The Dibner Library is pleased to announce the addition of Synthesis Digital Library of Computer Science and Engineering to its collection of electronic resources.  The collection consists of over 30 subject series in many areas of engineering, primarily related to electrical engineering, computer science, and bioengineering.

Each series consists of electronic books that synthesize an important research or development topic, authored by an expert contributor to the field.  The e-books (or “lectures” as they are called)  range from 50-275 pages and are available in PDF format.  They provide students and researchers a convenient way to get a better understanding of an area of interest.

The range of content level in Synthesis is intended to be fairly broad, from state-of-the-art research overviews to presentations appropriate for undergraduates or professionals seeking a review.  To find out more about the collection, read this detailed review.

Want to be a rocket scientist? You’re in luck!

The Dibner Library is pleased to announce the addition of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) electronic library to its collection. Containing over four decades of technical information and documents, this database is the source for all things aerospace.  AIAA’s seven technical journals feature original research papers spanning the spectrum of aerospace science and technology.

To limit your search results to full text articles, check the “Search My Publications & Papers” box.

AIAA is the largest professional society devoted to the progress of engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense.

Now until June 1st, take the opportunity to try out: Synthesis Digital Computer Science and Engineering Collection - a new electronic collection covering 30 engineering areas, primarily related to electrical engineering, computer science, and bioengineering.  It contains relatively brief introductions (50-250 pages) to complex topics written at an advanced undergraduate level.  These introductions (called “lectures”) provide students and researchers with an excellent opportunity to learn about a new topic or get up to speed quickly in a new research area.

To access the collection, go to www.morganclaypool.com from a computer on campus (off campus access is not yet available).  You can browse by series to find a topic that you are interested in or search for specific terms.

The range of content level in Synthesis is intended to be fairly broad, from state-of-the-art research overviews to presentations appropriate for undergraduates or professionals seeking a review.  During the trial period you are free to view, print and download whatever you would like without restriction.

To find out more about the collection, read this detailed review.

If Synthesis is a resource you would like the library to subscribe to, let us know by leaving a comment.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest in physics research then you need to know about IOP Select. IOP Select is a service provided by the Institute of Physics (IOP) that features articles chosen by editors for their novelty, significance and potential impact on future research.  Updated weekly, IOP Select gathers all the important articles published in one convenient location.  You can search for topics by keyword or browse by journal title, month, or the following subject areas:

• Applied Mathematics and Mathematical Physics
• Applied Physics
• Condensed Matter and Materials Science
• Fluid Mechanics
• High Energy and Nuclear Physics
• Measurement Science
• Medical and Biological Physics
• Optical, Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Plasma Physics

For more useful resources, check out the Physics Subject Guide.

Dibner Library is pleased to announce the addition of Safari Books Online to its expanding electronic resource collection.  Safari offers a wide selection of nearly 300 popular computer programing and information management books covering topics such as operating systems, programming, networking, and much more.

You can now access Books24×7, a leading  provider of business, technical and engineering content, via Dibner Library.  Books24×7 contains thousands of digitized “best-in-class” books, book summaries, research reports and best practices.

Search for content in fields such as networks & protocols, software engineering, web development, and multimedia. You can also use the Browse Topics tree (pictured above rightside)  to drill down the list of topics and subtopics to find lists of titles.

Books24×7 has many useful features such as saving titles to folders and sharing bookmarks with others.  For a quick overview, look for the “Take the Virtual Tour” button on Books24×7 homepage.

JSTOR offers a high-quality, interdisciplinary archive of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials. The entire database is full-text searchable, offers search term highlighting, includes high-quality images, and is interlinked by millions of citations and references.

Journals are always included from volume 1, issue 1 and include previous and related titles. The most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are not available. However, users can search this material and link to the publisher’s site or other online source for access.

To learn how to search, browse, and manage citations using JSTOR, watch these video tutorials.

If you have used the Web of Science citation database before, you know how useful it is to track prior research and see who is citing your work.  Thanks to recent enhancements, Web of Science has become an even more powerful research tool.  It now covers over 10,000 of the highest impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and over 110,000 conference proceedings.  You’ll find current and retrospective coverage in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities dating back to 1900.

But that’s not all - Web of Science  is just one of the databases offered by the newly redesigned ISI Web of Knowledge.  You can also access the following specialized databases:

•  Biological Abstracts: (1969-present) An expansive index to the world’s life sciences journal literature, with topics ranging from botany to microbiology to pharmacology.
• BIOSIS Previews: (1969-present) Life sciences and biomedical research covering pre-clinical and experimental research, methods and instrumentation, animal studies, and more.
• Inspec: (1898-present) A comprehensive index to the global journal and proceedings literature in physics, electrical/electronic engineering, computing, control engineering, and information technology.
• MEDLINE: (1950-present) the premier database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine lets you explore biomedicine and life sciences, bioengineering, clinical care, and plant and animal science.
• Journal Citation Reports: (1999-2007) Journal performance metrics offer a systematic, objective means to critically evaluate the world’s leading journals. It delivers quantifiable statistical information based on citation data and helps determine a publication’s impact and influence in the global research community.

[Read more →]

Dibner Library now offers easy online access to the research journals published by the American Chemical Society.  With this new database, you can access some of the most cited peer-reviewed journals in the chemical and related sciences.

In addition to 34 research journals, the society also publishes the premier weekly news magazine of the chemical enterprise, Chemical & Engineering News.  ACS Publications provides searchable access to over 130 years of original research in chemistry, including more than 750,000 articles dating back to the inaugural volume of the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1879.

The journals included in this database cover a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines— biotechnology, analytical chemistry, applied chemistry, biochemistry & molecular biology, chemical biology, chemical engineering, computer science, energy & fuels, food science, environmental science, inorganic & nuclear chemistry, material science, medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, pharmacology, physical chemistry, polymer science, and toxicology.

Environment Complete offers deep coverage in a wide variety of disciplines including ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more. Environment Complete contains more than 1,957,000 records from more than 1,700 domestic and international titles going back to the 1940s.

The database contains full text for more than 680 journals such as:

• American Journal of Environmental Sciences
• Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics
• Ecologist
• Journal of Environmental Engineering & Science
• Power Engineering
• Pollution Engineering

In addition, it provides full text for 120 monographs, such as Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (3 volumes), Advances in Water Treatment & Environmental Management, and many others.