Resource Review: Free Range Databases

Resource Review: Free Range Databases

Provides a list of free databases that are a bit 'under the radar' as they aren't indexed by Google (in most cases.) Subject areas cover anthropology, sociology, statistics, medicine, economics.

ENERGY EFFICIENT

Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering, has been named to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (http://www.energy.gov/news/9792.htm). The committee’s 19 members will meet twice a year and report directly to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. They will advise him on long-range strategies, program funding and other issues in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

HUB Construction Cameras Installed

We have two views to choose from:

• From the Engineering Library

• From Hall Health.

Recruiters Pick State Schools, Pass on Ivies - WSJ.com

Recruiters Pick State Schools, Pass on Ivies - WSJ.com Recruiters prefer choosing new hires from larger state universities because they tend to be more academically well-rounded.

Drexel Freshmen Get Help From 'Personal Librarians' - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Drexel Freshmen Get Help From 'Personal Librarians' - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

University of Texas at San Antonio opens bookless library on university campus

From KnowledgeSPEAK.com:

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has announced that it has opened its Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Library, projected as the US' first completely bookless brick-and-mortar library on a college or university campus. The 80-person capacity library, which caters to UTSA's College of Sciences and College of Engineering students, is a satellite to the university's larger John Peace Library.

Electronic research is stated to be central to UTSA's AET Library. Instead of storing printed volumes, the library offers students a collection of electronic resources including 425,000 e-books and 18,000 e-journal subscriptions. Skilled science and engineering librarians are available during library hours to help students who need research assistance.

UTSA's electronic library is said to be quickly catching on with students, who are finding that library staff is more available to assist them now that it does not have to circulate and re-shelf books. The publications students want to read are also more accessible, because the online format allows many students to simultaneously access the same volume.

The trend to move higher education library collections online began in October 2000, when Kansas State University opened its Fiedler Engineering Library. The branch library's collection is completely electronic, with the exception of a series of reference books and a few journals that are unavailable electronically. Earlier this year, Stanford University continued the trend when it removed all but 10,000 printed volumes from its Engineering Library.

UTSA designed its bookless library to engage students in an online format within a contemporary new space. The library features ultra modern furniture and space age décor as well as 10 desktop computers, a printer, a scanner and five large LCD screens. To support student study sessions and spontaneous collaboration, the library also offers a series of group study niches and three group study rooms outfitted with whiteboards. The spaces seek to reflect an emphasis on teamwork, communications and problem solving, skills integral to the success of professional engineers and scientists.

With the e-library now open, UTSA is exploring ways to take the bookless concept even further. In the next few months, it expects to start providing pre-loaded collections of e-books on e-reader devices like the iPad or Kindle for students to check out and take home.

Back to the Future is Now! Nike Patents Self-Lacing Sneaker

Wired Magazine reports: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/nike-patents-marty-mcflys-self-lacing-sneaker/

For a link to full patent: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-08/nike-patents-mcfly-self-lacing-shoes-future

Because we don't know what we don't know... until it happens

Disaster Spurs Innovation
On the front of its Science Times section, the New York Times (7/20, D1, Broad) reports, "Disasters teach more than successes," an idea "widely accepted among engineers. ... Disaster, in short, can become a spur to innovation." Even though "the trial-and-error process of building machines and industries has, over the centuries, resulted in the loss of much blood and many thousands of lives," the "sometimes appalling" failures "are inevitable, and given this fact, engineers say it pays to make good use of them to prevent future mistakes. The result is that the technological feats that define the modern world are sometimes the result of events that some might wish to forget." Experts expect the recent "catastrophic failure" of a Gulf oil rig that "took 11 lives and started the worst offshore oil spill in United States history -- will drive the technological progress."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/science/20lesson.html

ASM International Content Available on Knovel

ASM International Content Available on Knovel

San Jose Mercury News: Stanford University prepares for 'bookless library'

This article link was mailed to you by: julesck@u.washington.edu *
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Here's an article about Sarah's current project at the Stanford Physics & Engineering Library.

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Stanford University prepares for 'bookless library' -

By Lisa M. Krieger

lkrieger@mercurynews.com

Box by box, decades of past scholarship are being packed up and emptied from the school's Physics library to make way for the future: a smaller but more efficient and largely electronic library that can accommodate the vast and expanding literature of Physics, Computer Science and Engineering. View Full Story

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Knovel and ASM International partnership to enhance Engineering references

Knovel, a web-based application integrating technical information with analytical and search tools, has announced a partnership with ASM International, The Materials Information Society. ASM publishes information on selection, properties, processing and performance of materials ranging from metals and alloys through plastics and ceramics in handbook, dataset and atlas forms.

Knovel partners with more than 70 international professional societies and publishers to ensure engineers have access to trusted sources of technical content across 23 engineering subject areas. ASM's authoritative published content will be combined with Knovel's data search capabilities and interactive analysis tools.

The combination of expanded materials information alongside best practice information on processing, design and development, is expected to enable engineers using Knovel to quickly access more of the data they need and incorporate it into their work. Engineers working in industries including Aerospace, Design and Construction, Specialty Chemicals, Industrial Equipment and Oil and Gas will benefit greatly from this combined offering.

With a network of over 36,000 members worldwide, ASM provides materials science and engineering professionals with a range of authoritative information and knowledge. The society's best-known information resource is the world-renowned ASM Handbook series, which along with atlases of fatigue curves and stress-strain curves are included in the set of ASM information that will be available from Knovel.

Copyright for Librarians- online course from Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society

From the press release:
March 24, 2010 - Cambridge, Mass., and Rome, Italy - The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University today announced the launch of a new online, open access curriculum, “Copyright for Librarians” (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/copyrightforlibrarians/), developed in conjunction with eIFL.net. “Copyright for Librarians” aims to inform librarians about copyright law in general, as well as the aspects of copyright law that most affect libraries, especially those in developing and transition countries.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/copyrightforlibrarians/Main_Page

Barbie has a new career!

 Check out the press release, direct from Mattel: http://www.barbiemedia.com/admin/uploads/ComputerEngineerBarbie.pdf

UW CEE Professor visits Haiti to realize a shocking reality about construction practices

Prof. Mark Eberhard is back from Haiti where he led a team of five engineers to study how that country's buildings withstood the 7.0 magnitude quake that hit in January.

"I was shocked to hear there was no building code in Haiti," said Eberhard. "I've never been to a place where there's no building codes."

Eberhard is the lead author of a report that will be shared with U.S. aid agencies and the United Nations. He described his trip on a NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) blog:http://neescomm.blogspot.com/

IEEE Xplore Video Shows New Interface and Features

Couple opens Engineering Institute in Bellingham

The Bellingham (WA) Herald (2/6, Cox) reports, "The Washington Engineering Institute, located in Barkley Village, is a new school that will offer one- and two-year certificate programs, as well as continuing education classes for professional engineers."

From the website: WEIS is: " A private institute providing engineering, surveying, and GIS certificate programs and classes to job seekers and industry."

Founded and operated by Dave and Katherine Bren, the program is as follows, "all students take the same first-year program, civil engineering technology. Then if they want to continue for a second year, they can specialize in construction engineering technology, surveying technology, GIS technology or continue with civil engineering technology. Professional engineers also can take some continuing education courses, mostly focused on technology training, or they can take a class that's part of the certificate programs if there is space available." The instructors will be practicing engineers.

New website showcasing DOE Reseach & Development Accomplishments

Check out the website/database from the Department of Energy (DOE), called DOE Research and Development (R&D) Accomplishments, a central forum for information about the outcomes of past DOE R&D that have had significant economic impact, have improved people's lives, or have been widely recognized as remarkable advances in science.
The site is comprised of the R&D Accomplishments Database, Featured Scientists/Topics pages, Laureates, Interesting Insights, and Snapshots. More information about DOE R&D Accomplishments content is available on the About page.

The Most-Cited Institutions in Engineering, 1999-2009, data analyzed by ScienceWatch.com

This is a very interesting list showing the the top 20 institutions which attracted the highest total citations to their papers published in Thomson Reuters-indexed Engineering journals. These institutions are the top 20 out of a pool of 1,084 institutions comprising the top 1% ranked by total citation count in this field.  http://sciencewatch.com/inter/ins/10/10febTOP20ENG/

RiP Database from TRB

The Transportation Research Board's Research in Progress (RiP) website contains the Research In Progress (RiP) Database and a data-entry system to allow users in State Departments of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and University Transportation Centers to add, modify and delete information on their current research projects. The RiP database now contains over 8400 current or recently completed transportation research projects. Most of the RiP records are projects funded by Federal and State Departments of Transportation. University transportation research is also included. The RiP Database now serves as a clearinghouse of University Transportation Centers ongoing research. International research projects from the TRIP file of the International Transport Research Documentation Database are now included in the RiP database. The Transportation Association of Canada supplies records from its Canadian Surface Transportation Research Database for RiP.