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
Resource	Description
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
Resource	Description
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
Resource	Description
DART Europe	Electronic theses repositories from European research libraries
EThOS	The UK's national thesis service, published by the British Library.
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

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