The Drexel Smart House is a unique multidisciplinary project working toward the goal of creating a building that functions like a home and serves as a laboratory to continually conduct research on innovations to the home experience. Through student-led (undergraduate and graduate from all colleges and majors) research and design, the Drexel Smart House will explore the areas of health and wellness, environmental interactions, efficiency, entertainment and communications. Ultimately, this research and design will be implemented into an urban home where involved students will live, thereby studying the effectiveness of the new ideas and proving the benefit of the Smart House.

See: Drexel Smart House
Blog: Drexel Smart House Blog

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For information on how to find scholarly lierature from various electronic databases, see:
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Senior Seminar

See also: Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Blog

Codes and Regulations:

Important resources in locating codes and regulations necessary for your design project:
Books on codes in the Library:
Building codes illustrated : a guide to understanding the 2006 International building code
Residential & light commercial construction standards : the all-in-one, authoritative reference compiled from : major building codes, recognized trade custom, industry standards.
Specifying interiors : a guide to construction and FF&E for residential and commercial interiors projects / Maryrose McGowan ; drawings by Kelsey Kruse.
The BOCA national building
Architectural building codes : a graphic reference

To find additional books, search in our online catalog at Advanced Keyword searching using appropriate keywords related to your topic of interest.

See also Finding Building Codes using library resources for more information on using MAD CAD to find online versions of codes such as BOCA, ICC or NFPA and Philadelphia and other Municipal Codes on the Web where you can also refer to the Philadelphia Zoning and Planning information.

ILI Standards Infobase

The ILI standards database is a bibliographic standards database. It covers over 600,000 worldwide standards. Over 250 major Standards issuing authorities are covered, from the US, Europe, the international bodies ISO and IEC to Japan and Australia. Any ASTM standards can also be requested through ILI Standards Infobase.

See also: U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Energy Codes 2007

Continue reading "Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Senior Seminar and Design Resources" »

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Engineering Pathway (EP) is a portal to high-quality teaching and learning resources in applied science and math, engineering, computer science/information technology and engineering technology, for use by K-12 and university educators and students. EP is the engineering education "wing" of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

See: Engineering Pathway

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thomas Telford Journals (TRIAL) provides access to 20 Institution of Civil Engineers Journal titles. Up to 5 years' back files are also available. This trial runs through December 1, 2007.

Among the several journals Thomas Telford publishes are: Advances in Cement Research, Bridge Engineering, Geotechnique, Geotechnical Engineering and Geosynthetics International.

Until the trial expires, access to these and other titles is available at: Thomas Telford Journals (TRIAL)

or

1. Go to Drexel University Libraries
2. Click on "Find Databases/Journal Articles"
3. Browse databases by title.
4. Thomas Telford Journals (TRIAL)

or

The individual journals are also listed in the e-journal list (search for Thomas Telford as vendor).

Please send your feedback to Jay Bhatt at bhattjj@drexel.edu

Continue reading "Thomas Telford Journals (TRIAL) " »

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the new Google Patent Search tool, one can search across more than 7 million patents. Each Google Patent Search result represents an individual patent. Click on the patent image to access full patent. It displays results based on their relevance to the specific search terms entered. One can also see number of details about each patent in the list of results. These include: patent title, U.S. patent number, filing date, assignee name, patent snippet, patent summary, claims, and drawings. 'Search within this patent' option is available to search the text of an individual patent for specific keywords and phrases. it also lists other patents that were cited by the patent described on the page and lists other patents that reference the patent described on the page.

Google Patent Search covers the entire collection of patents made available by the USPTO - from patents issued in the 1790s through those issued in the middle of 2006. It does not currently include patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months, but we look forward to expanding our coverage in the future

See About Google Patents for more information.

See Google Launches Google Patents, Full-Text US Patent Searching for comparison between the USPTO search and the Google search of the number of documents that show up for each year in a ten year period for the use of the word. See also Resourceshelf site to learn more about what Google Patents does not cover.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Air Now
The U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies developed the AIRNow Web site to provide the public with easy access to national air quality information.

Envirofacts
Envirofacts is a single point of access to select U.S. EPA environmental data. This website provides access to several EPA databases to provide you with information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With Envirofacts, you can learn more about these environmental activities in your area or you can generate maps of environmental information.

Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)
The ESI is a composite index tracking a diverse set of socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators that characterize and influence environmental sustainability at the national scale.

Fedstats: The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies
FedStats is the new window on the full range of official statistical information available to the public from the Federal Government. Use the Internet's powerful linking and searching capabilities to track economic and population trends, education, health care costs, aviation safety, foreign trade, energy use, farm production, and more. Access official statistics collected and published by more than 100 Federal agencies without having to know in advance which agency produces them.

Water Quality Standards Database
This Web site provides access to several WQS reports with information about designated uses, waterbody names, state numeric water quality criteria, and EPA recommended numeric water quality criteria. Using standard reports, you can compare WQS information across the nation.

Continue reading "Useful Data Sets from various compilations" »

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Statistical Resources on the Web from the University of Michigan provides access to different types of data.
These include: American Fact Finder, Bridges, Transportation, Accidents,, City Rankings, Construction, Construction Costs, Construction Industry, and Demographics.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bureau of Transportation site provides access to various modes of data related to transportation such as aviation, maritime, rail, transit, traffic and highway among various other types.

To access, go to The Intermodal Transportation Database.
RSS feeds related information is available at BTS RSS feeds.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Compilation of data on a variety of topics such as health, labor, census, geospatial and tranportation among many others.
To access, go to: Data and Statistics - General Reference Resources

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our blog has 'Search this blog' box on the top right corner. Use this box to find out if information about a topic of your interest had been posted earlier. For example, to find out whether any tips about 'standards' were posted, type 'standards' in the search box.

You will find two entries: ILI Standards Infobase and Architectural Graphic Standards Online

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using Library's online catalog and using 'International Bulding Code' in the title field, we can locate print version of the code at International Building Code. MAD CAD is the electronic database where you can find online version of the code. MAD CAD contains building codes, knowledge-based design solutions, and guidelines to meet the codes. MAD CAD will provide you access to cross-referenced collections of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and maintenance codes from BOCA, SBCCI, ICBO, ICC, and NFPA. MAD CAD gives access to comprehensive state and local codes to meet architectural, engineering and educational solutions. To access MAD CAD, go to Building Codes and click on MAD CAD. Notice that International Bulding Code - BC 2006 is also available online through MAD CAD. You will see it on your left column after you enter MAD CAD.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The web library includes links to Municipal Codes from various municipalities in the U.S. From these compilation of codes, one can access The Philadelphia Codes that provides access to the Philadelphia Traffic Code and the Philadelphia Zonning and Planning information.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) program which provides data on illnesses and injuries on the job and data on worker fatalities. The A-Z index provides access to all different types of statistical data available.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Engineering Library Instruction is a new Instruction blog to help students develop their information seeking skills for their research projects. The most recent entries include 'How do I obtain full papers from the Proceedings of the SPIE and other conferences that are not available in the library?' and 'Engineering Resources Videos' that demonstartes various engineering databases in a video format.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Example:
How do I obtain an article titled 'Laser welding of biological tissue: Experimental studies in ophthalmology' published in the Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, v 6191, Biophotonics and New Therapy Frontiers, 2006, p 619103?

Use the following steps in obtaining papers from Proceedings of the SPIE or any other conference papers not available in the library.

1. Use Library's online catalog to check whether the desired SPIE volume with the article needed is available in Print in the Library. Use 'Advanced Keyword' Searching usin keywords 'SPIE' and the volume number. In our case, we use 'SPIE' and '6191' as keywords. No record for this search is found in our Library catalog.

2. The Library does not have electronic subscription to the Proceedings of the SPIE at present although SPIE Web provides access to over 90,000 SPIE abstracts from major SPIE publications.

3. Use 'Borrowing from other libraries' link to request any articles you need (that we do not have in print or electronic form). Click on 'Hagerty Library' and if you are the First Time User, fill up one time form at First Time User Registration for Interlibrary Loan and then start requesting articles. You will receive your articles in the electronic form as soon as possible.

4. Many times you will find citations to SPIE and other conference papers when searching in Engineering Village2 or Ei Compendex. For example, using keywords 'SPIE' and 'Biomechanics' in Engineering Village2 finds our citation to the above example, Laser welding of biological tissue: Experimental studies in ophthalmology. Source: Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, v 6191, Biophotonics and New Therapy Frontiers, 2006, p 619103. Clicking on the 'Full Text' link in Engineering Village2 prompts for the 'Username' and 'Password'. Click on' SFX' link and select If 'Drexel Does Not Own' go to 'InterLibrary Loan (ILLiad)' option.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering:

Books

Click on the links below to see what books are available in the library in some key areas related to Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering
Soil Mechanics
Structures and Concrete
Earthquake Engineering
To find additional books, search in our online catalog using Advanced Keyword Searching and using appropriate research keywords.

Continue reading "Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Senior Design/Seminar" »

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 01:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

iDEA is a centralized virtual space to access unique digital resources produced by the Drexel community. Administered by the Drexel Libraries, iDEA is commited to providing permanent open access to the digital works of Drexel University. A centralized Web portal and storage system for collecting, organizing, indexing, accessing, and preserving--in digital format--the intellectual output of an institution. Institutional repositories provide open and free access to a wide range of digital items, both published and unpublished.

See: Drexel University Archives announces iDEA: Drexel's institutional repository and DREXEL E-REPOSITORY AND ARCHIVES HELP for more help. See College of Engineering for recent content added in this Repository.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a quick overview of what's new with ISI Web of Knowledge

Author Finder - Find the right author, right away. Distinguish between authors with the same name; available in Web of Science and Current Content Connect. .

RSS Alerting - Integrate crucial data into your workflow. Get custom RSS feeds to receive search, citation, and tables of content alerts from ISI Web of Knowledge.

You will need to register in ISI Web of Knowledge the first time. After searching in Web of Science, you can save your searches. Use 'Search History' and then click on 'Save History' icon. You will need to fill up 'Save Search History' form with a name for your alert, a brief description, and an option to receive an email alert for your query. If you are only interested in receiving RSS feeds, do not mark 'Send Me Email Alerts' box.
Click on 'Save' and you will notice an 'XML' icon that provides the URL for the RSS feed for your query.

Improved topic search results - Get more complete search results with the new implied "AND" between search terms.

See various training sessions on how to use Web of Knowledge efficiently at Web of Knowledge Recorded Sessions.

The first recorded session is the update on new features recently added to the ISI Web of Knowledge.

Drexelphysics blog had earlier announced some other new features in Web of Knowledge. According to this blog, "You will notice a new box at the beginning of your results list with options to "Refine" your search by Subject Categories, Sourch Titles, Document Types, Authors, and Publication Years and more. When you select one of these "Refinements" you will get a listing with the number of hits for each. Then you can select from the sorted options. Cool! AND you can continue to refine your results and for more options, you can use the analyse tool. NOW you can analyse sets upto 100,000 records."

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Knovel University Challenge kicks off its spring 2007 season on February 5th and will run through April 5th. The University Challenge provides students the opportunity to master their research and analysis skills while competing for 9 prizes. This year's winners will receive a $1500 scholarship or 1 of 8 iPod Shuffles. The University Challenge is open to students of hard sciences, mathematics and technology-related courses of study at universities with access to Knovel Library or Knovel K-Essentials.

To participate in the fall Knovel University Challenge, go to 'Take the University Challenge' page starting Wednesday, Sept. 13th.

To access Knovel, go to Library Databases and click on Knovel. For more information on Knovel, please refer to Knovel - Engineering and Scientific online reference books

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent adviser to the federal government and others on scientific and technical questions of national importance. The National Research Council is jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

NCHRP research results digest
National Cooperative Highway Research Program research results digest
Coverage: 250 (11/15/2000)-
Provides access to reports such as Technologies to Improve Consideration of Environmental Concerns in Transportation Decisions, Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites for Concrete Bridge Deck Reinforcement, and Core Competencies for Highway Safety Professionals, etc.

TCRP research results digest
Transit Cooperative Research Program research results digest
Coverage: 1 (12/1/1994)-
Provides access to reports such as Acoustic Rail-Break Detection Demonstration at MTA New York City Transit, Guidelines for an Alternative Transit Switch Design, and Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Problems, etc.

The TRB web site also provides access to several other Resources which include TRIS online, Research in Progrss and Transportation Research Thesaurus. See also TRB Online Publications for several other types of documents such as conference proceedings and TRB Special Reports.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CADRegister.com is the place where design professionals, engineers, and architects can download millions of component drawings from leading manufacturers, in a variety of industry-standard formats. PartSpec provides access to pre-drawn mechanical and electrical parts and data. PlantSpec contains hundreds of thousands of pre-drawn plant-design components from leading manufacturers, ready to drag and drop into any CAD drawing. CADBlocks provides access to standard drawings and technical data for over 500,000 building products. See Online Help for more assistance on how to use these tools.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As reported in Marylaine's 'Neat New Stuff I found on the Net This Week', Science in your backyard is a database in which one can choose a state and find links to real-time information on that state's water, drought, and earthquake activity, to biological, mineral and recreation resources, and Geological Survey news releases.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

EarthTrends is a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world. It provides access to statistical data on various environmetal topics such as coastal and marine ecosystems, water resources and freshwater ecosystems, climate and atmosphere including air pollution data, population and health, energy resources, biodiversity and watersheds of the world. EarthTrends updates are also available through RSS feeds.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To find books on a particular topic, search in our online catalog using 'Advanced Keyword Searching 'feature and using appropriate keyword representing that topic.

Following are some examples of recently received books in our library.

Fluid Mechanics
Sensors
Fiber optics
Concrete
Networks and security

To see if a particular Journal or a Magazine title is either available in print or in electronic form, use the 'Journal Title' search page from our online catalog.

Following are some examples of Journal titles.

Biotechnology & Bioengineering
Aircraft Design
Materials Chemistry
Engineering Management Journal

Now try on your own to find any new books on 'Molecular electronics' and a journal tile named 'Bone&Joint'. Can I be able to find a 2003 article from this journal? How do I obtain this article if we do not have access to it?

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KnowledgeSpeak newsletter reported that Publisher McGraw-Hill Professional has announced the addition of video news (90-second video segments) bring scientific news to life from ScienCentral, Inc., to AccessScience, its online encyclopaedia of science and technology.

AccessScience can be accessed at: AccessScience @ McGraw-Hill : [electronic resource] the McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology on the web.

The most recent video News entry is on Nano Bones. AccessScience also provides RSS feeds of new articles added. The AccessScience RSS feed delivers headlines and links back to the latest Encyclopedia articles, news stories, and announcements posted on the AccessScience home page.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Access to the Materials Science Backfiles covering 108 journals with the earliest dating from 1946, has just been activated. This enhanced access is a joint effort with the College of Engineering's Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Mechanical and Mechanics Engineering Department. To access, please go to Electronic Databses by Title and click on ScienceDirect or go directly to Materials Science Backfiles.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Knovel K-News features instructional tips on how to find specific data or information using online scientific and technical books availble through knovel.

To access knovel from the Library's web site, go to Engineering Databases and then click on Knovel:Engineering & Scientific Online Reference.

Knovel K-News also provides RSS feeds of new content added, instructional tips and other announcements. Click the XML icon to view the K-News blog edition.

Most recent issue of Knovel K-News provides instructional tutorial on how to find 'Enthalpy of Formation for Terephthalic Acid', April 2006 issue provides tutorial on how to find 'Enthalpy of Combustion for Alcohol', and October 2005 issue provides information on ' New Web Interface Enhancements' in Knovel.

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

EurekAlert! - Breaking News earlier reported that a 30-person team of researchers led by Raymond Seed and Robert Bea of the University of California, Berkeley, released a near-complete draft of their findings of the New Orleans levee system and its performance during Hurricane Katrina. For more information, please see Researchers release draft final report on New Orleans levees.
This draft report is available for public access at:
Independent Levee Investigation Team DRAFT REPORT

Posted by Jay Bhatt at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)