1. 1
Digging Deeper
In the Library
CE 1105
Basic Civil Engineering Introduction

2. 2
Lighthouse in the Basement
 Science & Engineering Library in
Basement of Nedderman Hall
 Thus the title of the presentation
 Get it? “Digging Deeper” 
 Play on words
 Civil engineering
 Digging
 Excavating
 Tunneling
 Kriging**
 Library in Basement
 Light at the end of the tunnel
 Storehouse of information
 Plow through the fog of
information
 Got homework – an
assignment – a paper – a
presentation?
 Don’t know where to start?
 Come see me, Email me
 See contact information up
there
 Contact information
 Barbara Howser
 Civil & Environmental
Engineering Librarian
 SEL room B-03/ NH basement
 Email: howser@uta.edu

3. 3
How to access and use UTA library resources
http://library.uta.edu/

4. 4
Why you need this information!
 Learn critical thinking skills to use UTA library resources
 How to identify relevant published literature/information more
efficiently
 How to use online Indexing & Abstracting databases
 Find article(s) available full-text & in print (hard copy)
 Learn Google is not the be-all, end-all to find information
 Google Scholar
 Distinguish between scholarly journals and magazines
 Avoid Plagiarism
 RefWorks
Or Why the Library should be important to you!!
There are many ways to find what
you need via UTA Library OnLine.
If you become confused during this
class time, please by all means contact
me. All questions are important and
valid!!

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How to identify relevant published
literature/information more efficiently
 Use Abstracting and Indexing databases
 Tools--locate magazine & journal articles, books and book
chapters on different subjects
 Includes citation information (author, article title, journal name,
volume/issue, publisher, page number(s)
 Citation--reference to a book, article, web page or web site or other
published material with enough identifying information to make them
distinctive
 Citations with abstracts (summary or quick review of article)
 Databases often either contain the full-text article or link to
the full-text of the article in another database
 Subject headings, descriptors, or thesauri terms

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Science & Engineering Library
 44 public PC
 21 Wireless laptops available for 24 hour checkout
 3 Group Study Rooms
 Each with Plasma screens, whiteboard, dedicated PC
 3 hour reserve, advance reservation-same day only
 1 open group study booth w/plasma screen & white board
 2 scanners
 2 Photocopy Machines
 Remote Access Instructions
 http://library.uta.edu/help/dbHelp.jsp

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General Library Services
 Circulation & Reference
 Live Help – Meebo with SEL
Reference Staff
 Remote Access
 Reserves/E-reserves
 Recalls/Renewals
 Interlibrary Loan
 TexShare Card
 Distance Education
 Group Study Rooms
 Flat screen PCs with printers
available
 Photocopiers –not mediated
 Wireless Laptops
 Central Library – 24/5
 Xerox Services-Central Library,
basement
 The Writing Center – Central
Library
 Digital Media Lab – Central Library
 Java City – Central Library
 Computer Lab- Central Library
Room 510
 Internet Café (Sam’s Click Café) –
Central
 Computer Help Desk
 Central Library, 1st
floor
 817-272-2208

8. 8
Library Catalog- Find books, Ebooks, journals (print &
electronic), technical reports, DVDs, videos, etc.
 Course Reserves tab- instructor(s) assigned readings
or heavily used books
 Retrieve electronic reserves
 New Books tab- latest books new to Library
 My Account tab- find out what you have checked out from
UT Arlington Library,if you have: fines, overdues, status of requests
you have fines
 Requests tab- use to request recalls of books checked out
by others, or request to have books retrieved from storage in Library
Collections Depository

9. 9
Default search (like googling)

10. 10
Reading catalog record for journal can be
complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
 Scroll all the way down for all locations
and call number of the book, journal,
DVD, etc.
 Read the record carefully
 Check holdings (“Current issues” and
“Library has”)
 Compare the holdings information to the
citation of the article you need (that is the
volume/issue, number/year of the journal)

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Book search in catalog

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Journals
 Journals
 Current Issues
 Most recent issues
 Shelved alphabetically by journal name
 Bound volumes [library catalog will list as Library Has:]
 Several issues bound together like a book
 Shelved by call number in Periodicals section
 SEL bound volumes back to 1996

13. Journals – Various Types
 Technical
 Trade
 Civil Engineering (ASCE)
 Scholarly
 Structural Stability and Dynamics
 Peer-Reviewed (or Refereed)
 Geotechnique: international journal of soil mechanics
 http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/Search/fullCitation.asp?navPage=1&tab=1&serial_uid=37763&issn=00168505
 Civil Engineering (ASCE)
 This is also “peer-reviewed”
 Then there’s the popular
 Time; Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report
13

14. Scholarly
journal -
cover

15. Table of contents
of scholarly
journal

16. Article
from
scholarly
journal

17. 17

18. Trade
journal

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Electronic Journals
 Library may have journal you need in electronic format (that is
available on the Web)-look for location “Web Link”
 UTA Library subscribes to huge number of electronic journals
represented in catalog
 Look for Linked Resource in journal record
 Not all are represented in catalog
 If not found in catalog –


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23. 23
Research Tips
 Develop a search strategy
 Hint: Who? What? When? Where? How?
 Organized plan of action to collect information for a research paper,
project
 Several searches may be required B4 you get the most useful info
 Create list of keywords, remembering to think of synonyms for each of your
keywords if possible
 Use thesauri for this purpose
 Sometimes databases will provide their own thesauri
 Select a database based upon your search strategy & keywords
 Choosing an appropriate database
 Is it full-text? (nice if you are at home at 2am in the morning-doing that paper due
in the afternoon)
 If so, what format? PDF (actual image), HTML, or ASCII (text only-no graphics)
 What are the years covered in the database (coverage)? – read the description.
 How current is the information?
 When was the database last updated?
 Is it a general or specific database?
 Academic Source Complete – general (all disciplines)
 Engineering Village – specific to engineering disciplines
 ASCE Research Library -- specific to Civil Engineering (American Society of Civil
Engineers)

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Characteristics of Databases
 Organized collections of articles, book chapters, and other smaller
works within larger works (from reliable sources)
 Usually more up-to-date and technical than books
 Full-text databases: Access to articles online
 Citation-only databases: Article summaries only (no full-text)
 Some databases are a combination of full-text articles and
citation/abstract only
 Articles in databases may or may not be available from UT Arlington
(Check UTA Library Online Catalog to find out.)
 For effective searching, “brainstorm” for terms that relate to your
research topic

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Now where do you start to find the
appropriate database to search for civil
engineering articles?

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29
Finding Civil Engineering Articles
using Electronic Databases
 Databases Relevant for Civil Engineering
Research
 Engineering Village
 ASCE – American Society of Civil Engineers
Online Journals (covered in previous slides)
 Academic Search Complete
 ScienceDirect

30. 30
Engineering Village

31. 31
Engineering Village (Compendex) Sample Search &
Results

32. 32
EV
Search
Result
This is also available full-text

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Full-text available

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ScienceDirect

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ScienceDirect Search hints
 Wildcards
 Use ! to find a root word plus all the words made by adding letters to
the end of it. For example: behav! would find behave, behaviour,
behavioural
 Use an asterisk (*) to replace characters anywhere in a word, except
the first character. Use one asterisk for each character you want to
replace.
 Search history (requires user name & password)– In order to track
and/or save a search in the Search History, Search History must be
enabled before you run the search. To enable Search History, click
the Turn On link, which appears to the right of the Search History label,
below the search form. (Once turned on, the Turn Off link is available.)

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ScienceDirect

37. 37
ScienceDirect Help Screens

38. 38
ScienceDirect Search

39. 39
ScienceDirect search result
Try a different search. I removed the asterisk –just used “bridges”

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Academic Search Premier

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Suggested Style Guide for Writing Your Paper
 American Society of Civil Engineers
Authors' Guide to Journals and Practice
Periodicals
 http://pubs.asce.org/authors/book/generalre
sources/references.htm

42. 42
2003
2007

43. 43
Plagiarism
 Who knows what it is?
 How do you avoid it?
 Cite your sources!
 Use RefWorks
 Brought to you by Library, free to you, but you
will need to create an account
 Citing & Referencing ASCE Style
 Several other citation managers, which are
free
 Zotero
 Cite-u-Like

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RefWorks

45. 45
Borrowing Library Materials
http://library.uta.edu/borrowing/
Renewing Library Materials
http://library.uta.edu/borrowing/renewalInfo.jsp

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http://library.uta.edu/catalog/otherLibCatalogs.jsp
Other Libraries

47. 47
Questions???
 Remember
 My name is Barbara Howser
 Come see me, call me, email me if you need help or if
you did not understand something I said today
 I am here to help you be the best you want to be