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The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Library resources to support course work and research

Welcome and overview

Welcome to the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering research guide.

You can use this guide as a starting point in your research for Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. The tabs on the left have more information about the following topics:

For help with your research, please contact your librarian, Brendan Kelly.

Types of Information in Library Databases

Information Type

Content and uses

Authority

Audience

Example

Sources

Books

Technical information written by experts

Learn about a topic, gather background information, historical and/or technical overviews

Author's and publisher's credentials Varies depending on author's intent Image of book cover: Reliability Engineering, by Kailash Kapur and Michael Pecht

UMass Amherst Libraries Discovery Search

Encyclopedias

Newspapers and Trade Magazines

News and journalistic reporting on events, industry developments

Follow events, industry trends

Written & edited by journalists and industry experts General public, scholars, and professionals Image of Nuclear Plant Journal

News and Trade article databases

Scholarly Journals & Conference Proceedings

Research conducted by experts in a field

Content is advanced & technical

Read about primary research written by scholars

Peer-reviewed, edited by experts Scholars, researchers, and professionals Image of International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning

Scholarly research article databases

Patents

Legal document disclosing a novel, useful invention

Identify new research fronts or learn how something works

Created by inventors, reviewed by government patent examiners Innovators and scholars Image of US patent application number 20190276140A1: Apparatus and method for balancing aircraft with robotic arms

Patent databases

Standards

Requirements, specifications, and guidelines to ensure that materials, products, processes, & services are fit for their purpose

Learn current "best way to do this"

Created by teams of experts in professional societies such as ASTM & ASME Engineers and scholars Cover of standard titled: Guidance for ASME EA-1, Energy Assessment for Process Heating Systems

Standards databases

Requests to Engineering Librarian