ENGLISH 202C: TECHNICAL WRITING

Internet Resource Guide

A Survival Guide for Undergraduate Penn State Mechanical Engineering Students
Sean Kennison February 11, 2014

Table of Contents
Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 1 Internet Resource Guide ............................................................................................................................... 4 2 Research/Supplemental Material ............................................................................................................. 4 2 Web of Science...................................................................................................................................... 4 2 Open Mechanical Engineering Journal ................................................................................................. 6 4 5 Catalog of U.S. Government Publications ............................................................................................. 7 Statistical Abstract of the United States ............................................................................................... 9 7 Homework/Study Help ........................................................................................................................... 10 8 Wolfram Alpha .................................................................................................................................... 10 8 9 Engineering Toolbox ........................................................................................................................... 11 10 Chegg................................................................................................................................................... 12 8 Internships, Co-Ops, and Jobs ................................................................................................................. 13 12 ECareer ................................................................................................................................................ 14 12

Preface
Contents/Scope: This internet resource guide is intended to help and support undergraduate Penn
State students studying mechanical engineering. This guide contains various sources that are helpful for research and for students who are looking for additional information on areas related to their field of study. It also has resources that are helpful for homework, which can be very useful when it is 2 A.M. and you have not figured out your problems that are due in the morning. Besides academic use, this guide also contains a source that is extremely useful for students looking for internships, co-ops, and jobs.

Audience/Purpose: The intended primary audience of this guide is specifically undergraduate Penn
State students who are studying mechanical engineering. As a current undergraduate Penn State student studying mechanical engineering, I have personally selected these sources, which I have used and determined to be extremely useful. Utilizing the resources provided can really make your time at Penn State easier and more fulfilling. Whether you are a freshman just starting out or a senior about to graduate, this guide can be tremendously helpful.

Assumptions about Audience: As previously stated, this guide is intended for undergraduate
Penn State students studying mechanical engineering. You do not have to meet all of these requirements to find this guide useful, but the guide is written under the assumption that you are part of the primary audience. Meeting these assumptions will allow you to get the most out of this guide. It is also assumed that you have internet access, your Penn State ID handy, and basic computer and engineering knowledge.

Organization: This guide contains eight separate sources separated into three main parts. The three
main parts are: Research/Supplemental Material, Homework/Study Help, and Internships, Co-Ops, and Jobs. The Research/Supplemental Materials section contains sources that are good for looking up additional information that will add to your overall knowledge base. The Homework/Study Help section contains sources that are ideal for helping with assignments and exam preparation. The last section, Internships, Co-Ops, and Jobs, contains one source that is invaluable to finding real life work outside of the classroom. Each individual source has a title, an internet address, an abstract, and some tips that can further help your experience with the use of each resource.

Tips: I encourage you to give each source an honest attempt at using, even if you do not think it will
offer you much. As someone who is in the same position as you are, I can say with confidence that every source in this guide is helpful in its own way. Be sure to play around with the sources too. The more comfortable you are with the websites, the more use you will get out of them. Pay close attention to the tips provided for their respected source. These are there to give some additional information that is not necessarily obvious to first-time users. Also, make sure you have Excel and software that can display PDFs, as this is necessary to view some documents provided by the sources.

2 [ T y p e Research/Supplemental Material a q Web of Science u Internet Address: o t http://apps.webofknowledge.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/WOS_GeneralSearch_input.do?product= e WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&SID=3A5uhS3pBgPNqgBQobr&preferencesSaved= fr o Abstract: m The Web of Science is an electronic index, maintained by Thomson Reuters, that gives access to multiple databases that contain research from numerous academic and scientific disciplines. It provides a very t broad and extensive amount of information that can be easily accessed through the high-end search barh and its advanced features. This makes the exploration of specific sub-fields easy and painless. Whether e you are looking for recent articles or ones dating all the way back to 1900, the Web of Science has it all, d making it one of the most extensive indexes on the internet. Even though the depth of the index is o immense, the search features can easily narrow down the results to material relating to mechanical c engineering. For example, it is a perfect resource to look for case studies on various types of welding, u which is great supplemental information for Materials Science class. Also, do not be afraid to reserve the m Web of Science just for your engineering classes. It is a great resource for all of your classes, including e general education or elective courses. To start a search on the Web of Science, you can use the n following instructions: t

Internet Resource Guide

o 1. Go to the homepage via the above link, and type in the search bar what you are looking for. r 2. You will be taken to a results page with options to refine your search located on the left. On top t and below your results, there is also an option to sort your findings in various ways. h 3. To select a result, you can either click on the title, which will take you to the main page of that e result, or you can click the View Abstract button, which is located underneath the publication s title. u 4. The View Abstract button gives you the option to view the articles abstract without being m redirected to a new page. m 5. If you decide to go the articles main page, you will be shown information about the article. This a information will include such items as author, publisher, an abstract, and other related material. r 6. To view the full text of the document, you are given two options located above the title to the y left. o 7. Clicking the blue Full Text button will give you a Get IT Penn State button if Penn State has f direct access to the article. Clicking this button will redirect you to another page that provides a links to view the full document. n i n t e r

3 8. The other option to view the full text is to click the button to the right of the blue Full Text button. This button has a google symbol and says Look up full-text. This button allows you to search for the article on Google Scholar. 9. Both options, if available, should be able to get you access to the article you are looking for. Tips: The index uses the Boolean operators And, OR, or Not to either broaden or narrow the search results. These are quick and useful options to use in the search bar. Although it can be seen on the basic search page, keep in mind the timespan goes all the way back to 1900. So if you are looking for newer material, specify the time frame you want so you do not get thousands of hits. The Web of Science uses 7 different databases. You can remove any of these databases that do not pertain to the material you are searching for. Just click more settings on the basic search page and checkmark the databases you want. This will help quicken your search and narrow down your results. If you find a document you really like but wish it had more detail, scroll all the way down on the document page, and click on the number after Cited References in Web of Science Core Collection. This will take you to another page with any sources the document cited. This is a good place to look for more detail on the original document or related material.

Open Mechanical Engineering Journal Internet Address: http://benthamscience.com/open/tomej/ Abstract: The Open Mechanical Engineering Journal, published by Bentham Science Publishers, is an online open access journal that provides information on current developments in all areas of mechanical engineering. It is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research articles, reviews, letters and guest edited single topic issues that are freely available to anyone (benthamscience.com). This is the place to go for students who have a real interest in mechanical engineering and want to expand their scope outside of the classroom. If you are looking for an information source that will supply you with unique and current knowledge related to your field that will distinguish you from your hundreds of classmates, the Open Mechanical Engineering Journal is the perfect place. To search the journal, do the following: 1. The given link will take you to the Open Mechanical Engineering Journal homepage. 2. Clicking on the red View Journal Articles button will send you to the published contents page where you have the option to choose from 7 volumes, published from 2007 to 2013. 3. Clicking the blue General Articles button will deliver you to the title page of the articles within the chosen volume. Under each title you can view its abstract and then download the full PDF file if interested. Tips: Some volumes have special issues pertaining to a specific subject that were added after the general articles. You can access these articles the same way as the general articles by clicking on the Special Issue links on the published contents page. If you are interested in any other fields of study, you can access other journals on different areas that are located on the same website. All you have to do is click on the Journals A-Z tab or Journals by Subject tab, which are both located permanently on the left side of the page. There is also a search bar that can be accessed on the left-hand side by clicking the search tab, which is located right below the Journals A-Z and Journals by Subject tabs. The search tab allows you to search by phrase and gives you results located on the same website. This option can be faster than sifting through articles if you know specifically what you are looking for.

5 Catalog of U.S. Government Publications Internet Address: http://catalog.gpo.gov/F Abstract: The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) is an online database that is used to find federal publications. Not only historical, but also current publications can be found, each with their own descriptive records. Direct links are also provided for publications that can be found online. A simple yet effective search bar, located on the homepage, makes the CGP very accessible for anyone interested in government publications. This is a good resource to use if you need to research anything that was documented by a government agency, such as NASA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and even Homeland Security. For example, if your teacher asks you to look up a case where combined stresses are important to take into account with flight in space, you can search aerospace and combined stress on the main search bar, and you will be taken to the results page. There you can click on the title of the first result and you will be taken to that articles homepage. On the homepage you will find the following information: Title: Aerospace threaded fastener strength in combined shear and tension loading [electronic resource] Internet Access: http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo27832 Author: LinkSteeve, B. E. Publisher Info: Huntsville, Ala. : National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Marshall Space Flight Center , [2012] By clicking on the internet access link, you can visit the full text of the document. This document contains a very in-depth look at nuts and bolts and all of the combined stresses they undergo on space shuttles. Being published by a government agency, the document is very well written and organized. It begins with background information and defines all the variables used throughout. It is a great example of the importance of calculating stresses in the real world and is perfectly relatable to the material mechanical engineering students study. All documents can be searched by the same method described above. Tips: Not all reports can be accessed online. If you find a document you would really like to see that is not available on the internet, you may be able to find it at a nearby Federal Depository Library. This can be done by using the CPGs Locate in Library function. To access this function, first go to the articles homepage and look for the phrase Locate in a Library on the left if it is available.

6 By clicking the link associated with that phrase, you will be taken to a library locater page where you can locate federal depository libraries by city, state, or area code that have the document you are looking for. Not all documents will have this function, however. You may find some articles that do not have an internet access link or Locate in Library option. For these types of articles, go to its homepage and look on the left for the phrase Linking Field. Clicking the link associated with this phrase will cause a small window to open up. This window will give you two search options. The first is to find other documents in the database that have the same title as the article you want. Choosing this option will give you any articles that share the same title, and these articles may be either online or able to be located within a library. The other option in the pop-up window is to browse a heading list in the database that will deliver any articles that share similar headings, including the same heading. This option also allows you to see if there are multiple records of the same article you are searching for. If multiples exist, you may be able to access one of them.

7 Statistical Abstract of the United States Internet Address: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ Abstract: The Statistical Abstract of the United States is a summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States (census.gov). Published annually by the United States Census Bureau since 1878, it is a perfect resource for anyone interested in the economic and social conditions of the United States. Due to government budget cuts, however, the program in charge of publishing the Statistical Abstract was terminated. Because of this, the latest available abstract is the 2012 version. Nonetheless, there is still an enormous amount of information available from the past published abstracts, which makes this an excellent reference tool. For an undergrad Mechanical Engineering student, this is a good place to go to if you are researching anything that you need lots of statistics for. For example, let us say one of your professors asked you to write a paper or perform research on nuclear power plants within the United States. Your professor also obviously wants numbers and statistics because that is what engineering professors want. To search for information for this assignment, you could do the following steps: 1. Click the above link and you will be taken to the 2012 Statistical Abstract homepage. 2. On the left hand side, scroll over Energy & Utilities and then click Nuclear. This will take you to a new page. 3. Under the Energy & Utilities: Nuclear heading, you will have several options to choose from. The first option is Nuclear Power Plants-Number, Capacity, and Generation. Click on either the Excel or PDF link, depending on preference, to the right of the option to open up the file. 4. Once the file is open, there are several tables that provide data on nuclear power plants within the United States. For example, operable generating units and net power generation over a course of years are listed at the top. Tips: Remember, this database only contains information up to 2012, so if you are looking for the most recent data, you will need to use a different resource. There is also a search bar on the top right you can use, which may be quicker, but make sure you are specific in what you are searching for. This is because you can easily get thousands of results from all the publications if your search is too broad. To access earlier editions of the Statistical Abstract, click on the Earlier Editions tab located above the browse sections. This will take you to another page where you can click various links to different abstracts. Depending on which link you choose, you may need to go through a few more pages before you reach the abstract you are looking for.

Homework/Study Help
Wolfram Alpha Internet Address: http://www.wolframalpha.com/ Abstract: Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine that can be used to solve calculations or research information. Instead of just providing you with links to where you can find your answers, Wolfram Alpha does it for you on the spot with details and everything. Even though Wolfram Alpha is capable of tasks such as acting as an encyclopedia and answering absurd questions, as an engineering student, you will get the most use out of Wolfram Alpha by using it as a super calculator. It is capable of helping you with pretty much any math problem, from plotting complex equations, to integrating the most complicated integrals. It is perfect for calculus, which is involved in almost every single engineering class you will take at Penn State. This is why Wolfram Alpha is so beneficial to engineering students. You just type in the search bar on the homepage what you want, in similar format to that of Google searches, and it will calculate it for you. It gives not just the answer, but the steps and details too. You do need a paid subscription to use the full benefits of Wolfram Alpha, but I still highly recommend it. Tips: It is going to take some time before you fully figure out how to properly search for answers, but Wolfram Alpha is usually pretty good at figuring out what you want. Be specific when you type in what you want to know; for example, dont just type in x=2+3y. Type in solve for x, x=2+3y. This will make sure it does what you want it to. After you enter what you want to know, there will be an assumption box underneath what you typed on the next page. If it assumes not what you want, you can alter this by clicking on the other provided assumptions. If it does not know what you want and does not offer any assumptions, it will tell you. In this case, you might have to try inputting your problem in a different manner. You need to purchase an account if you want unlimited problem solutions and access to the many other features Wolfram Alpha has to offer. There is something you can do to get somewhat around this, however. If you sign up as a free account user you can get two free solutions per day. So if you space out your questions wisely, you can get away without paying for an account. If two solutions a day is not enough and you are persistent on not paying for Wolfram Alpha, make multiple email addresses and then use them to make multiple free accounts. This method can theoretically give you unlimited access. If you type in the search bar is this the krusty krab, Wolfram Alpha will respond with No! This is Patrick!

9 Engineering Toolbox Internet Address: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ Abstract: Engineering Toolbox is an online information source containing Resources, Tools and Basic Information for Engineering and Design of Technical Applications (engineeringtoolbox.com). This is probably the most useful source in this guide for not just mechanical engineering students, but any student in any field of engineering. I like to think of this website as my engineering bible for all my classes. It is the perfect tool to help you with your homework and anything related to calculations. It provides everything such as unit conversions, identification tests for stainless steels, and corrosion resistance tables of every material you can think of. Instead of looking through your 20 engineering books for a single equation, Engineering Toolbox has everything you need plus so much more. Also, the best part of Engineering Toolbox is that it is 100-percent free. Starting at the homepage, looking for information is pretty selfexplanatory and goes as follows: 1. On the left hand side, there are tabs, in alphabetical order, for each main subject of engineering. These tabs stay here no matter what page you go to. These same subjects are also found in the middle of the homepage, also in alphabetical order, but are only found on the homepage. 2. Clicking on a subject will take you to another page that has more specific subjects. 3. Clicking on any of these subcategories will take you to the page that has all the information you need pertaining to that particular area. 4. If you do not know what to look for in the tabs, just use the search toolbar located at the top, which is available on every page. Tips: Even though Engineering Toolbox is a very valuable site, there are a number of advertisements located throughout the website. This is the downfall to having access to such a beneficial site. So be careful not to press on any of the advertisements as they will direct you to another page. If you want to print out any of the graphs or tables for future reference, on the top right of every page there is a printer icon that will put the page in a printer-friendly view. Engineering Toolbox also offers a variety of apps that, when saved, can be used offline. These apps are also available for tablets, iPhones, Androids, and many other newer devices. To access these apps, follow the given link and look for the apps symbol located near the top left of the page and click.

10 Chegg Internet Address: https://www.chegg.com/ Abstract: As a college student, I am sure that you have heard about Chegg either through advertisement or your friends. The reason Chegg is so well known is because it is awesome. Chegg is an academic company based in Santa Clara, CA, that specializes in online textbook rentals, homework help, and scholarships through Zinch (chegg.com). These three things that Chegg offers are definitely hot commodities for college students. I myself find the most use out of the homework help, but unfortunately, you need a paid subscription to utilize the majority of this service. If you have the extra cash though and want to put it to good use, I highly recommend it. Once you have an account, there are several ways to find help on your homework and studying from Chegg, which are described below. 1. The first is to find guided solutions to available textbooks. These will give you step-by-step solutions to thousands of textbooks. So if your textbook is available, I suggest starting here. Just go the homepage, and near the bottom click the Find Solutions button. The new page will give you the option to search for specific questions in the search bar, or find guided solutions via the Find Guided Solutions button above the search bar. If you choose to search for guided solutions, a search bar will pop up that asks you to enter your books title, ISBN, or author. As you type, a drop down menu will appear that match any books that solutions are available to. 2. If the solutions to your book are not available or you are just looking for a specific question, use the search bar after you click the Find Solutions button. As you type a question or phrase, a dropdown menu of questions already asked that are similar to your search will appear. If you see your question, click on it, or finish typing and then enter. The results are questions that are similar to yours. Hopefully at least one matches what you are looking for. 3. The third option is to ask your own question, to which you can get an answer in as little as two hours from either a Chegg expert or another member of the Chegg community. On the homepage and to the right, click the Ask a Question button. This will take you to a new page where you can properly format your question. Tips: To save some money, you can create a Chegg account with your friends and split the cost. Or ask to borrow a Chegg account from someone you know. To not spend money at all, you can get a free trial offered by Chegg. To do this, start by creating a free account. Then go to your account page, and under Chegg Study Membership, click upgrade now. You need to enter a valid credit card, but you will be given a seven-day free trial. You can also cancel the membership immediately and you will still have the seven-day free trial. Keep an eye out for emails from Chegg if you do not have a paid subscription. They are always offering free trials even if you have used one before.

11 Although I did not go into detail about some of the other great amenities Chegg offers, do not hesitate to check them out by searching through their website. Chegg offers so many things that it would require its own research guide to fully explain them all.

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Internships, Co-Ops, and Jobs

ECareer Internet Address: https://eng-psu-csm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?s=home Abstract: ECareer is a job listing site that has a special branch specifically for Penn State Students. The software is provided by Simplicity, which is a technology company that provides systems to the areas of higher education, government, and business. In order to get a successful job, the education you acquire is only half the part. The other half is actually getting out in the field and getting internships and co-ops, which ECareer is perfect for. ECareer is completely customizable for each user. It offers a step-by-step procedure for new users so you can be sure that you set everything up correctly. After you set up an account with your Penn State ID, you can upload a resume and complete your profile. After this is done, there is a job finder feature that lists jobs that are best associated with your profile. This makes it much easier to find what you are looking for, whether you are a freshman looking for a summer internship, or a senior looking for a permanent job. You can also look for jobs manually by clicking the Jobs tab located at the top of the page. This will result in hundreds of job listings relevant to your personal profile. Clicking on a job will give a description and other information about the job, including how to apply. If you can apply online through ECareer, there will be an Apply button available. If not, there will be a How to Apply section to the right on the job description page. ECareer also offers many other resources such as resume tips and examples, which are located to the right of the homepage. When you are ready to upload your resume, via the Documents tab on the top of the homepage, it is inspected by Penn State personnel who contact you with tips and hints to better enhance your resume if it needs it. It even keeps track of any scheduled interviews you have that have been made through ECareer. On your homepage, there is also an announcement window that has announcements for any events or activities associated with Penn State that may be of interest to you. Tips: Like Chegg, ECareer offers a lot that cannot be fully explained in this abstract. Unfortunately, the help and support ECareer supplies is almost non-existent once you get past the initial set-up. So be sure to spend some time on ECareer and become familiar with it so you can take advantage of all the services it provides. Penn State offers a brief help page on ECareer that can be found via this address: http://www.engr.psu.edu/career/Students/resources/ecareer.aspx. This can help with some questions and concerns that you come up with. Located near the top of the homepage, you can use the search bar to also search for things such as jobs and information sessions. By clicking on the search bar, a window pops up that gives you a few choices to narrow down your search.

13 Make sure you go to the correct website. Penn State students have their own ECareer website and you cannot log in at the main site. Following the website link above will give you three options: log in, sign up, or go to another page for Penn State Students. You want to choose the latter option and your email is your Penn State email and your password is your Penn State password. Make sure you upload your resume in advance, because it needs to be reviewed and approved before it can be used. So if there is an internship with a deadline on it for applying, make sure you do not wait until the last minute. If your resume does not get approved, you will need to fix any mistakes and resubmit it. This can take some time so be wary. Check ECareer frequently. The job postings and announcements are updated regularly. You also want to keep track of any applications submitted online through ECareer.