Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Part of: Synthesis digital library of engineering and computer science.

Series from website.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74).

1. Introduction --

2. Information basics -- 2.1 The search process -- 2.2 Using references and cited resources to find more literature or more details -- 2.3 Evaluating resources -

3. Traditional resources -- 3.1 Background resources -- 3.1.1 Large encyclopedias -- 3.1.2 Knovel -- 3.1.3 Important handbooks -- 3.2 Research literature -- 3.2.1 Review articles -- 3.2.2 Research articles -- 3.2.3 Trade journals or trade magazines -- 3.2.4 Patent literature -- 3.3 -- Numerical databases -- 3.4 Safety resources -- 3.5 Standards, methods, and procedures --

4. Governmental resources -- 4.1 Federal government agencies -- 4.2 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- 4.2.1 Economic Research Service (ERS) -- 4.2.2 National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) -- 4.2.3 National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) -- 4.2.4 National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) -- 4.2.5 Education and outreach -- 4.2.6 Energy matrix -- 4.2.7 Statistical resources from USDA -- 4.2.8 Related USDA reports series -- 4.3 Department of Energy (DOE) -- 4.3.1 Office of Science and Technology Information (OSTI) -- 4.3.2 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) -- 4.3.3 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) -- 4.4 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) -- 4.5 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- 4.6 National Institute of Health (NIH) -- 4.7 National Technical Information Service --

5. Finding articles: traditional and web-based search options -- 5.1 Bibliographic databases --

6. Conclusion --

7. Case study 1: finding a more ecologically friendly plastic for our product --

8. Case Study 2: biofuels: using (mainly) governmental resources to inform your decisions -- 8.1 Getting started -- 8.2 Biomass and feedstock potentials -- 8.3 Finding research -- 8.4 Feed stocks in Arkansas -- 8.5 Feedstock reliability and impact -- 8.6 Finishing up -- 8.7 Next steps --

Bibliography -- Authors' biographies.

Abstract freely available; full-text restricted to subscribers or individual document purchasers.

Compendex

INSPEC

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This book offers new engineers and engineering students appropriate and effective strategies to find data, statistics, and research to support decision making. The authors describe the utility of solid reputable sources and help readers go beyond reliance on the quick Internet search, a habit which is often both inadequate to complex tasks and a source of criticism from employers. Some sources are free; others are available through libraries, or by purchase or subscription. This title can be used as a guide in concert with the advice of professors and colleagues, and potentially as a textbook. The examples are primarily from chemical and agricultural engineering, but the strategies could be adapted to other disciplines. An array of sources are shown, ranging from scholarly or professional societies, data sources, and books, to handbooks and journal sources, and less commonly used credible government documents and Web resources, including information from the USDA, the EPA and the DOE. Two case studies show research processes and the application of the underlying strategies and some of the tools.

Also available in print.

Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on March 26, 2013).