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Lehigh University Libraries - Library Guides

Materials Science & Engineering: Background Information and Books

Sources of information, tips on usage, and supporting services

Background Information Sources

Reference Works

Wikipedia.org
Easy-to-use, online encyclopedia. Great for initial background research but most professors expect more authoritative sources for research projects.

Access Science This link opens in a new window
Online encyclopedia and dictionary for the sciences. Includes biographies, images and animations, and videos.

Review Articles

Review articles give a bird's eye view of a field or niche within a field. They can also contain useful bibliographies/works cited lists.

In many research databases, you can pre-limit or filter your search results to review articles.

One publisher, Annual Reviews, publishes only review articles. Try searching their Web site (listed below) for your topic.

ASM Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
Source of information on ferrous and non-ferrous metals and materials technology. Includes 30 ASM Handbook volumes, supplements with searchable tabular data.
Annual Reviews Online This link opens in a new window
Suite of journals in science, engineering, and social sciences publishing only review articles, which provide extensive overviews of current research.

eBooks and Books

Why Use eBooks/Books

Good for in-depth background information.
You don't have to read the whole book! Search within eBooks to find where a specific keyword is mentioned.
Use glossaries, indexes, Table-of-Contents and other features to quickly scan for relevance.
Check bibliographies/references for mentions of other important works.

How to Find eBooks/Books

Use the online catalog, ASA, to search for books and eBooks. A search box is below.
Use eBrary or other eBook providers from the A-to-Z Database List to complete more in-depth searching.

Interlibrary Loan Books through PALCI E-Z Borrow - see http://library.lehigh.edu/ill for a link and brief instructions.

ASA - The Library Catalog

PALCI EZBorrow

PALCI
Use PALCI E-ZBorrow to obtain books from participating PALCI (Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc.) libraries. PALCI loans are available for a maximum period of 100 days with no renewals. Overdue books are subject to a fine of $1.00 per day.