Summary
Welcome to the BIOE 575 LibGuide.
These are just a few of the available databases and resources you should try searching when starting your research on engineering, STEM, medicine, and healthcare topics. You will need to become familiar with research literature, standards, patents, and other technical information.
Not finding anything relevant? Email your librarian, Alex Cabada (cabada@illinois.edu) for assistance.
BIOE 575 Article Databases
- ScopusA comprehensive index of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Scopus is a good starting point when searching for interdisciplinary topics or for peer reviewed STEM literature.
- PubMedProvides access to over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. Includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources. You will want to search PubMed for topics primarily about health and medicine.
- Engineering VillageMost comprehensive engineering literature and patent information available. Most relevant resources will be in Compendex for traditional engineering fields (mechanical, civil, industrial, etc.,or INSPEC for physics, electrical, and computer engineering), US Patents, and European Patents (EP) databases. Engineering Village is one of the few resources where you can search for research literature, technical reports, and patents in one place.
Engineering Society and Publisher Collections
- American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) CompassThe ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library contains standards and technical engineering information covering a broad range of engineering disciplines. This is a good resource for information on materials and lab and testing methods.
- IEEE Xplore Digital LibraryIEEE Xplore Digital Library provides access to journals, books, papers and standards published by IEEE. This is the premier resource for all things electronics, electrical engineering, and technology in general.
Engineering Standards
Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.
While most standards are not available for purchase by libraries in electronic format, the Grainger Engineering Library holds a large collection of print standards, Standards are not in the library catalog, to determine if the library owns a standard, email your librarian, Alex Cabada (cabada@illinois.edu). Purchasing standards can take up to 2-3 weeks, so notify your librarian well in advance if you may need the library to make a purchase.
- TechstreetSearch for existing standards from many different publishers and organizations. When found, send the standard number (i.e., ISO 3103:1980) to your librarian, Alex Cabada (cabada@illinois.edu) to determine if the Library owns the standard or can purchase it.
- Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)AAMI standards are currently not available in print or online. Please contact your librarian, Alex Cabada (cabada@Illinois.edu) if you need help locating an AAMI standard.
- American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) CompassThe ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library contains standards and technical engineering information covering a broad range of engineering disciplines. This is a good resource for information on materials and lab and testing methods.
- IEEE Xplore Digital LibraryIEEE Xplore Digital Library provides access to journals, books, papers and standards published by IEEE which includes some ANSI standards. This is the premier resource for all things electronics, electrical engineering, and technology in general. Most of the important standards around technology are published by IEEE, such as the standards that enable networking technology.
Patent Information
Patents contain descriptive and useful information on inventions not necessarily available anywhere else. You will be searching patents to determine what has been patented, known as Prior Art. Patent literature is also a good way for identifying the appropriate technical terminology used for specific types of inventions, which will help inform your literature searches.
- Google Patent SearchSearches more than seven million US patents. Google Patent is a good starting point to search full text patents going back to 1790.
- Engineering VillageMost comprehensive engineering literature and patent information available. Most relevant resources will be in Compendex for traditional engineering fields (mechanical, civil, industrial, etc., or INSPEC for physics, electrical, and computer engineering), US Patents, and European Patents (EP) databases. Engineering Village is one of the few resources where you can search for research literature, technical reports, and patents in one place. Engineering Village searches the USPTO database but provides a more user friendly search interface.
- U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)Access to USPTO Patent Databases including the Patent, Full-Text, and Image Databases and the Patent Application Information Retrieval System. While Google Patents and Engineering Village have more user friendly search features, the USPTO will have the most up to date patent information.
Other Technical Information
Technical reports describe the process, progress, or results of technical or scientific research. Technical reports, often derived from government funded research, are a good source of technical information when developing a new invention or design.
- Engineering VillageMost comprehensive engineering literature and patent information available. Most relevant resources will be in Compendex for traditional engineering fields (mechanical, civil, industrial, etc. or INSPEC for physics, electrical and computer engineering), US Patents and European (EP) Patents databases. Engineering Village is one of the few resources where you can search for research literature, technical reports, and patents in one place. Search technical reports through Engineering Village by selecting the “NTIS” database.
- National Technical Reports LibraryProvides bibliographic citations to over 350,000 printed publications and technical reports that NTIS has received from government agencies since 1990. It does NOT provide subject searching or abstracts. Full text is available by logging in using a free account.
- Science.govThis gateway to government science information and research results provides a search of over 60 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to over 2200 scientific websites. Search for technical reports from the major government agencies that fund scientific research.
- WorldWideScience.orgThis global science gateway, comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals, provides one-stop searching of databases from around the world.
Handbooks
- Access Engineering (Bioengineering)Online access to the most-used collection of authoritative, regularly updated engineering reference information, including Marks’ Handbook, Roark’s Formulas for Stress & Strain; Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook, and several Schaum’s Outlines for mechanics, statics and dynamics.
- American Society for Materials (ASM) Handbooks OnlineASM Handbook for material properties, materials selection for various industries, composites, testing and fracture analysis.
- Biomedical Engineering and Design Handbook, Vol. 1by M. Kutz, c2009.
- Biomedical Engineering and Design Handbook, Vol. 2by M. Kutz, c2009.
- Springer MaterialsCurated data for material properties, phase diagrams, composition and structures.
