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How to Locate Other Kinds of Technical Information

How To Locate Other Kinds of Technical Information

 

Patents

 

 

  • United States Patent Office

     

       

    • The specification of a United States patent features such useful information as the title, full name(s) of inventor(s), place(s) of residence, assignee, date filed, references cited (including other patents that have cited the patent), abstract and a drawing.

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    • A simple Boolean search on high definition television retrieves over 1700 patents.

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    • Patents constitute an extremely important body of technical information. They offer unique information. They can also help you to identify trends, experts, and companies who are doing work in specific areas.

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    • Check out the MSOE Library's Patent Searching Tutorial for details on patent searching.

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    • Another tutorial on patents and patent searching is also available at the University of Texas at Austin: the Richard McKinney Engineering Library Patent Searching: A Guide to Online Resources and Information

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  • Patents from Delphion Research

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  • European Patent Office

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  • United Kingdom Patent Office

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    The following MSOE Library resource does a good job of explaining patents:

    What Every Engineer Should Know About Patents

    by William G. Konold

    Call Number: KF3114.8 .E54 W48

 

Databooks and Datasheets

 

Product Information and Components

 

 

 

  • Volume A: Electronic Components
  • Volume B: Electrochemical and Electro-Optical
  • Volume C: Interconnections, Packaging, and Hardware
  • Volume D: Power Sources, Instrumentation, Computer Products, and Equipment
  • Complete print volumes located in the MSOE Library: REF TK 7870.3 .E37 2001

 

 

  • ASIC/Custom; Chip Sets and Multifunction; Digital; Digital Signal Processing; Interface; Linear; Memory
  • Military parts; Application notes
  • Manufacturers and Distributors Directory
  • Complete print volumes located in the MSOE Library: REF TK 7874 .I32 2000

 

Standards

 

NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) Codes are available online via the library website. Access is password-protected. Among many other important standards, the NFPA produces NFPA 70: The National Electrical Code.

     

  • Standards located at the Milwaukee Public Library include:

     

    • American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) standards

       

    • American Concrete Institute (ACI) standards

       

    • American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards

       

    • American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning (ASHRAE) standards

       

    • American Welding Society (AWS) standards

       

    • Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) standards

       

    • National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standards

       

    • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards

       

    • The Association of Paper and Pulp Institute (TAPPI)

 

     

  • Standards located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wendt Engineering Library include:

     

    • American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) standards

       

    • American Concrete Institute (ACI) standards

       

    • American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards

       

    • American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning (ASHRAE) standards

       

    • American Welding Society (AWS) standards

       

    • Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) standards

       

    • National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standards

       

    • Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards

       

    • Federal standards and regulations

       

    • American Society of Testing and Measurement (ASTM) standards

       

    • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards

       

    • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards

       

    • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards

 

Government Documents and Research

 

 

  • One of the best places to start research for government publications is FirstGov

     

    • A search on high definition television retrieves thousands of matches. Many matches are excerpts from articles, but some potentially useful sources turn up:

       

     

    Papers From Proceedings and Conferences

     

     

    • Proceedings database from FirstSearch

       

      • FirstSearch is a gateway service providing access to 28 databases covering several subject-areas.

         

      • Proceedings provides access to conference literature.

         

      • To access this database, go to the library homepage and click on Databases, and then click on FirstSearch.

         

      • This database is remotely accessible. Access requires a user authorization number and a password. Call the MSOE Library for this information. The password is changed on a quarterly basis.

         

      • An advanced search (limited to 1990-2004 in English) retrieves a 1996 colloquium published by IEE and the Royal Television Society. It features such articles as "The Historical Development of Television," "High Definition TV Broadcast Formats," and "Digital HDTV Using MPEG-2."

     

    • PapersFirst database from FirstSearch

       

      • FirstSearch is a gateway service providing access to 28 databases covering several subject-areas.

         

      • PapersFirst provides access to conference literature.

         

      • To access this database, go to the library homepage and click on Databases, and then click on FirstSearch.

         

      • This database is remotely accessible. Access requires a user authorization number and a password. Call the MSOE Library for this information. The password is changed on a quarterly basis.

         

      • An advanced search (limited to 1990-2004 in English) retrieves over 50 papers from conferences, including:

         

        • "On Medical, Museum and Educational Application of Super high Definition (SHD) Images"
        • "High Definition B/W Still Picture Camera System"
        • "Controlling a High Definition Broadcast Television Studio Using Distributed Software Objects"
        • "The Development of a High Definition Serial Digital Interface"
        • "High Definition Television -- Defining The Standard"
        • "On the Accuracy of Transformation Between Color Components in Standard and High Definition Television"
        • "High Definition Television Broadcast Technology -- A NIST/ATP Project"
        • "Analysis of High Definition Television Display Technologies"
        • "Brief Overview of the Evolution of and Technology for High Definition Television"
        • "High Definition Television Display Research -- Present and Future"

     

    Ph.D Dissertations and Masters' Theses

     

     

    • Dissertations Abstracts database from FirstSearch

       

      • FirstSearch is a gateway service providing access to 28 databases covering several subject-areas.

         

      • Dissertations Abstracts provides access to Ph.D dissertations and some Masters' theses.

         

      • To access this database, go to the library homepage and click on Databases, and then click on FirstSearch.

         

      • This database is remotely accessible. Access requires a user authorization number and a password. Call the MSOE Library for this information. The password is changed on a quarterly basis.

         

      • An advanced search (limited to 1990-2004 in English) retrieves over 70 dissertations and theses, including:

         

        • "High Speed Adaptive Signal Processing Algorithms Using the Delta Operator," Ph.D Diss., University of Cincinnati
        • "High Bit-Rate Receiver and Equalizer Architectures for Digital Television Applications," Ph.D Diss., University of California
        • "HDTV Transmission Format Conversion and Migration Path," Ph.D Diss, MIT
        • "Architectures and Algorithms for MPEG Video Coding", Ph.D. Diss, University of Washington

     

    Reference Works

     

    Potentially useful Reference works in the MSOE Library include the following:

       

    • Handbook of Modern Electronics and Electrical Engineering -- REF TK 7825 .H38 1986

       

    • Electronic Failure Analysis -- REF TK 7870.23 .M37 1999

       

    • The Circuits and Filters Handbook -- REF TK 7867 .C4977 1995

       

    • The Electronics Handbook -- REF TK 7867 .E4244 1996

       

    • The Communications Handbook -- REF TK 5101 .C6583 1997

       

    • The Digital Signal Processing Handbook -- REF TK 5102.9 .D534 1998


    And don't forget to check some of the new circulating books in the MSOE Library. Here are three of them:

      Applied Virtual Instrumentation

    R. Baican & D.S. Necsulescu Southampton : WIT ; Boston : Computational Mechanics, c2000.

    Personal Communications Systems and Technologies

    John Gardiner and Barry West, editors.

    Boston : Artech House, c1995.

    		 
      Principles of Modern Communications Technology

    A. Michael Noll

    Boston: Artech House, 2001

     

    There are also some excellent books on engineering design:

    Set Phasers On Stun: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error

    Steven Casey

    Santa Barbara: Aegean Publishing Company, 1998

    		 

    This is a fascinating book that takes the reader into "the real world of human factors and technology." The book consists of stories -- some of which are spellbinding -- about real engineering design situations. The author states that "it was and is my hope to convey how incompatibilities between the way things are designed and the way people perceive, think, and act can result in human error, or, more accurately, design-induced human error."

    Engineering Design: Products, Processes, and Systems

    Andrew Kusiak

    Sand Diego: Academic Press, 1999

    		 

    Written by a world class expert in engineering design, this book introduces the reader to models, frameworks, methodologies, and algorithms that have been applied with great success in industry. Featuring industrial case studies, the chapter headings in this book include: "Fundamentals of Process Modeling"; "Analysis of Process Models and Problems"; "Process Decomposition"; "Reliability of Process Models"; "Assessment of Process Risks"; "Quality Function Deployment and Process Models"; "Scheduling Design Activities"; "Team Formation"; "Requirements in Conceptual Design"; "Synthesis in Conceptual Design"; "Decomposition of Products, Systems, and Problems"; "Modular Problems"; "Design of Parts"; "Design Problem Solving"; "Design of Parts and Systems for a Manufacturing Environment"; and "Dependency Analysis in Engineering Design."

     

      Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind SEGWAY and Dean Kamen's Quest To Invent A New World

    Steve Kempker

    Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press, 2003

    Read the fascinating story about Dean Kamen and the development of "Ginger," officially known as the Segway Human Transporter.

    Brilliant, energetic, enthusiastic, and eccentric, Kamen -- a millionaire and college dropout -- has been widely acclaimed for his achievements. Winner of the 2000 National Medal of Technology, "for inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide," and the 2002 Lemelson-MIT Prize for "enhancing human capabilities through technology and innovation," Kamen is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates.

    Kamen -- who likes to read books such as Newton's Principia ("How did he get from here to there? Did he really prove such and such?") -- see Max Alexander, September 2003, "Wow, Isn't That Cool!" Smithsonian, pp. 95-96 -- always wears the same outfit: blue jeans, denim work shirt, and a pair of Timberland boots. He owns an island off the coast of Connecticut which he calls North Dumpling. North Dumpling has its own flag, navy, and currency. One note has the value of Pi. North Dumpling even has a mutual nonaggression pact with the United States, signed by Kamen and the senior President Bush!

     

     

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