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Specialist resources - Engineering

Specialist resources to support your studies including patents and standards.

 

Resources by type

General reference resources

Reference material can consist of a range of different types of material providing you with background information. The information can either be general or related to specific subject areas. Typical examples of reference material include:

  • Dictionaries
  • Biographical dictionaries
  • Encyclopaedias
  • Official publications

Guidance on using general reference resources

 

 

Patents

Search the following specialist patent resources:

Patent resources
 ResourceDescription
Derwent Innovations Index Search for patents in chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering.
Espacenet Free access to patent documents worldwide.
FreePatentsOnline Includes patents from the United States , European Patent Office, Japan and Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Google Patents Access the full text of patents from around the world.

Guidance on finding patents

 

Standards

Search the following specialist resources to find standards:

Standards
 ResourceDescription
ASTM compass Provides access to industry leading standards and technical engineering information
British Standards Online For full text access to British standards.
IEEE Xplore digital library Provides access to IEEE standards.

Guidance on finding standards

 

Conference proceedings

Conference proceedings report on presentations or posters delivered at conferences, seminars and workshops. They are often the first announcement of new research.

  • Conference Proceedings Citation Index – Science – access via the Web of Science Core Collection
  • Scopus – covers life sciences, social sciences, physical sciences and health sciences

Guidance on finding conference proceedings

 

Theses and dissertations

Theses and dissertations often report original research.

Theses and dissertations resources
ResourceDescription
DART Europe Electronic theses repositories from European research libraries
EThOS The UK's national thesis service, published by the British Library. EThOS is currently unavailable as a result of the cyber attack on the British Library in 2023. You can search for UK Theses using the British Library's search system, by filtering to 'Theses'.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations Resources from universities and libraries worldwide
Proquest Dissertations and Theses Collections from around the world.

Guidance on finding theses

 

Reports

Reports, newsletters and discussion papers are often freely available from research and charity organisations. 

Guidance on finding reports

 

 

Researching employers

As you progress through your degree course, you may want to find information on potential or current employers. This can be done through professional organisations, business databases, careers sites, and news sources.

Guidance on researching employers

 

 

Contact us

 

 

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