Useful Web Resources for Engineering

Engineering - General Web Sources
Engineering - Civil & Environmental Engineering
US Government (Or Government-Sponsored)
Engineering and Scientific Organizations/Societies
Industrial Standards
U. S. and International Patents

Engineering

General Web Sources - Which Include Engineering Information

ALA's Machine Assisted Reference Section's (MARS) Best Free Reference Websites: A list of librarian-evaluated websites on all sorts of topics.
ASEE Resources Page: Resources for engineering education from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).
FindArticles: Not as good as it used to be, but worth a look in computing, and automotive.
Google Scholar: Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research.
HowStuffWorks: HowStuffWorks is widely recognized as the leading source for clear, reliable explanations of how everything around us actually works. Great site for normal English explanations of things, but beware of annoying pop-ups.
INFOMINE: INFOMINE is a virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level. It contains useful Internet resources such as databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other types of information
IngentaConnect: IngentaConnect offers one of the most comprehensive collections of academic and professional research articles online - some 17 million articles from 28,000 publications, including 6,100 online. (Subscription service)
Internet Public Library: a public service organization and learning/teaching environment at the University of Michigan School of Information.
Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology: This is a free online service that provides access to the very best Web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists. It covers the physical sciences, engineering, computing, geography, mathematics and environmental science.
Librarian's Index to the Internet: The mission of Librarians' Index to the Internet is to provide a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected Internet resources, serving California, the nation, and the world.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations: Comprises several databases of theses and dissertations that can be freely searched. Access to documents requires a subscription and/or purchasing links are provided.
OAIster: Their goal is to create a collection of freely available, previously difficult-to-access, academically-oriented digital resources that are easily searchable by anyone.
ScienceDaily: ScienceDaily is one of the Internet's leading online magazines and Web portals devoted to science, technology, and medicine.
Scitation: Scitation is the online home of more than 100 journals from AIP, APS, ASCE, ASME, SPIE, and a host of other prestigious science and engineering societies.
Scirus: Scirus is the most comprehensive science-specific search engine on the internet. Driven by the latest FAST search engine technology (owned by Yahoo!), Scirus returns results from the whole Web, including access-controlled sites that other search engines don't index. (Also linked in Engineering Village 2)
Scitopia: Information from fifteen societies spanning 150 years of science and technology scholarship accessible through a federated search portal to help you with your queries.
University of Missouri-Rolla STI List: Scientific and technical indexes, abstracts and select sources provided.
WWW Virtual Library: The WWW Virtual Library (VL) is the oldest catalog of the Web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the Web itself, in 1991 at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Unlike commercial catalogs, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the Web, the VL pages are widely recognized as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the Web.

Civil & Environmental Engineering

ASCE Library: A comprehensive online tool for locating articles of interest across all disciplines of civil engineering. The Research Library provides you with unprecedented access to more than 18,500 full-text papers from ASCE Journals and Proceedings published.
ASCE Publications: Index to their publications (fairly substantial for the field of civil engineering)
Bureau of Transportation Statistics: External links to government transportation sites.
Chemicals in the Environment:OPPT Chemical Factsheets: EPA has developed information summaries on selected chemicals to describe how you might be exposed to these chemicals, how exposure to them might affect you and the environment, what happens to them in the environment, who regulates them, and whom to contact for additional information.
Northwestern University Transportation Library: The Transportation Library of Northwestern University is one of the largest transportation information centers in the world, encompassing information on all transportation modes, including: air, rail, highway, pipeline, water, urban transport and logistics. It includes a significant collection on law enforcement, police management and traffic enforcement.
Quakeline: A bibliographic database produced by the MCEER Information Service. It covers earthquakes, earthquake engineering, natural hazard mitigation, and related topics. It includes records for various publication types, such as journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, maps, and videotapes. QUAKELINE was launched in May 1987.

US Government (Or Government-Sponsored) Sites and Publications.

Department of Commerce: Includes the Technology Administration, Office of Technology Policy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Department of Energy: Covers national security, energy sources, energy efficiency, energy prices and trends, science & technology, health and safety and security.
Department of the Interior: The DOI is comprised of eight bureaus: Minerals Management Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey and Office of Surface Mining.
Department of Transportation: DOT agencies: Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Maritime Administration (MARAD), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and Surface Transportation Board (STB).
DOD STINET (Public STINET - Scientific and Technical Information Network): Helps the DoD community access pertinent scientific and technical information to meet mission needs effectively.
LSU Libraries Federal Agency Directory: The directory lists current/active/existing U. S. Federal Government agencies as represented in the United States Government Manual. Indentations will inform the reader of the institution's place in the hierarchy.
NASA STI: Provides desktop access to the STI (scientific and technical information) produced by NASA and the world's aerospace community
National Institutes of Health: The National Institutes of Health is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation. It is an Agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
National Laboratories and Technology Centers: Part of the Department of Energy website. DOE's laboratories and technology centers house world-class facilities where more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge research.
National Science Foundation: The funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.
National Technical Information Service (NTIS): Part of the Department of Commerce. Serves as the largest central resource for government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information available.
OSTI Energy Citation database: The Energy Citations Database (ECD) is designed and developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) with citizens interested in science in mind. It is publicly available without charge to users. It contains bibliographic records for energy and energy-related scientific and technical information from the DOE. It provides access to publicly available citations from 1948 through the present. It includes citations to report literature, conference papers, journal articles, books, dissertations, and patents.
OSTI E-Prints: The E-print Network is a set of powerful tools that facilitate access to and use of scientific and technical e-prints communicating the results of a wide range of research activities of interest to the Department of Energy. These e-prints reside on thousands of Web sites and data bases, both large and small, at remote locations worldwide, employing a wide variety of technologies, architectures, platforms, formats, software, and search engines to manage and retrieve data.
Science.gov: Each agency selects its best science information for science.gov. Two major types of information are included - selected authoritative science Web sites and often hard-to-access scientific databases (specific content varies by database). This gateway to government science information allows searches across 30 databases and more than 1,700 science Web sites.
University of Michigan Documents Center: A central reference and referral point for government information, whether local, state, federal, foreign or international.

Engineering and Scientific Organizations and Societies

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): ACM is the world's oldest and largest educational and scientific computing society.; ACM Career & Job Center
American Institute of Physics (AIP): The mission of the AIP to serve physics, astronomy, and related fields of science and technology by serving its Member Societies and their associates, individual scientists, educators, R&D leaders, and the general public with programs, services and publications.
American Mathematical Society (AMS): The AMS was founded in 1888 to foster comradeship and communication among mathematicians. "It is proposed by some recent students of the graduate school of Columbia College to establish a mathematical society for the purpose of preserving, supplementing, and utilizing the results of their mathematical studies," was the call to mathematicians led by Thomas S. Fiske.
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE): Founded in 1893, the American Society for Engineering Education is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): Founded in 1852, the ASCE represents members of the civil engineering profession worldwide, and is America's oldest national engineering society.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE): ASHRAE was formed by the merger of two societies, American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE), known after 1954 as American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHAE) and the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers (ASRE). The two merged in 1959.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): Founded in 1880, today's ASME is a professional organization focused on technical, educational and research issues of the engineering and technology community. Its vision is to be the premier organization for promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences to diverse communities throughout the world.
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO): In 1993, two small Washington-based biotechnology trade organizations merged to create the Biotechnology Industry Organization, better known as BIO.
Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA): The EIA promotes the market development and competitiveness of the U.S. high-tech industry through domestic and international policy efforts.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): The IEEE is a non-profit, technical professional association of more than 360,000 individual members in approximately 175 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority in technical areas ranging from computer engineering, biomedical technology and telecommunications, to electric power, aerospace and consumer electronics, among others.
IEEE Computer Society: Founded in 1946, it is the largest of the 37 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Its vision is to be the leading provider of technical information and services to the world's computing professionals
Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET): The IET is an international organization for electronics, electrical, manufacturing and IT professionals, with products, services and qualifications to meet the needs of today's technology industry.
International Human-Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA): IHPVA is an association of national associations and organizations, dedicated to promoting improvement, innovation and creativity in the use of human power, especially in the design and development of human-powered vehicles.
International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE): SPIE is a non-profit organization that has become the largest international force for the exchange, collection and dissemination of knowledge in optics, photonics and imaging.
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI): Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE): SAE is a non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to advancing mobility technology to better serve humanity. Over 89,000 engineers and scientists, who are SAE members, develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles, trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine, rail, and transit systems.
Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME): Since it was formed in 1932, SME has worked to make engineers, companies, educators and others successful in their quest to advance the manufacturing industries.

Industrial Standards

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Home Page: ANSI is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.
American Society for Testing and Materials Home Page (ASTM): ASTM is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world--a source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services.
ASSIST Quick Search: For current military specifications.
IEEE Standards Online: Searchable database of full-text IEEE Standards. Part of the IEEE/IET Electronic Library (IEL) database.
IHS Global Engineering Documents: This division of IHS provides standards (for a fee) for the following verticals: automotive, aviation/aerospace, construction, energy, government/department of defense, electronics/telecommunications, petrochemical and utilities.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO): ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 148 countries-- one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO standards are available for purchase through the "ISO Store" online.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration. NIST's mission is to develop and promote measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.
NSSN: Setting the pace worldwide in promulgating standards information to a broad constituency. Whether it's searching for a specific standard, tracking the status of a new development project, or identifying a contact person who can interpret a standard, NSSN serves as your one-stop information repository.
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL): The UL Mark on a product means that UL has tested and evaluated representative samples of that product and determined that they meet UL's requirements.

U. S. and International Patents

Clearly Understood: Concept searching for U.S. patents, plus free downloads and business-related search services. This system was developed by academia, but is now being implemented for the business environment.
European Patent Office: The European Patent Office (EPO) provides a uniform application procedure for individual inventors and companies seeking patent protection in up to 37 European countries.
Free Patents Online: U.S. patents--free searching--need an account for compressed PDF downloads. Also offers several fee-based data delivery and analysis services.
Fresh Patents: The latest published U.S. patent applications each week before the USPTO decision to grant/deny. Free patent keyword monitoring.
Google Patent Search: Easy searching for U.S. patents, but with a number of limitatons--it excludes patent applications, international patents, and U.S. patents issued over the last few months.
MicroPatent's Patent Web: Online subscription (for fee) service for retrieval of patents and trademark information.
Patent Information Users Group (PIUG)/Selected Patent and Intellectual Property Sites: PIUG, the International Society for Patent Information is a not-for-profit organization for individuals having a professional, scientific or technical interest in patent information.
Patent Lens: Patent Lens is a searchable full-text database of more than 7 million patents and patent applications from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, EPO (European Patent Office), and IP Australia. New bulk data from these agencies is uploaded weekly.
Patent Search Engines: Compilation of legal patent information.
Thomson Delphion: Delphion was spun out of IBM in 2000 and created as a wholly independent entity, incorporating the IBM Intellectual Property Network. Now, with its extensive data coverage - it has evolved into one of the most comprehensive sources for finding and viewing patent information. (subscription fee service).
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Home Page: Access to the full-text of U.S. patents from 1976 to present, and other patent and trademark information.