Cal Poly Pomona University Library
QUEST
Library Orientation for
New Engineering Students
Q: Why use the Library when everything is on the web for free?
A: Not everything is on the Web. Not everything on the Web is free.
- Scholarly Publications
- The Library has selected books, journals, databases, and other materials that provide high quality scholarly (academic, professional, peer-reviewed) information.
- The Library provides access to the publications professors want students to use and to publications used by professionals in the discipline.
- Library Databases
- Chosen with care to provide access to quality academic publications.
- Save time; choose quality over quantity.
- The Web is not controlled in any way. Anyone can put anything on the web.
- Information found on the web may be biased, incomplete, and out of date.
- The Web gives you quantity; not necessarily quality.
- Library provides access to lots of expensive stuff; free to you.
- Our databases, electronic journals, and electronic books are not available to the general public. We pay thousands of dollars each year for access.
Library Homepage: http://www.csupomona.edu/~library
My Library Account
- Get a Library PIN/Password
- Information about books you have checked out, library fines, more
HELP and Ask A Librarian
- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
- How to get more help
1. Library Catalog: Books and More
Find books, CDs, DVDs, other materials in Library; no access to journal articles.
| Search by KEYWORD: | thermodynamics aircraft materials |
| Use truncation for more results: | gear* retrieves... gear, gears, gearing, etc. |
| Include the type of book you want: | structural engineering handbook telecommunications encyclopedia |
2. Databases: Journal Articles and More
Use databases to search for journal articles. When the database does not have the full text article, look for the Find It! button for help finding the article 
- Academic Search Elite (Ebsco) – full text articles from over 1500 academic and general interest journals, all topics.
- Proquest Databases – database focus is on business, but useful for general interest and news. Includes ProQuest Newspapers, an excellent database for newspaper articles and our only source for Los Angeles Times articles.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega (WilsonWeb) – full text of articles from nearly 2000 journals; abstracts and indexing from over 3500 journals.
To focus on engineering journals:
- Applied Science Full Text (WilsonWeb) - this is the best place to search for articles in engineering journals.
3. Other Electronic Resources
- Safari Tech Books Online
A large collection of electronic books on topics of interest to engineers: information technology, telecommunications, networking, programming, productivity software, and more. Browse by topic, search the entire collections, or read specific books.
Find more electronic books: Databases by Subject: E-books
b. Encyclopedias – electronic editions of these encyclopedias are available:
- Britannica Online
- Encyclopedia of Global Change
- Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
- Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Find more online encyclopedias:
…and try this free online encyclopedia. It’s full of advertising; but it’s fun, interesting, informative, and it covers an amazing amount of stuff: HowStuffWorks – http://www.howstuffworks.com
4. Print Resources
Don’t forget about books! The Reference Collection on the 2nd floor includes specialized handbooks, encyclopedias, and other publications. The following might be useful for your Quest projects. (Listed in call number order.)
- McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (Ref Q 121 M3)
- How It Works, The New Illustrated Science and Invention Encyclopedia
(Ref Q 126 N49)
- Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Ethics (Ref Q 175.35 E53)
- Science and Its Times (Ref Q 175.46 S35)
- Encyclopedia of Computers and Computer History (Ref QA 76.15 E53)
- Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Ref TK 5 E53)
** Available in electronic format **
- Wiley Encyclopedia of Telecommunications (Ref TK 5102 W55)
- The Internet Encyclopedia (Ref TK 5105.875 I57 I5466)
- Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (Ref TP 9 E685)
** Available in electronic format **
5. Professional news, inventions, innovations, discoveries, and more
Print journals are shelved on 3rd floor.
- Chemical & Engineering News
ACS Web or connect from link in Library Catalog
- Civil Engineering Magazine (ASCE) TA 1 C499
selected articles at http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/newce.html
- IEEE Spectrum
IEEE Xplore or connect from link in Library Catalog
- Mechanical Engineering (ASME) TJ1 A72
selected articles at http://www.memagazine.org/
- Science Q 1 S35
latest advancements in science and technology
Engineering societies and professional organizations: learn about the profession, publications, scholarships, employment, more…
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics http://www.aiaa.org
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers http://www.aiche.org/
- American Institute of Physics http://www.aip.org
- American Society of Civil Engineers http://www.asce.org
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers http://www.asme.org
- Association for Computing Machinery (computer science) http://www.acm.org
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers http://www.ieee.org
- Institute of Industrial Engineers http://www.iienet.org/
- Society of Automotive Engineers http://www.sae.org
- Society of Manufacturing Engineers http://www.sme.org
Ann Morgan
Engineering Librarian
(909) 869-4670
email: aemorgan@csupomona.edu
July 1, 2009