Title: Chem Eng 464 Chemical Engineering Design I Introduction to Library Information Resources and Researc
1Chem Eng 464Chemical Engineering Design
IIntroduction to LibraryInformation Resources
and Research Skills 16 February 2007Randy
Reichardt1-26 Cameron Science and Technology
Libraryrandy.reichardt_at_ualberta.ca
492-7911http//www.ualberta.ca/science3/ce464.pp
t
2and in conclusion!
- By the end of the class,464 students are aware
of - key subject-specific dbs and full-text handbook
dbs for researching chemical engineering topics - sources for chemical properties and data
- sources for chemical and materials pricing info
- why patents are important, and how to retrieve
them - how to search for and retrieve standards
- using blogs to manage their design project, AND
- 16 examples and 5 reasons why your industry will
expect you to have good research and information
gathering skills after you graduate (start
thinking about these now! ?) and - U of A engineering librarians availability to
help them with their research!
3Outline of Presentation
- Science and Technology Library, NEOS Libraries
Catalogue - Whats New in the library system
- Chemical Engineering Literature
- databases of importance
- related chemical engineering resources
- handbooks, manuals, directories, patents,
encyclopedias, dbs, standards, web sites. - chemical data and commodity price sources
- Blogs A good project management tool
- Do engineers need good research skills?
4Science and Technology Library (Cameron - floors
1-4)
- Houses journals and books on chemical
engineering. - Use your ONECard to borrow material
- U of A Libraries are part of the NEOS Libraries
Consortium - 52 libraries in 18 library systems in and around
Edmonton - Connecting to the U of A web site
- http//www.library.ualberta.ca/remote
- Your GPU (CNS) ID is required to connect to
databases and e-journals from off-campus!!
5Off-Campus Access to E-Resources
6My Account Beta permits customizing of the UA
Libraries Homepage
7Customize the information in My Account to appear
on the page Items Checked Out Items on
Hold Interlibrary Loan Status
Customize a list of your favorite databases and
e-journals
8Chemical Engineering Literature
- Journals, conference publications, databases,
monographs, encyclopedias, handbooks, manuals,
product directories, web sites, patents,
standards... - Attached handout highlights chemical engineering
resources for your design projects - http//www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/chemicaleng
/chemguide/index.cfm - includes info on handbooks and manuals, chemical
properties and data, dictionaries and
encyclopedias, chemical engineering design,
pressure vessels, chemical prices, industry
guides, patents, standards
9Selected Databases of Interest to Chemical
Engineers
Compendex (1884 - ) (8 on list) The primary
database for searching engineering literature.
International coverage of all fields of
engineering and technology, including chemical
engineering
Web of Science (1900 - ) (36 on list) Indexes
gt8,000 peer-reviewed journals.
Provides bibliographic data and cited references.
Also allows for Citation Searching
SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts) (38 on
list) Covers the science and technology of
polymers, ceramics and composites intended for
use in the design, construction and operation of
structures, equipment and systems. NOTE
Available on three networked stations in the
Science Technology Library.
SPE E-Library (33 on list) SPE Oil provides
full-text access to over 30,000 Society of
Petroleum Engineers Technical Papers. Coverage
begins in 1961. Registration required for
access information available at SciTech Info
Desk in Cameron.
10Full-text Handbook Databases
gt1070 full-text handbooks covering a wide range
of topics including biochem biotech, chem eng,
ceramics, metals metallurgy, oil gas eng,
plastic and rubber, safety, health hygiene, and
semiconductors electronics.
gt400 handbooks covering topics in materials and
mechanical, chemical and civil engineering.
Topics include chemical engineering, oil shales
and tar sands, petrochemical engineering,
pipeline technology, process control and design.
gt200 titles. Topics include catalysis,
electrochemistry, fuels and petrochemicals,
industrial and applied chemistry, liquid
crystals, materials chemistry, polymer chemistry,
separation science, surface and colloid.
11Chemical Properties Data Sources
- Selected titles include
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
- Knovel Critical Tables
- NIST Chemistry WebBook
- Perrys Chemical Engineering Handbook
- Yaws' Handbook of Thermodynamic and Physical
Properties of Chemical Compounds - CHEMnetBASE
- Combined Chemical Dictionary, Polymers db,
Properties of Organic Compounds - More information and sources available on the
Chemical Engineering Library Resource Guide
12Chemicals and Materials Where to Find Industry
and Pricing Information?
- Freedonia US industry reports providing market
share, market size, demand history and forecast
for a variety of manufacturing industries,
including metals, chemicals, minerals, plastics,
etc. - ICIS Chemical Business Americas online,
publishes US chemical prices, focus reports on
industry issues, etc. - Canadian Industry Statistics industry data
- Chemical Economics Handbook economic status of
the industry focus is primary petrochemicals,
inorganic and organic chemicals, and chemical
product groups such as plastics, fibers and
elastomers - available in the Cameron SciTech Library
reference collection - Metal Chart Prices on InfoMine
- WCID Winspear Canadian Industry Database -
industry sectors in Canada and the Province of
Alberta - Note These and other price resources listed on
the - chemical and materials engineering Library
Resource Guides!
13Why search patent literature?
- 80 of patent data are not published elsewhere!
- most private enterprises, especially large
companies, publish in the patent literature
before, or to the exclusion of, the scientific
literature - New technology and inventions are most often
first disclosed in patents - Discovering research ideas and solving problems
- Predicting hot-areas of research that can impact
on current products and those that are in the
development stage - Avoiding re-inventing the wheel and spending a
lot of money doing it - Avoid infringement
- Monitor patents in a given area of technology, or
by a company, university or an individual - Searches for potential cooperation partners and
licensors - Why Search Patents? http//www.library.ubc.ca/sci
eng/patents/about_patents.htmlwhysearch
14Patent Sources
- Patents contain a wealth of specific technical
detail, - research data, and drawings
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Web Patent Database - http//www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
- full-text coverage from 1 January 1976
- http//pat2pdf.org
- full text of all US patents from 1 (13 July
1836) - The Canadian Patent Database
- http//patents1.ic.gc.ca/
- Full text images of Canadian patents from 15
August 1978.
15Standards Sources
- Standard establishes parameters for design,
capacity, or property characteristics which
permit interchangeability of parts and materials - Standards available online via U of A Libraries
include - API, ASHRAE, ASME (includes BPVC), AWS, CSA, GPA
(Gas Processors Assn), NACE, NFPA (Nat Fire
Protection Assn) - full print collections include ASTM, SAE-J, ACI
and other standards, and selected holdings of
ANSI - Standards db Specs and Standards
- If you need a standard and we dont have it,
contact me asap!
16Using Blogs for Project Mgmt
- How do you manage the flow of information between
design project team members? - Team members deal with multiple e-mails, text
messages, phone calls, paper trails - Blog web site with regularly updated individual
entries, links can have multiple authors - Setting up a blog for your group can shift how
you manage your design project - less meetings to schedule reduce phone calls,
e-mails - team member can post to the blog, and other
members can respond directly - Create your own blog at Blogger.com
17Example of blog from ChemE 464 in 04-05
Entries
Sidebar items include project description, meeting
minutes, related documents of importance,
links to chemical suppliers, general
references, resource guides, etc.
18Title of Design Project
Design Project Details
Chem Eng Librarian
Design Group Members
Instructor Off-campus contact
Subject- Related Links
Posts
Uploaded Documents
Feedback
19This entry reviews team members assignments and
responsibilities
Documents from Instructor
Links to Previous Posts
Archives
20Example of use of the blog to share
information other than in text format.
Team members sketch potential design for project,
upload and share immediately with team members.
No need to save file and send to team members
as e-mail attachment.
Feedback recd, leads to further discussion, etc.
21Industry Expectations of the New Engineer
- Are database searching and information gathering
skills something a new engineer may need in her
or his first job, and beyond? - Why might engineers need to be aware of the
information resources offered by their company,
and beyond, such as by the local university or
information brokers?
22With research and db searching expertise, the
new engineer (you) can supply needed new ideas
and information for engineers (your employer) by
- developing your companys new products or
upgrading existing ones - improving processes
- conducting root cause analysis of equipment
failure problems - integrating different kinds of technology into
your companys products and processes - searching for new suppliers or components
- investigating current uses and applications of
your companys products
23Beyond locating specific types of data,new
engineers will need research skills to
- Confirm existence of an experiment or test to
avoid duplication - Find recognized experts in their fields based on
citation analyses - Locate consultants and organizations that can
answer complex questions - Identify trends in venture capital spending
- Find revenue opportunities such as contracts from
govt sources - Locate technologies which are licensable
(potential revenue) - Identify new and emerging research frontiers
which your company may be interested in pursuing,
leading to new technical and financial success
24Beyond locating specific types of data,new
engineers will need research skills to
- Identify and monitor others working on
technologies of interest to your company (many
companies expect their incoming engineers to be
aware of emerging startups, which may lead to
acquisition) - Locate and create intellectual property for your
engineering firm, such as patents (the numbers of
which are increasing dramatically) - Maintain currency in changing technology and
product life cycles from creation to success -
using bibliometric analyses (which reveal
publishing trends and patterns, from patenting
technology to scholarly research) - Adapted from (Rodrigues, Ronald J. Industry
expectations of the new engineer. Science and
Technology Libraries, v19 n3/4, 2001, pp 179-188)
25Why Developing Strong Research Skills is
Important for the Engineer
- Engineering firms expect new engineers to
- hit the ground running
- Timeliness high-tech products delivered six
months late earn 1/3 less profit over five years
products delivered 50 over budget (but on time)
diminish profit by only 4 - Value and cost Acquiring information has direct
and indirect costs money saved by not doing an
information search many be insignificant compared
to costs based on decisions made with incomplete
information - Accessibility of info sources Information on
external technical developments is essential to
stay competitive - Reliability and content on info sources the
engineer must be able to create a mosaic of
information from whats available, and if not,
know where to begin looking awareness of
appropriate databases and resources is critical - Time management the business mantra is Time
developing good research skills will help the
engineer streamline the process of finding
outside information, reducing time pressures to
complete assignments and project
26Characteristics used to judge the quality of a
publication
- Is the publication comprehensible?
- If there is an abstract, is it well-written?
- If applicable, is there a clear research problem
statement and are there objectives? - Are the organization of the article and its
rationale and style clear and appropriate? - If applicable, is the quantity, quality and
validity of the data acceptable?
- If applicable, are the instrumentation and
analytical techniques clearly described and used
appropriately? - If applicable,do the conclusions and
interpretations follow from the data? - Are the references current, up-to-date and
appropriate? - What is the reputation of the journal and its
publisher? - What is/are the reputation(s) of the author(s)?
- Why was the material published? Is there an
obvious bias?
27Need Help?
- Instant Message me at
- eng.librarian_at_hotmail.com or
- uaenglibrarian_at_yahoo.ca
- randy.reichardt_at_ualberta.ca, 492-7911
- Research assistance
- Information Desk (Cameron 1st floor)
- M-Th 9-6pm, Fri 9-5 pm, Sat 12-5 pm, 492-2728
- ETLC E2-006 Wed 1300-1500 hrs, Thu 1200-1400
hrs - Setting up a blog? Contact me Ill help you
set it up and give tips on how to make it work - And we are on Facebook
28(No Transcript)
29Thank you for listening! Questions?
- Randy Reichardt
- Research Services Librarian - Engineering
- Science and Technology Library
- 1-26 Cameron Library
- 780-492-7911
- randy.reichardt_at_ualberta.ca