management of any work project or facility, including buildings, structures, transportation facilities, water resource projects, dams, bridges, power generation plants, roads, harbors, river management, canals, wastewater facilities, sanitation facilities, soil mechanics, and foundations. Specialized areas within civil engineering include building engineering, structural engineering, highway engineering, transportation engineering, bridge engineering, tunnel engineering, coastal engineering, harbor and river engineering, dam engineering, hydraulics engineering, sanitary engineering, engineering geology, and soils engineering.
• Electrical Engineering—an area that is concerned with the development of electrical power through any number of processes, including generators, wind, solar, water, and nuclear means. It is closely related to electronics, which is the control and use of electricity.
• Engineering Design—an area that covers the initial creation of systems, devices, and processes. It is actually a part of all areas of engineering, with each engineer practicing engineering design.
• Environmental Engineering—a fast expanding field concerned with all aspects of the environment and how to protect it. It includes such concerns as pollution, pesticide control, cleaner air, waste, ecology, and nuclear safety. These engineers work closely with engineers in all areas to ensure the best environmental conditions possible.
• Industrial Engineering—the branch of engineering that uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry to design, improve, and install integrated systems that involve people, materials, equipment, and energy. In other words, it is the branch of engineering that seeks to improve efficiency. It is concerned with machines, robotics, materials, energy, and management.
• Mechanical Engineering—this field of engineering is the application of physics in the development of any useful product. There is a little bit of mechanical engineering in all fields of engineering, including engineering graphics, robotics, engineering instruments, mechanics, strains and stresses, strength of materials, and testing.
• Mining Engineering—the area that is concerned with all aspects of mining for minerals and hard fuels, such as coals. Liquid fuels are part of Petroleum Engineering.
• Nuclear Engineering—the broad area of engineering that is concerned with all aspects of producing energy through the use of nuclear power.
• Petroleum Engineering—the study of producing oil and gas from the well to the consumer. 

This chapter has taken all of these disciplines and grouped them into the following subcategories:

• General Engineering/Technology
• Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Building, and Construction
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Industry and Manufacturing
• Mechanical Engineering
• Transportation 

The major indexing service for engineering research is the Engineering Index. The engineering field is the major developer of handbooks. The first handbooks were intended to be a one-volume reference work that could be carried around in an engineer’s pocket. Today, however, many of these handbooks are larger and more comprehensive.

Engineering readings and resources

Readings 
Engineering. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/engineering/

*Hurt, C.D. Information Sources in Science and Technology, 3rd ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. pp. 171-12. 

*Malinowsky, H.R. Reference Sources in Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Agriculture. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1994. pp. 118-119. 

Online resources and guides BUBL LINK: Engineering Links https://web.archive.org/web/20050221045537/http://bubl.ac.uk/LINK/e/engineeringlinks.htm 

Canada’s SchoolNet Learning Resources: Engineering https://web.archive.org/web/20041211103658/http://www.schoolnet.ca/home/e/resources/browse_results.asp?SECTION=0&SUBJECT=38&LangID=1&SEARCH=index.asp 

Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame 
http://cstmuseum.techno-science.ca/en/canadian-science-and-engineering-hall-of-fame.php 

Cornell Theory Center Math and Science Gateway: Engineering https://web.archive.org/web/20051108191829/http://www.tc.cornell.edu/CTC-Main/Services/Education/Gateways/Math_and_Science/engineering.htm

EEVL: The Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics & Computing  https://web.archive.org/web/20040214024519/http://www.eevl.ac.uk/engineering/index.htm

Engineering Resources by Subject
http://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php?gid=1064

Engineering Societies in Canada https://web.archive.org/web/20041205130929/http://www.engr.usask.ca/societies/ 
A list of some of the societies related to engineering in Canada. 

Professional Societies of Engineers and Engineering Technologists in Canada http://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/content.php?pid=109784&sid=827431
This list also includes some advocacy, trade and non-scholarly organizations. 

Engineering K12 Center https://web.archive.org/web/20040401082230/http://www.asee.org/precollege/ 
From the American Society for Engineering Education. Whether you are creative and imaginative or you excel in math and science, the field of engineering may be for you. Check this site to learn more about engineering, famous engineers, engineering colleges and more. You can take a self-assessment test or just get some help with homework. 

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century http://www.greatachievements.org/ 
List of the top 20 achievements. The goal of the Greatest Achievements project is to celebrate a remarkable century of technological achievement. Initiated by the National Academy of Engineering, this project is a collaboration with the American Association of Engineering Societies, National Engineers Week, and 27 other professional engineering societies. 

Internet Public Library: Engineering 
http://www.ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=13&cid=1&tid=7132&parent=7115 

Selected Internet Resources – Engineering 
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/selected-internet/engineering.html 
Compiled by Science Reference Services, Library of Congress. 

Technical Dictionary 
http://tpub.com/dictionary/index.htm 
A searchable dictionary of technical terms and acronyms from Integrated Publishing.

Vision Engineer
http://www.visionengineer.com/ 
Vision Engineer, a UK company responsible for site. Aimed at helping students who wish to discover more about the profession. Targeted primarily at university and sixth form students, Vision Engineer contains a diverse database of engineering related articles. Topics covered by the website range from mechanical systems to environmental issues.

Indexes and abstracts
Applied Science and Technology Index 
From H. W. Wilson. Provides access to journal citations in areas such as aeronautics, atmospheric sciences, computer science, electronics, energy resources, engineering, food industry, geology, textile industry, and transportation. Indexes over 300 English language journals. Also available in fulltext and abstract versions. Suitable for undergraduates.

Ei Compendex 
The machine-readable version of Engineering Index. The most comprehensive interdisciplinary database of engineering literature. Provides bibliographic citations and abstracts to engineering and technical literature from over 2,600 journals, conference proceedings, conference papers, technical reports and monographs published worldwide. 

Information Bridge 
http://www.osti.gov/scitech/ 
The Information Bridge provides an open source to full-text and bibliographic records of Department of Energy (DOE) research and development reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental science, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics. The Information Bridge consists of full-text documents produced and made available by the Department of Energy National Laboratories and grantees from 1995 forward. 

NTIS
http://www.ntis.gov/products/ntisdb.aspx 
NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is a multidisciplinary bibliographic database. The sources are publications, especially unrestricted reports on research, development, and engineering projects, sponsored by U.S. and non-U.S. governments. Citations with abstracts are in English. NTIS is the major database for technical report literature. 

NTIS Product Search 
http://www.ntis.gov/search/ 
This abbreviated version of the NTIS database can be searched for free by title or topic. Includes more than 600,000 NTIS products and publications issued since 1990.

Engineering

Engineering: definition 

1a. The application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems. b. The profession of or the work performed by an engineer. 

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000. 

The application of scientific or physical knowledge to the development of a product. 

Malinowsky, H. R. Reference Sources in Science, Engineering, Medicine and Agriculture. Phoenix, Ariz. : Oryx Press, 1994. pp. 118. 

What is engineering? 

Engineering is the use of the principles of math and science, plus experience, common sense and judgement to develop practical solutions to everyday problems. Engineers strive to meet the challenges of society by applying the forces and materials of nature to provide quicker, better and less expensive solutions. 

(University of Manitoba Faculty of Engineering) 

Four traditional areas 

• Chemical 
• Civil 
• Electrical
• Mechanical 

Chemical engineering 
Chemical engineering involves the processing and treating of liquids and gases. For example, some chemical engineers are studying ways to desalinate seawater—stripping it of salt to make the water safe to drink. Many chemical engineers work with petroleum and plastics, although both of these are the subject of independent disciplines. The term “environmental engineering” also applies to certain areas of chemical engineering, such as pollution control. 

Civil engineering 
Civil engineers are involved with infrastructure and environmental projects. They plan, design, supervise construction, manage, and maintain facilities using computer-based analysis and design. Many of their projects are familiar to most people: bridges, dams, highways, water and wastewater treatment plants, airports, flood control systems, etc. Civil engineers increasingly use new technologies such as Geographical Information/Positioning Systems, advanced materials, remote sensing and monitoring in their projects. 

Electrical engineering 
Electrical engineers deal with everything related to electrical devices and systems, and the use of electricity. They work in many diverse areas, including power systems, computers, and communications. Electrical engineers work in the design and manufacture of electronics and electrical devices for a wide spectrum of applications. Many are also involved in consulting, the planning and operation of power systems and telecommunication networks, satellite communications, and biomedical engineering. 

Mechanical engineering 
Mechanical engineers use the principles of mechanics and energy to design machines and processes. Many mechanical engineers work in energy and environmental specialities such as building systems, engine design, oil refining, mining, and air quality control, and pollution control processes. Others are involved in the automotive, manufacturing, materials science and biomechanics areas. Mechanical engineers can specialize in the aerospace area, and work in the design and development of technology for aviation and space exploration. 

Selected additional fields 

• Aerospace Engineering 
• Agricultural Engineering
• Architectural Engineering
• Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering
• Ceramic Engineering
• Chemical Engineering 
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Fire Protection Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Metallurgy and Minerals Engineering
• Mineral and Mining Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Ocean Engineering
• Transportation 

Engineering Engineers versus scientists 

Engineers	Scientists
Use and exploit nature	Discover and explore nature
Seek to develop and make things	Searching for theories and principles
Solve problem for practical operating results	Seek a result for its own ends
Invent things and solve problems	Create new unities of thoughts

Engineering societies 

• 5 major Founder Societies in U.S. 
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 
• American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 
• Many additional societies including 
• American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) 
• American Society of Heating Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 

Information seeking habits 

• Engineering students seek information from books, lectures, internet before consulting their “colleagues” i.e. other students (Majid & Tan, 2002) 
• Professional engineers rely primarily on face-to-face communication 
• Most frequently mentioned communication technique (78%) informal discussion with project team members in cubicles, open spaces, over lunch in cafeteria (Hirsh, 2000)
• 66% of engineer’s time spent on communications
• 31% reading/listening 
• 35% writing/presenting 
• (Pinelli, T. E. Knowledge Diffusion in the U.S. Aerospace Industry, 1997)
• Engineers sometimes use libraries 
• Relatively infrequently for information for recent projects 
• Between 28 and 64 times/year 
• Librarians used frequently (Hertzum & Pejtersen, 2000)
• Engineers need information to solve an immediate problem or make a decision (Pinelli, 2001) 
• Engineers are often required to keep their findings within their organization for business and/or security reasons
• Often reluctant or prohibited from seeking or sharing sensitive information with peers external to own organization 

Engineering information 

• Engineers more likely to use handbooks, standards, specifications and technical reports
• Questions usually of short answer type with answer found in handbooks
• Engineers read fewer journal articles per year on average than scientists, but spend more time reading each article they deem relevant (Tenopir and King, 2003) 
• Unlike scientists the goal of the engineer is to produce or design a product, process or system; not to publish and make original contributions to the literature. Engineers unlike scientists, work within time constraints; they are not interested in theory, source data, and guides to the literature nearly as much as they are in reliable answers to specific questions. (H.R. Brinberg. The Contributions of Information to Economic Growth and Development. 1980) 

Technical reports 

• Prominent in field of engineering
• Often required to obtain grant money 
• Common publication format for practicing engineers or those in the for profit sector
• NTIS (National Technical Information Services) from U.S. Department of Commerce 
• A searchable database of technical reports produced as a result of U.S. government contracts as well as complementary materials from international sources http://www.ntis.gov/Index.aspx
• SciTech Connect http://www.osti.gov/scitech/

Astronomy

Hurt, C.D. Informational sources in science and technology, 3rd ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. pp. 91-92. 

Astronomy 

Fascination with the sky and its elements was a characteristic of prehistoric peoples. This fascination continues in the form of the science called astronomy. Determining our place in a celestial system and the place of that system in the universe is a goal of those who practice astronomy. 

Astronomy has undergone significant transformations. Once the province of optical methodologies, astronomy is now employing techniques ranging from radio waves to high-level mathematics. Physics and mathematics are playing a much larger role in astronomy. The ability of an astronomer to see with the eye is less important now than at any time in astronomy’s history. Proof comes from formulas and algorithms, and less from observation. This is not to say observation in astronomy is dead. The methodologies to push the frontiers of astronomy are more numerous than ever before but observation will continue to be a major part of astronomy. 

The new techniques in astronomy carry with them a literature that needs to be merged with astronomy’s traditional literature. The use of physics, mathematics, computer science, and other disciplines means that sections of literature from these disciplines will find their way into the literature of astronomy. The difficulty is in determining when and how this literature will be used. Bibliographic control of the traditional astronomy literature was reasonable. As astronomy has broadened its techniques for obtaining data and information, control of the literature has become less reliable. 

Astronomy is the recipient of a great deal of information from space probes and new observations. These new data sets are being incorporated into the literature as quickly as possible. The new knowledge they generate will change and replace current thought in astronomy. Astronomers and those in the information professions should be wary of the considerable amount of literature in astronomy. This may be especially true for the secondary literature such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. 

As is in the case with most of the literature of science and technology, the monographic literature of astronomy is not a tool of the researcher, but the archival description of the field. Much of the new data and theoretical advances are published in journal literature and in research notes within the journal literature. Conferences are especially important in some fields of astronomy because of the currentness of information to be obtained there and the informal information flow. There is a high reliance on star catalogs and data sources in printed form, which are indispensable to working astronomers at all levels. 

The future for astronomy and its literature is rich and full. Significant data will be generated from sources such as the Hubble Telescope and missions to other planets. Data from these sources will move the discipline of astronomy in new and unforeseen ways. As long as government funding continues to be used for space exploration, astronomy will be able to mine a continuing and rich influx of data. These data will require the use of tools already in astronomy, in other disciplines, or yet to be developed. This will make bibliographic control of astronomy even more difficult.