The document discusses various specialized resources for engineering students including standards, conferences, theses, business information, and marine maps. It also discusses ways to keep up to date such as email alerts, RSS feeds, blogs, wikis, microblogging, and social media. The librarian provides information on finding these specialized resources and how students can set up email alerts and RSS feeds to stay current.

1. Specialised resources:
standards, conference,
theses…
Keeping up to date & social
media
Moira Bent
Faculty Liaison
Librarian

2. Programme
 Specialist resources
 Standards
 Conferences
 Theses
 Business information
 Digimap
 Keeping up to date
 Emailalerts
 RSS feeds
 Blogs, wikis, microblogging

3. Finding Engineering Standards
Essential
for design
projects
British
ASTM Other standards
Standard IEEE Standards
Standards available via ILL
s

4. Finding Conference papers
In LibrarySearch – but not
comprehensive
In databases such as Compendex
and Web of Knowledge
Lots of full text in IEEEXplore
Conference Papers Index in Proquest
We do not have all conference papers
– you may need to use ILL

5. Theses
Newcastle University PhD Theses
• Library Search – limit to Theses
UK Theses
• ETHOS - http://ethos.bl.uk/
• Some available online (free), many require payment
• Index to Theses http://www.theses.com/ (abs – not full-text)
International Theses
• Various databases available to help you find out about other research
degrees
• Usually difficult to obtain
• http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/resin/finding_information/theses/international.php

6. Business information
 Company Information
 Business Source Premier – articles plus company
reports
 FAME – UK company data and reports
 Amadeus – European company reports
 Market Research
 Mintel
 Euromonitor GMID

7. Marine Digimap
Charted Raster
 Scanned and geocoded images of the Admiralty Chart series, ideal for
general reference and backdrop mapping but are NOT for navigational use.
 Variety of scales
Hydrospatial
 Bathymetry and Elevation - The nature and shape of the Earth's surface on
land (elevation) and under the sea (bathymetry).
 Natural and Physical Features - The natural topography of the coastal and
marine environment including the biological, physical and chemical features
within it.
 Structures and Obstructions - Man-made physical structures and
obstructions.
 Socio Economic and Marine Use - Specified areas where one or more
activities have been designated, are known to occur or are restricted.
 Conservation and Environmental Protection - Designated boundaries for
the purposes of conservation and environmental protection of natural and
cultural heritage.
 Climate and Oceanography - Climate and weather information, tides and
currents or locations where measurement and monitoring is or has been
know to occur.

8. Keeping up with the crowd

9. Keeping up to date with what‟s new
 The web is full of information – news sites, publications, blogs,
 How do you know what‟s new?
 Databases, EJs and websites are updated every day
 YOU have to go back and check
 Overwhelming, time-consuming, inefficient, relies on you
remembering
Instead...
 Save your search strategy as an email alert (available in many e-
resources)
 Use RSS feeds to make new information come to you instead

10. What do you do now? How do you keep up to
date in your academic work?
1. Looking at a journal regularly
2. Scanning a website regularly
3. Email alerts from my favourite journals
4. Email alerts on topics I‟m interested in
5. RSS feeds
6. Reading a blog
7. Twitter
8. Facebook
9. Something else

11. Email alerts
 Save your search strategy as an email alert
 Get alerts for your favourite journals too
 Receive an email every time a new article is
added to the resource which matches your
search
 Receive an email every time a new issue of the
journal is published
 You can usually determine the frequency (daily,
weekly, monthly, etc...)

12. Email alerts
Individual databases – for topics
• Compendex, Scopus, Science Direct
Zetoc – for journal TOCs
• http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/
• British Library's TOC for journal articles &
conference proceedings.
• search 1993 =
• 28,000 journals & 45m articles & conference
proceedings
• email alerts by subject / journal TOC
• set up RSS feeds for journals

13. Keeping up to date: RSS feeds
For web based content – web pages, EJs
Information sent to a “reader” – your personal web
page
Relies on you checking your reader regularly – you
may need to change your work practices
Easy links to original information

14. Getting started
• Find an RSS reader/viewer e.g. Google
Reader Reader, Netvibes
• Find a site with an RSS feed
Feed
• Click on and paste the link into your
Link chosen RSS reader
• Go back to your RSS viewer at regular
intervals for your „news‟ – it‟ll be there waiting
Read for you

15. Now you’ve
definitely found it all
– relax!
But….

16. Blogs as an academic source
Published for many reasons
(e.g. academic / research / entertainment / personal, etc)
Anyone can now easily publish on the web
Therefore, important to evaluate the information found
 Blogs at Newcastle http://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/
 EndNote Blog http://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/Endnote_Users
 Moira Bent‟s Information Literacy Blog
http://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/moira.bent
 The Monitor http://dieselduck.blogspot.com/

17. Finding Blogs
 Google BlogSearch http://blogsearch.google.com/
 ResearchBlogging
http://www.researchblogging.org/
 Technorati http://technorati.com/
Many Blogs have RSS feeds so you can subscribe
using your RSS reader

18. Micro-blogging (Twitter)
 Currently a popular method of relaying small amounts of
information
 Increase in number of Library / Information twitter feeds
 http://twitter.com/nulibsage
 Regular news items from the Library, new resources, update
on services, news and current awareness items from beyond
Newcastle
 If you don‟t use Twitter, you can still follow the news via the
RSS feed

19. Keeping up to date with the
Library
Library Web Pages News
Library Events
http://twitter.com/nulibsage
http://www.netvibes.com/nulibsage

20. Sail off into the sun

21. Next session s
Practicals – Resources & Social media
Mon 15/10 10.00-11.30 or 5.00-6.30 ArmB 1.64
Lecture: EndNote & referencing
Fri 19/10 10.00-11.00
Practical -Endnote:
Mon 22/10 10.00-11.30 ArmB 1.64
Sign up for workshops using the Library Guide tab