The latest Engineering Library "Question of the Month" entries are now available from News from the Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences Libraries.
October 2008
Q: I am looking for a master of science thesis in engineering from XYZ years ago by John/Jane Smith/Jones. I've looked in the catalog and cannot find it.
A: First off, it is important to verify what kind of degree this person actually got. The Engineering Library has always collected MS and PhD theses by engineering students as these are original research publications with potentially important scientific information. However, students in the one-year professional Master of Engineering programs do not write "theses" they write "projects" which--while rigorous--are far less substantial than research-degree theses. Only in the past few years has the Engineering library started systematically collecting M.Eng. projects. Before that, the individual departments usually kept backfiles, using their own procedures. Also, some M.Eng. students who have spent time working in industry choose to withhold their projects from any party other than their advisor because their project describes trade secrets or as-yet-unpublished research done for their prior employer.
M.Eng. theses, if they are in our collection, will be properly cataloged. However they will likely not be in ProQuest Digital Dissertations or Cornell Dissertations.
To determine what kind of degree a student got, we have a paper resource here at the Engineering Library in our reference collection called "Advanced Degrees Conferred" which consists simply of unbound paper packets listing the degrees and names given for each of the 3 graduation dates per year (June, August and January). The names are sorted by degree awarded, with M.Eng. students broken down by department. Typically, not even the title of the student's project is given, unlike MS or PhD recipients, whose thesis title is given.
"Advanced Degrees Conferred" goes back as far as 1968, with a few gaps, and can be found here:
https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=345782&DB=local
Prior to 1968 and going back as far as 1948 there are a series of stapled booklets called "Register of Fellowships and Degrees" but which essentially contained the same information. They can be found here:
https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=385065&DB=local
September 2008
Q: The eJournals list says [The Journal of Combustion Science] is available full text back to 1957 (see image) but when I go there the full text only starts with June 1995.
Q: There is an article in the Journal of Water Research that is not available online through Cornell. I get the message: "This article is not included in your organization's subscription. Is that normal?
Q: I am having trouble downloading a paper online from Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. Is the paper available online?
These are just a few of these type of questions we have gotten over the past month or so here at Engineering. In each case, the problem seems to trace back to ScienceDirect journals. Specifically, there seems to be a descrepancy between what the eJournals listing in our catalog says about the depth of our backfile access and what access we actually are able to get in the form of full-text, PDF access. Most irritatingly, people are able to get as far as the expandable menu with the backfiles and then into the abstracts and citations before they discover they cannot get the full-text. That is, they get the green screen of subscription-death, where Elsevier tells them "Your institution does not have subscription access to this issue, please contact your library administrator, "etc.
We have forwarded each of these questions on to libit-l and have learned that the problem is in the catalog: We genuinely do not have subscription access to these backfiles and the catalog, through an updating error, should not be saying that we do. When this situation will be corrected, we are not sure.
In some cases, we hae been able to direct people to paper subscriptions held elsewhere on campus. In others, we have simply had to recommend they use interlibrary loan.
August 2008
Q: How do I get a thesis or dissertation published by a British university?
A: With some difficulty. There are two options if the thesis is not found in Proquest Digital Dissertations: Both can involve a LOT of waiting and neither is certain of success. First, a searcher can check the Center for Research Libraries to determine if they have a copy. This is more complicated than just checking WorldCat because not all of their dissertation holdings are cataloged. The other option is to fill out a paper form (we have some here at the Engineering Library and can distribute copies if desired) and send it to the British Library asking for a loan or copy. This can take between 6 months and a year and may not even yield a positive answer. In many cases, this is more time than a researcher has to spend on their own research and if they are interested in finding theses from Britain, encourage them to start the process as early as they can.
Q: How do I find course descriptions or curricula from Cornell?
A: From 1914 until the 1990s or so when Cornell began issuing the now-familiar red-and-white covered Courses of Studybooks, Cornell distributed course and curricula information through annual or biannual Cornell University Announcements, with one for each major school, college or faculty (i.e. Ag & Life Science, Engineering, medical school, etc.) . These are kept at Olin and other locations around campus. Before 1914, there at first appears to be nothing. But as we recently learned, for earlier years there was a biannual publication called Cornell University Records. These are bound volumes, quite detailed (a single issue was more than 400 pages long) giving information on faculty, courses, degree requirements, students enrolled, and similar. They are, as of this time, not yet cataloged (they have no barcodes and must be checked out using the manual form) but can be found at Olin beginning at LD1349.A6 (right next to the succeeding Announcements, as it happens).
July 2008
Q: I am a librarian at XYZ library in Australia. I would like to borrow or obtain a copy of a thesis from 1959 available within your collection. I am able to pay via visa credit card. Could you please tell me if this is possible.
A:Newer theses from the past few years often have digital copies of some kind available (for theses from Cornell, check ProQuest for digital copies here). But older theses are generally "medium rare" objects, in the sense that there are only a few copies to go around. As such, we are usually loathe to send them out through interlibrary loan, especially over very long distances. As book-length documents, it also usually isn't practical for us to transmit a copy to you via document delivery, as we might be able to do with a journal article or other short work. What you should do is to order a copy made via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.
May 2008
Q. How many books in total can I borrow at one time?
A. There is no limit for registered students, faculty and staff. Visitors and those with purchased library cards have limits that vary with the type of program or card purchased. For additional information about borrowing, see the following CU Library guide to circulation policies: http://www.library.cornell.edu/services/circulation.html.
April 2008
Q. Is there a database of PhD theses?
A. The library subscribes to a database called Proquest Dissertations and Theses (available here: http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/misc/5799613) that provides the full text of recent (from 1996 to the present) theses and dissertations, with abstracts available from 1981 to the present. To search for theses published before 1981, use Dissertation Abstracts: http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/misc/3044695. Dissertations not owned by the CU Library can be requested from interlibrary loan: https://cornell.hosts.atlas-sys.com/illiad/illiad.dll.
You may also find the following web guides helpful:
For locating Theses and Dissertations in the Engineering Library: http://astech.library.cornell.edu/ast/engr/find/Theses-and-Dissertations.cfm
General information: http://www.library.cornell.edu/t/help/res_strategy/finding/dissertations.html
March 2008
Q. I am graduating from Cornell this year. As an alumnus, can I still borrow books from the library?
A. You can find information about services available to you on the CU Library Alumni & Friends Access page: http://alumni.library.cornell.edu. You may also wish to consult with the Access Services Division in room 116 Olin Library or call 607-255-5069. This is the department responsible for issuing library cards to patrons who are not currently enrolled students.
February 2008
Q. I'd heard that there were electronic copies of books written by Thomas R. Kane (such as a Dynamics text) available from the library, but I only see the paper copy available in the catalog.
A. Thank you for submitting your question. Unfortunately, the library catalog does not list electronic copies of books by Thomas R. Kane. All of our electronic books have records in the catalog just like printed material and can be located through a title or author search. Sources for electronic books available to CU Library patrons include Knovel, Books24x7, NetLibrary, and Safari Books Online, but I was unable to locate any of this author's books from these sources. A print copy of this book is available from the library but is currently checked out. I would recommend requesting a copy via Borrow Direct or recalling it from the current borrower by clicking the purple "Requests" button at the top of the catalog record for this item.
Patron Follow-Up : I just wanted to let you know, in case it comes up again, that I found a PDF copy of this book in the Cornell University repository eCommons, available here: http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/638.
Librarian Response : Wow, thank you for sending this link. I have updated our eBooks guide to include eCommons and will get this book cataloged so it can be found through our library catalog. I will remember to consider eCommons as a source for electronic books in the future. Thanks again for letting us know.
December 2007
Q. I found some patents through USPTO.gov but I couldn't open whole file including images. Can you tell me how I can search for these patents?
A. If you were unable to download files from the USPTO, I would recommend searching for the patent using a different source. Try Micropatent, PatentFetcher, or Google Patents. You might also find the Engineering Library guide to finding patents useful: http://astech.library.cornell.edu/ast/engr/find/patents.cfm.
If you are not able to locate the patent you are looking for, please let us know the title and/or number of the patent you need and we will be more than happy to assist you in locating it.
November 2007
Q. I have located two standards from the ASTM on the web that I need for my research. The website allows me to download the standards directly, but requires payment. Are these standards available from the library?
A. The library's selection of standards (located in the reference section of the reading room) includes a multi-volume set of standards from ASTM. The set in our collection was published in 2003 and may not contain standards that have been recently released or updated. If your research requires the most current edition of a standard not available from this set, or if you have any additional questions, please contact the reference staff at the Engineering Library.
Question of the Month Archive
