Locating Information: Strategies and Sources

1. Locating Information:
Strategies and Sources
Elizabeth Cheney
Science & Engineering Library
echeneyl@library.ucla.edu
Art of Engineering Endeavors/ Engr. 185
January 20th, 2012

2. Introduction
 Developing an efficient search strategy
Locating books
Locating journal articles
Locating patents
Locating pricing information in vendor
catalogs

3. Side note:
Economics of Information
n Databases cost an arm and a leg
n STEM journals and databases cost
fingers and toes
n Library pays now, you or your employer
will have to pay later

4. What do you get?
n Databases
n Powerful search
functionality
n Quality controls on content
n Indexing to improve
searching
n Abstracting to improve
efficiency
n Links to full-text
n Journal
n Credibility of author
n Reputation of journal
n Links to articles cited in
bibliographies
n The articles you cite
improve the credibility of
your article

5. Brainstorming with group
n Possible products
– Wild ideas
– Similar existing products you can research
and build upon, develop new applications
for?
– Terminology and vocabulary of the industry
– Corporate players in the industry
– Sense of the market for the product

6. Examples

9. Quick and dirty searching
n Internet - Google search
– Gather vocabulary / lingo
– Identify companies & key people
– Design ideas
– Materials ideas
– Explore the market / consumers
Remember ¾ of the internet is comprised of commercial or
entertainment sites

10. Other places to begin
For some products, an overview article from a newspaper,
an encyclopedia, or a trade journal may be useful
– Wikipedia
– Reference Universe (online encyclopedias)
– Business Source Complete (for trade jnls)
– Lexis-Nexis (for newspaper articles)

14. Searching the Internet
Google searches a billion webpages
The Invisible Web is 500 times bigger

15. Searching the Internet
Google
Proprietary databases; e.g.,
Travelocity; LA Times;
Weather.com; Eddie Bauer
Books, journals
and databases
that cost $$$$$
$$
Content you will only have
access to if you pay or the library
pays
Government
websites;
e.g.,Patent
office; NASA;
Bureau of the
Census

16. What does the library pay for?
Books – Most new books are electronic
right now
UCLA Library Catalog
Melvyl

17. Eng 185 Lib Guide

18. http://www.library.ucla.edu/sel

24. To request materials from other libraries
In Worldcat (and article databases), look for
In Melvyl (and databases), look for
When not in either of these databases go to
the Interlibrary Loan form
– Request an item using a UC blank form:
– Book Request Form: this form can also be used to
request videos, dissertations, scores, etc.
– Article Request Form
– Book Chapter Request Form
It takes 3-10 days, so order items early!

25. Controlled Vocabulary
Library of Congress
Subject Headings
(LCSH)
Each database has its own
controlled vocabulary.

26. What is the subject heading for…
http://authorities.loc.gov

27. Authorized Refs and Notes

29. The Library also pays for journals
Elsevier
Springer
Wiley
SIAM
ACM
ASME
Taylor and Francis
IEEE
IET
ASCE
Sage

30. Looking for journal articles
Compendex (All engineering disciplines)
Inspec (Electrical engineering, computer
science, physics, applied physics)
IEEE Xplore (mostly EE)
Web of Knowledge (Interdisciplinary)
PubMed (some bioengineering/biotechnology)
Aerospace and High Technology
Academic Search Complete (Interdisciplinary)

33. What else do you get?
 Reliable information – articles have
been reviewed by the authors’ peers
 Unbiased information – typically
academic journals aren’t trying to sell
you anything
 Detailed, subject-specific information
 Links to additional information in
bibliographies or through database tools

37. Using Databases:
Basic Search Strategy
 Start with keyword (natural language)
searches
 Find a relevant article
 Find the subject terms assigned to that
article
 Search using the controlled vocabulary
 Use the search refinement features of
each database

41. PatentsPatents - No Cost Searching Web Sites
European Patent Office
Simple searches on bibliographic data in patent documents.
You can download full text images as PDF files - page by page only - but they are free.
Patents, U.S. (Google)
About Google Patent search (U.S. Patents)
Provides simple and advanced searches of U.S. Patents; PDF files
USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) Database Good site to search for most recent US patents.
Searches front page information in US patent starting from 1790.
Searches full-text information in US patents issued starting 1976 to the Tuesday prior to today's date
(US patents are issued every Tuesday).
You can download the full text images as TIFF files - page by page only - but they are free.
How to access and view U.S. Patent Full-Page Images
Search Note: Patent images are only accessible from the full-text display of each patent. Patent images must be retrieved one
page at a time. This is necessary since patents can be as long as 5,000 pages, and the resources required to download such
"jumbo" patents are not available.
FreepatentsOnline
Millions of US patents searchable. One PDF per patent Future plans to add US applications.
DEPATISnet information
Database contains US (1790+), EP(1978+) and WO (1978+). Database also contains the following country patents:
DE-1877+, DD-1946+, AT-1920+, CH-1888+, FR-1920+, GB-1920+, JP-1976+
Patents and Applications are in one site. Link to full text of patent.
Website is available in English and German
You can download the full text images as PDF files - page by page - but they are free
SurfIP
US-1790+, WO-97+, EP-97+, CH, CA, Taiwan and Singapore Patents and JP patent abstracts.
Registration is required
You may also combine the search with Internet Search Engines such as Google or Northern Light and Business Databases like
Hoovers.
You can download full text images as PDF files - page by page only - but they are free.
International Patent Offices
Patent Information Users Group (PIUG)
US Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.scitopia.org

45. Vendor catalogs –
to price out costs of manufacturing
Aldrich Catalog Search
Allied Electronics
Ben Meadows Company
DesignInfo - Searchable Engineering Catalogs on the Net
Digi-Key Electronic Components
Edmund Scientific
Global Spec
Grainger catalog
McMaster-Carr Supply Company
Mouser Electronics
Newark Electronics, Catalog Distributor of Electronic Components
Rutland Tool & Supply Co., Inc.
Sigma Catalog Search
Building Materials by McGraw-Hill Sweets
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
tile.net/vendors

47. Eng 185 Lib Guide

48. Need help –
Ask a Librarian
echeneyl@library.ucla.edu
acolby@library.ucla.edu
SEL Reference Desk
8270 Boelter Hall
10-12, 1-5, Mon - Fri