Research Guides: Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering: EN380 Naval Material Science and Engineering

Getting Help for your Research Paper

Schedule a meeting with your librarian

Here's a link to my appointment calendar. Find a time that works for you and book it.

Keep track of your research

A document like this research log template can help you stay organized with your research. It can also help you extract the most relevant information from a paper efficiently.

Read Efficiently

Check out these tips on how to read a technical or scholarly paper. Don't worry, you won't spoil the ending if you skip around as you read.

Key Resources

Engineering Village (Compendex and Inspec) This link opens in a new window
Home of engineering databases, Compendex and Inspec, Engineering Village includes journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical standards, trade magazines, technical reports and engineering information
Home of engineering databases, Compendex and Inspec, Engineering Village includes journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical standards, trade magazines, technical reports and engineering information
Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
The collection contains advanced technology related full-text articles, granular access to millions of figures and tables within articles, and the entire range of bibliographic records from the Advanced Technologies Database with Aerospace (ATDWA)
The collection contains advanced technology related full-text articles, granular access to millions of figures and tables within articles, and the entire range of bibliographic records from the Advanced Technologies Database with Aerospace (ATDWA). ATDWA brings together the most comprehensive bibliographic coverage of research, emerging technologies, applications and companies in the areas of aeronautics, astronautics, computer & information technology, electronics, communications, solid state devices and space sciences.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is a comprehensive, curated abstract and citation database that finds relevant and authoritative research, identifies experts and provides access to reliable data, metrics and analytical tool across a wide variety of disciplines.
Scopus is a comprehensive, curated abstract and citation database that finds relevant and authoritative research, identifies experts and provides access to reliable data, metrics and analytical tool across a wide variety of disciplines.
DTIC Online This link opens in a new window
Serves the DoD community as the largest central resource for DoD and government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information available today. While all visitors can search DTIC's publicly accessible collections, DTIC also makes available sensitive and classified information to eligible users who register for DTIC services.
Serves the DoD community as the largest central resource for DoD and government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information available today. While all visitors can search DTIC's publicly accessible collections, DTIC also makes available sensitive and classified information to eligible users who register for DTIC services.
Knovel This link opens in a new window
Provides access to engineering reference content sourced from societies, publishers and authors. Provides interactive tools that normalize information across content sources and bring content to life by making tables, charts, equations, plotters and graphs interactive.
Provides access to the most comprehensive engineering reference content sourced from the leading societies, publishers and authors. Provides interactive tools that normalize information across content sources and bring content to life by making tables, charts, equations, plotters and graphs interactive.
Military and Intelligence Database This link opens in a new window
Provides access to scholarly journals, magazines, and reports covering all aspects of the past and current state of military affairs. The database offers content in key subject areas including governmental policies, the socioeconomic effects of war, the structure of the armed forces, and more.
Provides access to scholarly journals, magazines, and reports covering all aspects of the past and current state of military affairs. The database offers content in key subject areas including governmental policies, the socioeconomic effects of war, the structure of the armed forces, and more.

Help, I can't access this article!

Try these steps if you find an article or book and can't read it.

Submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request. Watch the video below for more information on how to get started.
ILL is a service through which Nimitz Library obtains articles not in our collection from other libraries for your use. You must be on the yard or connected via VPN/VDI to submit a request.
Email the Engineering Librarian for help finding the full text of an article or book.

I Have a Paper, Now What?

The structure of a paper can tell us where to find certain information. Many research articles follow a similar structure.

Introduction

What did the authors do (big picture)?

Why did they do their research?

Methods

How did they do their research, often step by step?

Results

What happened when they did their research?

Discussion/Conclusion

What did they learn from their research? How did they interpret the results?

Tips for Reading

First, consider your purpose for reading—what information are you looking for? Your research log can help answer that question.

Then examine the title, authors and publication date.

Next, read the abstract and keywords.

If the article looks promising, skim the parts most relevant for your purposes. This will usually include the discussion/conclusion, introduction, results and related figures. The reference list helps point you to other relevant papers.

An efficient way to approach an article is to read the sections out of order and focus on the parts most relevant to your purpose for reading. Don’t forget to take notes!

If the article doesn’t look promising, skip it!