Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Start with Knovel
​It's the database with the greatest range of both substances and properties.  Knovel will also help fill in the knowledge gaps if you are unfamiliar with your substance or property.  

Recommended Search Techniques: 

• Text Searching 
  If you need to fill in knowledge gaps about the substance or the property, use the basic text search for either the substance or the property (but not both).  Enter the most commonly used name.  On the results list, use the left-hand column to limit the results to "Text Sections".  After the results page has refreshed look for items that are encyclopedias or books that seem to be an introduction to the topic.  Although dictionaries could be helpful, they usually do not provide enough information.  
  
  Unfamiliar with Knovel's Text Search?  View this short tutorial (3m 14s)
• Data Searching
  Although you can do a search for both the substance and property using the basic text search, we recommend the "Data Search" (button is located directly under the search box).  
  
  Unfamiliar with Knovel's Data Search?  View this short tutorial.  (2m 27s) 
   
• Use the Equation Solver
  As mentioned under "What to Search", point A5, if you know there is a formula that can be used to calculate the data you need, it may be easier to fill in the formula than it is to find experimentally discovered property data.  Knovel has over 1,000 equations from all areas of engineering and some from math.   From the Knovel home page, on the dark gray tool bar, click on "Tools" and then click on "Interactive Equations."
  
  You can do this step in the search process at any time; you many want to try a few more resources to see if you can find the exact data you need before resorting to solving it via a formula. 
  
  Several instructional options are available about Knovel's Interactive Equations: 
  • Interactive Equations (3m 38s)
    A brief video introduction to the type of equations available and the worksheet.
  • Equation Solver (4m 42s)
    A more detailed video on the features within the worksheets 
  • Advanced Help
    This section contains advanced instructional materials including video demonstrations on doing arithmetic and functional calculations, the User Guide, an FAQ section, and a "cheat sheet" for keyboard shortcuts. 

For the search strategy, search: 

• specific property name AND the specific substance name 
• specific property name AND the substance group
• property group AND the specific substance name
• property group AND substance group  

Bibliographic Databases

The following databases cover the title, abstract (summary), and subject terms for each document but do not allow you to search the full text.  

• EI Compendex/Inspec​
  Covers journal articles and conference papers in physics and engineering.
• IEEE Xplore
  ​Covers the publications (journal articles, conference papers and some books) of the IEEE and a few other publishers. Subject coverage is for electrical engineering and its application to other subject areas. 
• SciFinder
  Covers journal articles and conference papers in all areas of pure and applied chemistry. 
  In Step 3, you searched this database by the substance search; in this case, use the research topic search. This database requires ASU students, staff, and faculty to register (free); if you have not registered previously click on this link. 

Full Text Databases

• Google Books
  Books published prior to 1925 are fully accessible; all other books will either provide only a small snippet of the page where the words were found or will not display any text at all. To see if the book is available in the ASU Library, at the Libraries' home page (http://lib.asu.edu), use the Library One Search database to search for the book's title; refine results set by selecting "Book/eBook" in the left-hand column under "Content Type" 
• Google Scholar
  Use either the full text link or the "Get It @ ASU" link to connect to the full text (if available from the ASU Library)
• Library One Search
• Academic Search Premier
• Publisher Websites
  • ACS (American Chemical Society)
  • RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry)
  • Science Direct (Elsevier)
  • Springer Link (Springer Verlag)

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is THE source of employment data for the United States.

• Use the Geographic Guide to determine what statistics are available for regions, states, metropolitan areas, cities and towns. 
  • Overview by Geographic Entity
  • State & Region Statistics at a Glance 
    • Arizona
      
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• Data Sources: 
  • Consumer Expenditure Survey
    Information on the buying habits of America's consumers.
     
  • ​Consumer Price Index
    Monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
     
  • Current Employment Statistics (CES)
    Each month the CES program surveys approximately 146,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 623,000 individual worksites, in order to provide detailed industry data on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls.
     
  • Employee Benefits Survey
    Comprehensive data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefit plans.
     
  • Employment Cost Trends
    Quarterly indexes measuring change over time in labor costs, Employment Cost Index (ECI), and quarterly data measuring level of average costs per hour worked, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).
    
    
  • International Labor Comparisons
    Coverage stopped in the 2011-2013 timeframe.  For more recent data see The Conference Board
     
  • Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
    Monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a comprehensive body of data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics.
     
  • Labor Productivity and Costs
    Measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) with the number of hours worked to produce those goods and services. 
     
  • Multifactor Productivity
    Multifactor productivity (MFP), also known as total factor productivity (TFP), is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) to the amount of combined inputs used to produce those goods and services. Inputs can include labor, capital, energy, materials, and purchased services.
    
    
  • National Compensation Survey
    The Employment Cost Index (ECI) component of the National Compensation Survey (NCS) is a Principal Federal Economic Indicator that measures changes in labor costs. Average hourly costs for employee compensation are presented in the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation.  The NCS also provides benefits incidence data on the percentage of workers with access to and participating in employer provided benefit plans. The survey covers a broad range of benefits including holidays and vacations, sick leave, health and life insurance, and retirement plans. Details of employer-provided health and retirement plan provisions are also provided. 
     
  • Occupational Employment Statistics
    Produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual States, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas; national occupational estimates for specific industries are also available.
     
  • Producers Price Index
    Measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.
     
  • Quarterly Assessment of Employment and Wages
    Publishes a quarterly count of employment and wages reported by employers covering 98 percent of U.S. jobs, available at the county, MSA, state and national levels by industry.
     
  • Work Stoppages
    Monthly and annual data and analysis of major work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers lasting one full shift or longer.

Arizona Department of Commerce
 

The Conference Board
Continues the international data collection that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stopped in 2011-2013.  

• International Labor Comparisons
   

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
Commerce information by country. Off-campus access limited to ASU faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students. 
 

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) iLibrary
​Includes information from International Energy Agency.  Off-campus access limited to ASU faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students.  

• Statistics
   

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

• ​International Economic Accounts 
  U.S. trading in the international markets. 
• ​National Economic Accounts
• Regional Economic Accounts

See also the "Industry Information" subpage (under the Resources tab above) if you are looking for statistics that would be included in a "market report".   

General

• U.S. National Science Foundation 
  • National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
    • Science and Engineering State Profiles: Arizona
       
• U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Data and Statistics Gateway 
    ​

Aerospace

• ​U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Construction and Infrastructure

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • ​​Media Fact Sheets
    ​
• U.S. Census Bureau
  • Manufacturing and Construction Statistics

Energy

• U.S. Energy Information Administration
  Find information by geographic area (International vs. U.S.) or Source/Use (Alternatavie, Coal, Consumption, Electricity, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum, Renewables).
   
• U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • Energy Analysis: Data and Resources
  • Energy Analysis: Energy Data for Decision Makers

Environment

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Transportation

• U.S. Department of Transportation
  • Federal Highway Administration
    • Publications & Statistics
  • Bureau of Transporation Statistics (Transtats)
    •  State Transportation Statistics
      ​
• U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
  • Data and Stats

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Many professional associations collect data on their membership and/or their area of expertise.  Although some make this data freely available on their website, others restrict the data to members only or may provide data only to news sites or journalists for a fee.   The ASU Library cannot obtain the data if the association restricts it.  

To find websites for professional associations: 

• Use Google (or other search engine) to look for an association or society along with the name of the topic, subject area or the title of professionals within that area.  
  Examples: 
  • association construction
  • society construction
  • association medical devices
  • society mechanical engineers
    ​
• Use the Gale Directory Library: 
  • Once in the database, click on "Advanced" on the light blue navigation bar near the top of the screen
  • On the Advanced Search Screen, hold down the CTRL (Control) key and click on the following four databases: 
    • Encyclopedia of Associations: International Organizations 
    • Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations of the U.S. 
    • Encyclopedia of Associations: Regional, State, and Local Organizations of the U.S.
    • National Directory of Non-Profit Organizations
  • Use the search boxes to search by keyword for your topic, subject, or professional title
  • In the results list, for each entry of interest, click on the website address to bring up the website in a different browser window. 

Once in the website, look for a category or section labeled statistics or data.  If no such section exists, use the site's search box to look for "statistics".   If the site has a publications section, see if that has a separate search engine in which you can search for "statistics".