An Overview of the Subject Gateway: Materials Science
By
Central
Library
Indian Institute of
Technology
Mumbai-400076.
India
Email: aknur@admin.iitb.ac.in
The primary objective and
functions of libraries have not changed due to computerization. Only, the tools
and techniques to achieve these objectives with ease and accuracy have. In the
present day the focus is on Electronic Information. Thus it is not only
acquiring, sources of information but providing access to information and sharing also. With
the Internet, WWW and Information explosion, identification and extraction of
information resources is an essential function of all libraries and information
centers. The Electronic information sources are rapidly growing and with a wide
variety in form and content it takes a lot of time to get the required
information. There is thus a need
to organize and classify this wide spectrum of information. With this as
background, the author has created a web page providing information to not only
the internal sources at the Central Library, I.I.T Bombay but also links to
external electronic information sources in the field Materials
Science.
KEYWORDS: Digital library, Subject
gateway: Materials Science, Information sources and
services.
0.
INTRODUCTION
Libraries have been
undergoing tremendous developments in this era, adapting to the advent of
information technology in the day to day working. Electronic, Digital
Libraries have arrived. OPAC, CDROM databases, Electronic journals and Internet
access exist in most Libraries. Libraries are no longer storehouses but are
becoming gateways of relevant information. The role of Librarians have become
challenging enough to expect the increasing demands of users and catering to
specific information needs. Librarians are also showing ample enthusiasm in
introducing advanced technologies and innovative services in their Libraries.
1.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
While most Library websites
serves the needs of the users, the information in digital medium is so vast and
varied that the users in any field of study cannot over look it. It becomes very
difficult to locate the required information at the least possible time in this
expanse of information
available in the cyberspace. This study has been done as a consequence of
working experience in conducting manual searches for researchers in the Material
Science & Engineering field. This web page has arisen with the
intention to design and
develop similar types in all subjects related to the information needs of the
Departments, Centers and Schools specific to their areas of academic pursuits,
research and projects.
This study is also the outcome for the
reasons specified below:
·
Users disinterest to visit
the Library as they get most material on their desktops.
·
Not willing to go through
the print material but may be
interested in photocopies of the required material.
·
Users expectations to get
all material at the shortest possible time.
·
Less patience in searching
and browsing through Print material.
With this as the background,
this compilation / guide
supplements the library website and is user specific. Due to the diversity of
subject areas covered by materials science, this guide is intended to provide a
core list (not a comprehensive one). It includes many other materials science
resources that are available in the library, both in paper copy and via
subscriptions to electronic databases. It also includes WWW gateways, and online
reference sources. This guide also includes reference tools and educational
resources related to materials that are freely available on the Internet and do
not require subscription or registration on the part of individual researchers
to access them. A few commercial sites have been included if they contained
educational resources.
2.
METHODS
The sites contained in this
guide are the results of web surfing while looking for useful sites to assist in
answering reference questions related to materials science. Most of the sites
have been visited to make the searches authentic. The resources in this web page
were chosen for inclusion based on their relevancy to the intended users, their
authority, usefulness, clarity and ease of use.
3.
WHY GATEWAY ?
Library web sites are becoming
increasingly complex. Complexities in the form of links and services, profusion
of print and electronic formats, duplication and the general web resources. When
the content becomes massive the functions of the library web sites needs more
restructuring. This complex environment has arisen from various factors
including:
·
Innovative ways of providing
information and services such as electronic resources, course specific, and
library help pages and document delivery.
·
Complex library searches due
to the cross functions and links between the online catalog, journal aggregator
databases, electronic resources etc..
·
The need to identify and
present high quality free information resources on the web and distinguish those
from library licensed material.
·
The increasing expectations
of users for interfaces to lead directly, without undue hunting, to the
information or service they need.
·
Many library web sites get
congested with ample content, general objectives and duplication of services. It
is no longer simple and clear how to do research or projects with a tool that
provides gateways for getting information. There are number of steps that a
library researcher must perform to successfully get information. Thus Gateways
are needed to improve the effectiveness of Internet searching and will serve
as a source of information in
specific areas and saves the time of the users.
4.
WHAT IS MATERIALS SCIENCE ?
The Metallurgical &
Materials Science Department
of IIT Bombay is one of the largest in the nation. The MM Department has earned
a reputation as one of the top materials programs in the country. The faculty have an exceptional
commitment to outstanding teaching and research. Students in the Department are
conducting research that is laying the groundwork for future progress in these
and other areas. The training and experience they receive prepares them to make
new contributions as the materials field expands in scientific, technological,
and economic importance.
5.
INFORMATION RESOURCES & SERVICES
The aim of the library
website is to serve as a library guide to the resources and services.
Some of the sources at IITB
are as follows:
·
Primary journals .One can
locate the list from the option at Journals on the Homepage.
·
Secondary or Abstracting / Indexing journals which are now
available On-line. There are several online databases to the literature in the
field of Materials Science. The following databases are not comprehensive but rather a
listing of resources that are especially useful for researchers, such as Current
Contents, Compendex +, Web of Science, INSPEC, Scifinder Scholar.
·
Books under materials
science can be located under the author, title, subject heading and class
no's.
·
Theses & Dissertations,
Standards, Patents, and Reports, A/V Materials can be located in the Pamphlets
section catalogues.
·
Information Services: A
number of services rendered by the Library can be found under the services
option.
INSPEC, from the Institute of
Electrical Engineers (IEE), is the world's leading database containing citations
with abstracts of the worldwide literature in physics, electronics and
electrical engineering, and computer fields. Primary coverage is of journal
articles and papers presented at conferences, although significant books,
technical reports, and dissertations are also included in the database's 7.3
million records. Sources include more than 4,200 journals and more than 2,000
conference proceedings, books, and reports.
Ei Compendex provides summaries of
technical reports, journal articles, and conference papers and proceedings. The
Ei Compendex covers over 2,600 international engineering journals, conference
proceedings and technical reports. Each year, 200,000 new abstracts are added
within the broad applied engineering areas of mechanical, civil, environmental,
electrical, structural, process, materials science, solid state and
superconductivity etc.,
The SciFinder
Scholar is
an innovative interface to Chemical Abstracts online. The Chemical Abstracts
Service (CAS) of the American Chemical Society is the world's leader in
providing scientists online and Web access to chemistry-related research data.
CAS produces the world's largest and most comprehensive databases of chemical
information. This information is combined with sophisticated search and analysis
software vital to new product and patent research, as well as academic research
in over 300 leading universities globally. The SciFinder Scholar gives access to
abstracts from 8,000 journals; patents from 29 patent issuing authorities
(including India), 31 million substances, 4 million organic reactions, supplier
details of 1.1 million chemicals from catalogs.
Dissertation Abstracts
represents original academic research from over 1,000 universities throughout
the world. It is the most comprehensive information resource covering doctoral
dissertations and master's theses, including content from a number of ProQuest
dissertation print publications.
A Number of leading
Publishers offer alerting services such as TOC
Major publishers of journals such as Academic
Press, Elsevier and Blackwell Scientific provide Web access to their journals.
There are two types of electronic journals, which are: -
E-journals offer quick
access to almost all current journals, which are otherwise difficult to
subscribe by an industry or business establishment in print media. Electronic
form is available much earlier than their print version for distribution.
Publishers such as Academic,
Springer Verlag and Elsevier offer full text of articles at cost.
1.
IDEAL articles back to 1993
are now available on-line.
2.
LINK is a visionary
information service created for the Internet by the science publisher Springer
.It provides an extensive digital library delivered directly to the workplace of
scientists, librarians, and information brokers.
3.
SCIENCEDIRECT offers a rich
electronic environment for multiple content sources including research journals,
bibliographic databases and reference works. The world's largest full-text
journals database provide for the following:
4.
More than 1700 scientific,
technical & medical peer-reviewed journals
5.
Over 59 million
abstracts
6.
Over two million full-text
scientific journal articles
7.
An expanding suite of
bibliographic databases
8.
Linking to another one
million full-text articles via Cross Ref to other publishers' platforms.
1.
http://www.osti.gov/preprints The PrePRINT
Network provides access to electronic preprints available from diverse
sites. Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific
and Technical Information (OSTI), the network is a "one-stop
shopping" site for preprints in science and technology.
6.
CHANGING ROLE OF LIBRARIANS
To provide the right
information to the user, Librarians have to analyze the user’s needs and
information seeking behaviour
frequently. Modern technology for information storage and retrieval needs to be
updated. Regular training programs
and demos for any new product acquired by the Library need to be conducted. Educating the users in learning the techniques for
efficient retrieval of information
should be a regular feature. Librarians need to acquire sufficient
knowledge and skills on information management and processing. Information
should not be mishandled or poorly presented; otherwise it looses its
importance. There should always be a dialogue with the users to know their
requirements.
7.
CONCLUSION
Gateways, in every
discipline and subjects help the users in Academic Libraries where the thrust is
on Cutting edge technologies.
Gateways serve as a ready reference tool. It is hoped that this
compilation will be useful to the Departmental needs. While studies of such nature can never be all
comprehensive and complete, attempts should be made to narrow down on the
resources and services, thus helping the users. Updating of resources in such compilations are absolutely necessary,
only then will this gateway be of
importance and relevant.
[1] Krishnamurthy, M
“Digital library gateway for library and information science and study”.
SRELS Journal of Information Management. 39,3 (2002)
Pp.245-254
[2] Richard, B “Developing a
web library: Guide for an academic library problems, solutions and future possibilities. “ Program
.31,1 1997), pp59-73
[3]
Iowa State University, Department of materials science and
engineering. "What is Materials Science
and Engineering?"< http://mse.iastate.edu/information/description.html
[June 05, 2001].
[4] TMS
Career Resource Center. "What is Materials Science
and Engineering?"< http://www.crc4mse.org/what/Index.html
[May 13, 2002].
†
On-Line Material Science
Journals
Acta
Materialia
Annual
Review of Materials Science
Cutting Tool
Engineering Magazine
International Journal of
Fatigue
International Materials
Reviews
Journal of Adhesion Science & Technology
Journal of Computer-Aided Materials
Design.
Journal of Corrosion & Engineering
Journal of Crystal Research and Technology
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Journal
of Material Science Letters
Journal of
Materials Science and Technology
Matéria, a Brazilian Materials Science
On-Line Journal
Materials Science & Technology
Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and
Engineering
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions
Scientific.Net: Materials Science and Technology
Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics
Ø
Dictionaries
Dictionary of Composite Materials Technology
- the online version of Technomic Publishing's Dictionary of
Composite Materials Technology by Stuart Lee.
Glossary of Materials Attributes - A
glossary describing the properties common to all materials. Units and equations
provided.
Glossary of Metallurgical Terms -
California Steel Industries is proud to provide the following glossary of
metallurgical terms.
Steel Glossary - Everything You Always
Wanted to Know About Steel... A Glossary of Terms and
Concepts
A Dictionary of Measures, Units and Conversions
- This provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be
found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together
with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard'
unit of the S I.
European Patent Office - This is the
official Web site of the European Patent Office, the executive body of the
European Patent Organisation.
Internet
Patent News / Source Translation & Optimization Patent Web Site
UK Patent
Office - The role of the UK Patent Office is to help to stimulate
innovation and the international competitiveness of industry through
intellectual property rights.
US Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) Web Patent Databases
Birmingham University - The Department of
Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham
Department of
Materials Science and Engineering, KTH - KTH, Royal Institute of
Technology. Stockholm, Sweden.
Oxford
Materials - The objectives of the Department of Materials at Oxford
University are to produce world class graduate materials scientists and
engineers, and to conduct world class research into the manufacture, structure,
properties and applications of materials...
University of
Cambridge: Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy
USA Department of Materials Science & Engineering --
Northwestern University
Department of
Materials Science and Engineering -- Cornell University
McGill
University, Montreal, Canada - Mining, Metals and Materials
Engineering
MIT - Department of
Materials Science and Engineering - Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
MSE
Department, College of Engineering, University of Michigan
UC Berkeley
Department of Materials Science - Graduate and undergraduate
education and research in electronic materials, ceramics, metallurgy, and
mineral processing.
UIUC Department
of Materials Science and Engineering - The Department of Materials
Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is
recognized throughout the world for its excellence in education and
research
WebElements - The Periodic Table on the WWW
Alloy Digest - Since 1952, Alloy Digest has
been the leading reference for materials property data on metals and alloys used
throughout the world. The Alloy Digest complete set is the accumulation of 50
years, more than 4,400 data sheets at your fingertips.
ED informatics Directory - Click on
Science, then Technology, then Materials http://www.edinformatics.com/
√
Internet for Materials
Engineering - from EEVL's RDN Virtual Training Suite http://www.eevl.ac.uk/vts/materials/index.htm√
Company info - The Minerals,
Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Career Resource Center maintains an
excellent page, arranged alphabetically by company, with hot links to individual
materials companies and includes information on "type of material" for each
company. http://www.crc4mse.org/resources/industry.html
√
The Materials Research
Society maintains three very extensive directories -- professional societies,
academic departments, and government organizations (including national
laboratories):
MaterSci --. MaterSci.Net
provides a searchable database of Internet resources related to Materials
Science and Metallurgy. Launched in January of 2000, the mission of MaterSci.Net
is to become the best source for information related to all branches of
Materials Science.
To date, there are a total
of 722 links in the database.
MatPro: Materials and
Processes Database -- advanced materials database.
http://amptiac.iitri.org/MATPRO/
SciTechResources.gov
-Sponsored by NTIS, it contains links to government resources related to science
and technology.
http://www.scitechresources.gov/
√
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb020715-2.htm
The National Technical
Information Service (NTIS; http://www.ntis.gov) is the federal
government’s leading delivery outlet for scientific and technical reports,
especially those produced under government contract. On its Web site, NTIS has
begun electronic delivery of all its reports dating to 1997. Reports numbering
fewer than 20 pages are free; those over 20 pages are $8.95. The scanned reports
appear in Adobe PDF. Some documents are retrieved through links to other federal
agency Web sites; however, NTIS promises that the archived copies of all
documents will remain available through its site. “One Search. One Source. One
Solution.” is the banner cry of the Web site upgrade project.
National Information
Standards Organization (NISO)
The National Information
Standards Organization (NISO) is a non-profit organization accredited by the
American National Standards Institute to develop consensus-approved standards
used in publishing, library services, and other information-related industries.
NISO standards include the ISBN, Z39.50, and the Open URL.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF
AUTHOR
|
Ms. Kalyani Accanoor
is currently working
as Assistant Librarian (SG) in the Central Library, IIT Bombay. Prior to this she has also worked
at IISc and Times of India Library. She is the recipient of the ILA / Dr.
C. D. Sharma award for the best presentation and best author at the
44th ILA conference Hyderabad, February 1999. Ms Accanoor has
given talks, and published papers in various Seminars/Conferences.
|