SHARP Guide to Library Research

• Encyclopedias
• Books
• eBooks
• Articles
• Physical properties of materials
• Need help?

Encyclopedias

These specialized encyclopedias are excellent places to find an overview of a topic, as well as references to articles.

• Dekker Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
• Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology

More encyclopedias

Books

Melvyl is the catalog for all ten UC campus libraries. Use it to find books on your topic. The records will tell you the call number and the location (library) for each book. Start with a title keywords search, then use subject headings for additional searching.
A Brief Guide to Melvyl

1. Open Melvyl catalog.
2. Choose Title (default) as the type of Search.
3. Type nanostructures in the search box.
4. Choose UC Berkeley as the Library.
5. Click Search.
6. Click Details/Locations, and scroll down to find the call number and library where the book is located.
7. Also look at the Subject field to see what subject headings have been given to that book. These headings are linked to other books on the same topic.
8. Many books covering nanoscience and nanotechnology topics are found in the Engineering Library at call number TA418.9, so you could browse the shelves at that location.

eBooks

The library has several large databases of full-text electronic books (ebooks). They include handbooks, manuals, and textbooks. Search them to find relevant chapters or sections on your topic.

• ENGnetBASE: A collection of engineering handbooks and textbooks from CRC Press, including a category on Nanoscience/Nanotechnology.
  
  To Search all the titles: Type your keywords into the search box in the upper right corner. Click on the document title to see the full text of those sections that interest you. Make a note of the Book Title and Authors so you can reference it correctly.
  
  To Browse individual Book Titles: Click the Category name that interests you (Nanoscience/Nanotechnology, for example). Click the Title of the book. Click the "Read it Online!" link to bring up the Table of Contents. Click on the Table of Contents links to bring up the full text.
  
  
• Knovel: Collection of full-text engineering and scientific handbooks and databases, with built-in software tools.
  
  Type your keywords or phrases into the search box. You can search the full text or use the drop-down menus to limit your search to Author, ISBN, Table of Contents, or Title.
  
  The other drop-down menu will limit your search to only those books in the subject area you select. The hit list comes back in relevancy order (on right of screen). Click on the title to bring up the chapters or sections of the book that have your terms, then click on the Text link to the right of any section to get the full text.

More eBooks

Articles

Journal articles and conference papers are the primary means of disseminating research in engineering. Use these article databases to find journal articles and conference papers relevant to your research.

Locating Full Text Online or in the Library: Many article databases offer the UC-eLinks service, providing links to full-text articles online and automated library catalog searches. If these links fail, you can search for the journal title or conference name yourself in Melvyl.

More article databases

Physical Properties of Materials

• ASM Alloy Phase Diagrams Center: Provides access to an extensive collection of binary and ternary phase diagrams and associated data.
• CRC Materials Science & Engineering Handbook
• Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
• Polymers: a Property Database

More resources for physical properties

Need Help?

• In person: Stop at the Engineering Library Reference Desk from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1–5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Instant Message Screen Name: askengi (AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, MSN)
  1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday
• E-mail: Use our Ask Us form to send us questions online.
• Phone: (510) 642-3339