Skip to main content
LibApps staff login

Engineering (Basic)

A introductory guide to engineering and technology resources. Directed primarily at engineering undergraduates in ASU101 and lower-level engineering courses.

Getting Facts & Formulas

Of course you can use Google and Wikipedia to look up facts and formulas, but why take a chance it will be "Average Joe's" homework assignment or some unknown person editing Wikipedia who provides the information?   Be safe - Get your engineering information straight from a professional  engineer. 

Click on the links below to find a list of resources for the following types of information:

  • Short description of a word, phrase or concept:
    • Engineering Dictionaries provide a one or two sentence definition of engineering terminology. 
    • Encyclopedias provide several paragraphs about very common engineering concepts or topics. 

  • More in-depth description (or basic introduction) of a concept or topic:
    • Engineering Encyclopedias usually provide more in-depth coverage of a concept or topic than general encyclopedias; could be several pages or more per article.
    • Books such as an introductory textbook for the specific area of engineering provide more descriptive info than a general encyclopedia or dictionary. 
    • Handbooks and Manuals are usually one-volume works containing overviews of a specific area of engineering; very handy for getting a quick refresher to the basic knowledge of that specific area.

  • Formulas and Calculations:
    • Books such as an introcutory textbook for the specific area of engineering provide formulas in addition to descriptions and usually have exercises for applying those formulas.
    • Handbooks and Manuals frequently provide formulas as well as descriptions for concepts within a field.  

  • Numerical data:
    • Handbooks can vary in scope and content; some will contain primarily text, some combine text plus data tables and some are completely data tables with no description.  

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.