Presentation

1. Literature Search
MAE 4262: Rockets & Mission Analysis
31 August 2017
Rob Sippel
rsippel@fit.edu
321-674-7585

2. A few key elements…
 pick a topic…strongly tied to the field of rocketry
 obtain and review at least two technical journal and/or conference papers
directly discussing your topic and work related to it.
 each paper should be 5 years of age or less
 one if not all will likely have to be obtained through interlibrary loan
 write a report…References to all the papers you reviewed must be included
at the end of your write-up.

3. Start here
Go to the library’s website by:
 Taking the direct route: lib.fit.edu
or
 Googling us (e.g. “Florida Tech
library”)
or
 Navigating from the university
website (www.fit.edu)
 Choose the “Academics” tab (at the
top of the page) and then look for
the “Library” link on the left.

4. Some links of particular interest

5. Interlibrary Loans
 If we don’t have it, another library
(probably) will.
 Allows you to get copies of items not in
the FIT library’s collections
 Haven’t used Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad)
before?
 For your first visit to ILLiad, you will
need to provide some contact
information.
 Fill out and submit form for the type of
material being requested.

6. Completing the Interlibrary Loan Request
 Items marked by a red asterisk (*)
must be filled out.
 “Not Wanted After Date”:
 Enter the deadline by which you
would need the item
 “Maximum cost you will pay for
this item (if required)?”
 Always keep this set equal to
zero (0). This is a free service.
 When you have completed the
form, “Submit Request”
Once your request has been fulfilled, you will receive an e-mail or text indicating how to
download or pick up your item.

7. Using RefWorks
 RefWorks is a “citation manager”
 Used for recording and organizing lists of reference
materials.
 Particularly useful for:
1. Keeping track of large numbers of reference resources
(journal articles, books, etc.)
2. Generating citations and references/bibliographies in
required formats.
 When first using RefWorks, you will need to set up an
account.

8. Using RefWorks
 RefWorks allows you to:
 Add items manually
 Share items with others
 Generate bibliographies
 Identify items with specified tags
(keywords)
 Organize your source materials into
folders.

9. Research Guides
 Research Guides are created by the library to
provide students with easy access to resources
related to different subjects.
 For example,
 “Citing Sources” contains information on how to
use RefWorks and other citation managers.
 “Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering” assists
with performing research on rocket design.

10. Research Guide:
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
 Direct link: libguides.lib.fit.edu/mae
 General reference materials (e.g.
encyclopedias, handbooks, etc.)
 Search for articles/papers on your
research topic.

11. Trying to think of a research topic?
1. Go to the “Reference Sources” tab.
2. Try looking through the
“Encyclopedia of Aerospace
Engineering” for ideas.

12. Finding Research Databases
Research databases allow you to simultaneously search
through many sources (e.g. journals, conference
transactions, etc.) for information on a given topic.
To find research databases especially suitable for this
assignment:
1. Go to the “Articles & Databases” tab in the research
guide.
2. Look inside the “Key Databases for Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering” box.
 Potentially useful databases include:
 Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database
 AIAA Aerospace Research Central (ARC)
 Engineering Village/Compendex

13. Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database
Use of advanced search is
recommended.
User can choose to limit results to
peer-reviewed content.

14. Tell the database what you want
 Indicate what subject
you’re researching
 Use quotation marks
when looking for a
specific phrase, such as
“thrust chamber”.
 Specify the time period
for the documents.
 Indicate where to look
for your search term.
 Indicate the types of
sources that you want
to use.
 e.g. Scholarly
Journals, Conference
Papers &
Proceedings

15. Check your search results
 Too many results? Not enough?
 You can
 do another search within this set of results,
or
 modify your search to be more specific or
more general
 You can also take a subset of results based
upon:
 Peer-reviewed (or not)
 Type of source
 Publication title
 Other subject areas
 etc.

16. Modifying your search
 Change your search term
and/or
 Add additional search terms
to make your search
 More specific, or
 Less specific

17. Saving search results of interest
 “Check off” those
items that you
wish to use
 You may then
 Generate citations,
and/or
 Save the records to
your RefWorks
account

18. Citing selected items
 Select desired
citation style.

19. Saving to RefWorks

20. Checking library for article
 Sometimes, there will be a direct
link to an article in your search
results.
 For other items, there may not be a
direct link.
 What do you do then?

21. Using 360 LINK
 Click the “360 LINK”
icon to see if the
library has the article.
 There will be one of
two possible results.
Either: 1. We have it or 2. We don’t have it.
Read it now! Request it
through
Interlibrary
Loan

22. Using 360 LINK to access or request papers.
Your Interlibrary Loan form will be
automatically filled out with the
necessary information
 You just have to submit it.
Click the
“Request it”
link.

23. AIAA Aerospace Research Central (ARC)
Try another research database: AIAA Aerospace
Research Central (ARC)
 Florida Tech’s library has all AIAA journals and
conference papers.

24. AIAA Aerospace Research Central (ARC)
 Learn about search techniques
 Specify subject
 Indicate desired types of sources
 Limit publication dates

25. ARC Search Results
 Number of results
 Change your search
criteria to
increase/decrease your
number of results
 Generate citation for
document (in AIAA
format)
All results have
links to PDF
copies.

26. Downloading ARC results to RefWorks:
Individual Record
1.
2.
3.

27. Downloading ARC results to RefWorks:
Multiple Records
1. Select (check) desired records 2. Click link 3. Click link
4. Import RIS file into RefWorks.

28. Engineering Village/Compendex
Try one more database: Engineering
Village/Compendex

29. Engineering Village: Search Page
Where to look What to look for
Limit date range
Add search terms
To access additional
capabilities

30. Engineering Village: Results
 Number of results
 Narrow results set by:
 Author name
 Author affiliation
 Additional subject
terms
 Document type
 Language
 etc.
 Save search
query for future
use.
 Automatically
receive
notifications of
new relevant
content.

31. Engineering Village: Downloading to RefWorks
1. Select
(check)
desired
records
2. Click download icon
3. Download to Refworks