Mechanical Engineering Research Guide

This guide is to introduce MSU students to the essential and useful resources in the field of mechanical engineering. Below you will find suggestions to locate books and journal articles. The guide also provides a list of print and online resources with descriptions as to the type of information each contains. Please contact the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor of Mitchell Memorial Library at (662) 325-7667 or, ask-a-librarian for further assistance with any of these resources or with any questions.

Finding Journal Articles   Indexes and Databases   E-Journals  
Web Resources   Finding Books  Reference Resources 

To find individual journal articles, you will primarily use electronic indexes/databases to do your searching. With such indexes/databases, you can find either article abstracts or full-text articles by conducting an author, title, keyword(s), or subject search. 

If there is no full-text article available online, you will need to check if the library has the actual journal (physical item) so that you can locate it and read the article. You can find the holding and location information of the journal by typing its title in the search box on the MSU online catalog. If the library does not have subscription to the journal, you can request a copy of the article through inter-library loan service (https://saturn.users.library.msstate.edu/illiad/).

Conference Papers Index (full archive)
Provides indexing to papers and poster sessions presented at major scientific  meetings. Materials cover engineering, physics, technology, life sciences, and  environmental sciences.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

Dissertation Abstracts
Provides access to more than 2.3 million dissertations and master’s theses of a  complete range of academic subjects, including computer science and electrical  engineering.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

Ei Compendex
Provides comprehensive indexing for interdisciplinary engineering. Research  materials referenced in this database include journal, conference, and trade  publications. Coverage is from 1969 to present.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

IEEE Xplore
Indexes Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers journals and conference  proceedings. Provides full-text access to  literature in electrical engineering,  computer science, and electronics. Content is updated weekly.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

Inspec
Provides abstracts and full text for scientific and technical journal articles and  conference proceedings in computing, electrical engineering, electronics,  mathematical physics, and more.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

Web of Science
Indexes more than five thousand science and engineering journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports. This multidisciplinary database also provides cited reference search by author, work, and year.
** For remote access, you must be affiliated with Mississippi State University. **

Below is a list of frequently cited journals relating to mechanical engineering. The electronic journals are available through the MSU libraries’ Web site. To search these journals, you can either use the library’s online catalog or click on the “E-Journal” hyper link on the library’s front page. The e-journals allow you to find full-text articles online. 

Selected e-journals:

Aerosol Science and Technology (1999 – one year ago)
Applied Mechanics Reviews (2001 -- present)
Applied Thermal Engineering (1996 -- present)
Computational Mechanics (1997 - present)
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (1995 -- present)
Experimental Heat Transfer (1999 – one year ago)
Experiments in Fluids (2006 -- present)
Experimental Techniques (2001 -- present)
Heat Transfer Engineering (1979 -- present)
International Journal of Fatigue (1995 -- present)
International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow (1995 -- present)
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (1995 -- present)
International Journal of Plasticity (1995 - present)
Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology (2000 -- present)
Journal of Mechanical Design (2000 – present)
Journal of Turbomachinery (2000 - present)
Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (1995 -- present)
Progress in Energy and Combustion Science (1995 -- present)

ICrank – The Mechanical Design Engineering Portal
(www.icrank.com)

Intute: Science, Engineering & Technology – Mechanical Engineering
(http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/cgi-bin/browse.pl?id=25712)

Machine Design – Mechanical Technology
(http://machinedesign.com/ContentIndex/718/Mechanical.aspx)

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory
(http://www.mel.nist.gov/melhome.html)

Measure Converter
(http://www.allmeasures.com/)

NIS Boulder Laboratories
(http://www.boulder.nist.gov/)

SCIRUS
(http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/advanced/index.jsp?q1=)

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
(http://www.uspto.gov)

World Wide Web Virtual Library – Mechanical Engineering
(http://dart.stanford.edu/vlme/)

To locate books of a particular topic, you can try the searching below:

1. MSU Libraries’ Online Catalog. Searching by author, title, keyword, subject, etc., you will find the call number, location, and check-out status of any book owned by the Golden Triangle Regional Library Consortium.

2. Using bibliographies to find books.

3. Inter-Library Loan (ILL). If MSU libraries do not own a particular book, you may          want to borrow it from another library. To do so, simply fill out an online inter-library loan request form (https://saturn.users.library.msstate.edu/illiad/).

The CRC Handbook of Mechanical Engineering. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1998.
Call Number: Ref TJ151. C73 1998
Provides background information on important topics of modern mechanical  engineering. Updated information includes sections on thermodynamics, solid  and fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, energy conversion, manufacturing  and design, economics and project management, and patent law.

Encyclopedia of Fluid Mechanics. Houston: Gulf Pub. Co., Book Division, 1986.
Call Number: Ref TA357 .E53
Focuses on flow phenomena and measurement. General topics include transport  properties and flow instability, flow dynamics and frictional behavior, and flow and  turbulence measurement.

Manufacturing Engineering Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Call Number: Ref TS176 .M3615
Contains fundamental methodologies of manufacturing. Covers all aspects of  the field: planning, processes, quality assurance, experiments, economics,  marketing, management and many more .

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Call Number: Ref Q121 .M3 2002
Emphasizes industrial engineering, information technology and computing,  chemistry and chemical engineering, physics and astronomy, the biomedical  sciences, and the environmental sciences.

Mechanical Engineers Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1998.
Call Number: Ref TJ151 .M395
Introduces developments in materials, methods, and equipment--from concurrent  engineering and TQM through virtual reality, advanced and composite materials,  ergonomic design factors, electronic packaging, and many more major topics.

Table of Integrals, Series and Products. 7th ed. Oxford: Academic, 2007.
Call Number: Ref TK1001 .E398 2001
Provide an overview of the generation, transformation, transmission, distribution,  and utilization of electric power and energy, as well as the modeling, analysis,  planning, design, monitoring, and control of electric power systems.

The Wiley Project Engineer's Desk Reference. New York, Wiley, 1994.
Call Number: Ref TA151 .H425 1994
Covers major areas regarding the technology of engineering and its operational  methodology, accentuating questions of schedule and schedule maintenance.

This guide was created by Li Zhang on March 27, 2008.