The Owen library contains many resources for students and faculty interested in Engineering. If you have any questions not answered on the WSU Libraries website, or would like to request a book, journal, conference proceeding, etc. on subjects related to Engineering, please contact Betty Galbraith. For questions about the WSU's academic programs,  please see the College of Engineering and Architecture

Library Research Techniques

• Tips on choosing search terms for the best search results:
• Choosing Search Terms video
• Choosing Search Terms audio file
•  Using search commands to focus your search to exactly what you want:
• Help Searching: Expanding Your Search Using the OR Command Podcast
• Help Searching: Narrowing Your Search Using the AND Command Podcast
• Help Searching: Combining AND OR Commands Podcast
• Searching for Phrases audio file
•  Finding indexes that are most likely to contain articles that suit your topic:
• Search It: Databases A-Z
• Search It: Databases By Subject
• Search It: Cross Search
• Use LibGuides @ WSU Libraries  to find other search techniques.

Find a Book or Compilation:

• Find a book from here at WSU
• Find/borrow a book from WSU, nearby schools and the world using WorldCat
• Borrow a book from anywhere in the world using InterLibray Loan
• Request that we buy a book for the WSU library (don't forget your WSU contact info!).
• Come by and browse the shelves! Here are the call numbers where you can find most biology topics on the 5th floor of the Owen Science and Engineering Library.

Find an Article or Conference Presentation:

• For known items, look for the journal title in our Library Catalog to see if we own the issue that you need.
• If you need to find articles on a subject, but don't know where to begin, WSU pays for some resources to help:
  • Go to WSU Libraries' General Engineering databases. To search within any one of these, click on the name and it'll take you to that database.
  • When you find an article, watch for the button:
  • Click on this button and the computer will open a new window where you can see if we have an article electronically, check the catalog for it, or borrow it from another library.

Find an Open Access Scholarly Journal Article:

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Open Access Journals Search Engine (OAJSE)
• BioOne:  A collection of high impact journals produced by scholarly societies.

Find a Dissertation:

• An international database of dissertations.
• An up-to-date list of WSU dissertations housed in the WSU Libraries.
• Search for WSU dissertations.

Find a Standard:

• Helpful information on finding standards.
• ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library (SEDL)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• NIST Data Gateway
• NIST Standards

Find a Protocol:

• Finding protocols in the library
• Protocol Online
• National Guideline Clearinghouse

Find a Patent:

• Helpful information on patent searching.
• Search for a U.S. Patent.
• Google Patents if you need full text patent searching before 1975.
• Search for a European patent
• Finding Patents with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO)

Find a Technical Report:

• Think U.S. Government documents:
• NTIS: the National Technical Information Service
• SciTech Connect
• Science Accelerator: Searches science, including R&D results, project descriptions, and more, via resources made available by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), U.S. Department of Energy.
• USA.gov: U.S. government's official web portal
• Or even science.gov: Technical reports, journal citations, databases, Federal web sites from 14 scientific and technical information organizations

Find an Institutional Repository:

• OpenDOAR
• WSU Research Exchange

Gathering Statistical Resoures:

• Follow these links to find information compiled by Marilyn Von Seggern on gathering statistical data:
• Federal Statistics
• State Government Statistics
• International Statistics

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