American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)



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		The Cybrarian Service Presents Finding Your Way Around the World Wide Web Table of Contents Purpose of this Tutorial Tour of the Site Resource Type #1: Gateways Resource Type #2: Databases Resource Type #3: Electronic Journals Resource Site #4: Full Text Documents Resource Site #5: Standards Resource Site #6:Organizations Resource Site #7: Mailing Lists Tour Tips Internet Information Seeking Skills Search Tools: Part1 Search Tools: Part 2 Subject Tools: Search Engines Subject Tools: Directories Subject Tools: Subject Gateways Search Tips Review of Web Information Quality - Why? Quality - Where? Quality - Who? Quality - When? Quality - What? Common Pitfalls Review Tips Appendix A: WWW Addresses Cited This Is a Tutorial on Finding Information on the World Wide Web You can start by going through the Internet Tutorial for civil engineers provided by EEVL: the Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics and Computing And then you can view the Supplementary Information provided by the following pages on civil engineering resources. Or you can go through the Tutorial and Supplementary Information at the same time by opening up two browser screens and toggling between the two since sections in the Supplementary Information relate directly to the pages in the EEVL Tutorial. Back to the top Purpose of this Tutorial Introduce you to the different types of resources available on the Web Identify some of the key resources for civil engineering Explore basic search techniques used by general and specialized search engines Show you how to evaluate the reliability and/or validity of the information you find To start off, you should go to EEVL's tutorial for civil engineers Click on: Internet Civil Engineer This takes you to the 'Welcome' page for the EEVL tutorial. From here you will take a "Tour of the Sites" After reading the Welcome message, enter the 'Tour' section of the tutorial (first section of the tutorial) by clicking on the 'car' icon and the RESOURCE TYPES page will appear. Back to the top Tour of the Site Resource Type #1: Gateways Caution: Always check to see when a Gateway has been updated. You can usually tell by checking the copyright date at the bottom on the main Web page. Other gateways of interest: iCivilEngineer.com Ultimate Civil Engineering site Back to the top Resource Type #2: Databases NOTE: ASCE's Cybrarian Service can assist you in your research It has access to over 25 fee-based databases covering all areas of engineering through the database aggregator DIALOG In addition, the Service has access to other web-based technically-oriented databases such as Ingenta, Infotrieve Online, Center for Research Libraries, and Scirus For trade and general information, the Cybrarian Service has access to articles in over 7000 magazines Database example: ASCE'sCivil Engineering Database This database contains information on the publications of the ASCE. It also provides links to records in the Online Bookstore and full-text online articles available from ASCE. It can be searched by any term in the record, terms in the title, authors' names, and keywords. You can limit your search by type of document you want (i.e.: journal article or conference paper) and by year published When searching by an author's name, the best thing to do is to type in the last then a comma followed by a space and then the first initial of the first name followed by an asterisk () Example: doe, j Back to the top Resource Type #3: Electronic Journals NOTE: ASCE Online Journals now go back to 1995 Some online journal services, such as ASCE and Ingenta, provide access to a searchable database of their online journals. Access to other online journals will be found by using commercial and not-for-profit subject-oriented databases such as PubScience and Engineering Index's Compendex Plus Back to the top Resource Site #4: Full Text Documents Other Important Government Sites: FirstGov - provides access to all areas of the Federal Government U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Federal Emergency Management Agency For Easy Access to State Government Web Sites, go to: State and Local Government on the Net Back to the top Resource Site #5: Standards Additional Standards-related Organizations: American National Standards Institute: The Institute's mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity. ASTM INTERNATIONAL is a not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Back to the top Resource Site 6:Organizations NOTE: Additional relevant Professional Societies can be found listed in the Related Sites section of every Community of Practice listed on the ASCE Web Site To locate US departments and agencies you can use the FirstGov portal Additional sources for Research information: Civil Engineering Research Foundation Transportation Research Board Back to the top Resource Site #7: Mailing Lists There are thousands of electronic mailing lists (also called discussion groups) available covering all types of subjects. Researchers and practicing engineers can use them to keep up on issues or to find out about the latest techniques. Some catalogs of mailing lists are: CataList the official catalog of LISTSERV lists Tile.net PAML - The Directory of Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists You can also participate in discussion groups through the different Communities of Practice on ASCE's Web site. You can setup your own topic for discussion or participate in an existing group. Back to the top Tour Tips : Before starting a search, decide what you are looking for. If you are paying for connect time, this will save you money. When database searching, especially fee-based services, take time of day into account. Online services are slower at certain times of the day such as midday. If you come across an interesting site, bookmark it right away or at least print the page so that you may go back to it later. Not all information is free. Sites that provide added-value usually charge someone for this value - your company or your library. Whatever payment system they use, make sure it is secure. Be on the watch for sites that have the opt-in set as their default setting. This means that if you do not want a site to send you emails, announcements, etc. then you must opt-out. This is usually done by deselecting the opt-in message. Back to the top Internet Information Seeking Skills Different types of search tools available Civil engineering search tools Tips for improving search techniques Back to the top Search Tools: Part 1 Searching Use when know what you are looking for but don't know where to find it Use search engines by inputting your own search terms Search engines select sites automatically and usually cover a wide selection of sites Examples: Google, All the Web, AltaVista Back to the top Search Tools: Part 2 Browsing Use when you want to find out what type of information is available on a topic Directories: sites are selected and evaluated by human editors; cover a wide range of topics; arranged by subject headings Subject gateways: sites selected by subject specialists; much narrower focus and much more specific Example:Ultimate Civil Engineering Directory Back to the top Subject Tools: Search Engines Some recent entries into the Search Engine field All the Web Ask Jeeves Teoma MetaSearch Engines Search engines that can search multiple search engines at the same time. Examples: Profusion; QuickFindIt.com Back to the top Subject Tools: Directories 'The Civil Engineers Mega Bookmarks of 1000+ valuable and useful web resources' now called: 'Ultimate Civil Engineering Directory' Remember: The resources on the Web are constantly changing - locations, names, content, etc. You need to stay aware of this fact. Back to the top Subject Tools: Subject Gateways Other Civil Engineering Gateways: List of On-Line Civil Engineering Resources iCivilEngineer There are also Specialized Gateways available: Transportation Research Links Water Librarian's Home Page TrafficLinc Unsure of which tool to use? Check Debbie Abilock's Table for suggestions Back to the top Search Tips Additional Tips: Remember: Each search engine uses different protocols. Unless you use a particular search engine all the time, ALWAYS read the HELP page before starting your search. Remember: Even if you use a certain search engine all the time, search engines keep changing. More and more are accepting payment for placement of search results. To see if the search engine that you use is doing this, check its description now and then. Back to the top Review of Web Information Quality of information - how to judge Why? Where? Who? When? What? Pitfalls to watch out for Review tips Back to the top Quality - Why? Check for well-stated set of aims or a description of the purpose of the Web site Who is the intended audience? What is the level of the information? What is the bias of the site and the owners? Why is this information being made available? Back to the top Quality - Where? What format is the information in? - straight html; pdf; - is specialized software needed? Do you have to register? Is there a fee or other restriction? Where is the site located? Check the extension to determine in what part of the world the site is located. Back to the top Quality - Who? Who set up the site? Is the site academic, commercial, not-for profit or government? Is it specialized information or general? Remember: As with any resource always check its credentials - whether the resource is print or electronic Back to the top Quality - When? When were the pages last updated? How often is it updated? How current is the information? Don't just look at copyright dates, check within the documents to see what dates are mentioned. A paper might not have a publication date but its bibliography might give some idea of how current it is. If there is no copyright date on the Web pages, this is an indication of a poorly constructed site and should probably not be trusted. Back to the top Quality - What? Does the site have what you need? Is it presented well or difficult to understand? Is it well organized? Is the information reliable? Back to the top Common Pitfalls Think before you do - based on what you need determine what type of resource is best to use If doubtful of a source, try to verify using other sources. Check the URLs provided by search engines to get quick idea of reliability of source and level of information Before you use a piece of information from a Web site, make sure you can cite your source properly If you wish to copy an image, presentation, a portion of a Web page, etc., always contact the Web owner and request permission before you do anything Back to the top Review Tips The Web portion of the Internet is constantly changing Just because it is online doesn't mean it is current or accurate Always look for ways to validate your sources - who, what, where, etc. If you don't know the subject well, start with subject gateways Remember: The Internet does not contain all the world's knowledge. Many questions can still be answered by using print resources When in doubt, try your friendly Cybrarian for help! Created: May 2002 Back to the top Appendix A: WWW Addresses Cited** Listed in order of reference: ASCE's Cybrarian Service http://www.asce.org/cybrarian/ EEVL: the Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics and Computing http://www.eevl.ac.uk/ Internet Civil Engineer http://www.eevl.ac.uk/vts/civil/index.htm iCivilEngineer.com http://www.icivilengineer.com/ Ultimate Civil Engineering http://www.tenlinks.com/engineering/civil/index.htm ASCE's Civil Engineering Database http://www.pubs.asce.org/cedbsrch.html FirstGov http://www.firstgov.gov/index.shtml U.S. Army Corps of Engineers http://www.usace.army.mil/ Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov/ State and Local Government on the Net http://www.piperinfo.com/state/index.cfm American National Standards Institute http://www.ansi.org/ ASTM INTERNATIONAL http://www.astm.org/ Civil Engineering Research Foundation http://www.cerf.org/ Transportation Research Board http://www.trb.org/ CataList http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html Tile.net http://www.tile.net/ PAML http://paml.net/ Google http://www.google.com/ All the Web http://www.alltheweb.com/ AltaVista http://www.altavista.com/ Ask Jeeves http://www.askjeeves.com/ Teoma http://www.teoma.com/ Profusion http://www.profusion.com/ QuickFindIt.com http://www.quickfindit.com/ List of On-Line Civil Engineering Resources http://www.shilstone.com/public/wwwothr.htm iCivilEngineer http://www.icivilengineer.com/ Transportation Research Links http://www4.nationalacademies.org/trb/homepage.nsf/web/links Water Librarian's Home Page http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/waterlib.html TrafficLinc http://www.trafficlinq.com/ Debbie Abilock's Table http://www.noodletools.com/
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