A reference or citation is a written description of a bibliographic work and has two distinct purposes:

• Helps the reader distinguish what the work is without having to actually see it, and if they decide they do want to see it ...
   
• Gives the reader enough information to be able to find it. 

Although many references in the online environment have links to the full text, sometimes the links are missing or do not function, or you may be given a written list of citations without the URL addresses.   In these cases, you'll need to know how to find an item using its citation. 

The instructions below show examples of citations for the different types of documents in which engineering information appears; the citations are in the IEEE citation style.   Following the citations are instructions for finding the document including what databases to use and what part of the citation to search in those databases.  There will usually be two or more recommended databases for each document type; if you do not find the document in the first database, try the second one, etc., before using the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery services. 

Document Types: 

• Book Chapters
• Books
• Conference Papers/Proceedings
• Dissertations and Theses
• Encyclopedia Articles
• Government Documents
• Journal Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Patents
• Standards
• Technical Reports

Need More Help?

Example of a citation for a book chapter ...

D. M. Flournoy, "Top Ten Things to Know About Space Solar Power," in Solar Power Satellites. New York: Springer, 2012, ch. 10, pp. 87-100.

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search BOOK TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Solar Power Satellites

Example of a citation for a chapter within an edited book ...

J. H. Choy, J. M. Oh and D. H. Park,  "Biomedical Applications of Layered Double Hydroxides in Bruce," in Low Dimensional Solids, W. Duncan, D. O'Hare,  and R. I. Walton, Eds. New York:  Wiley, 2010,  pp. 163-187.

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search BOOK TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Low Dimensional Solids

Example of a book citation ...

R. Scott, In the wake of Tacoma: Suspension bridges and the quest for aerodynamic stability. Reston, Va: ASCE Press, 2001.
 

To find the book use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search  
   Search TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Note: If too many items are retrieved, especially book reviews, use CONTENT TYPE to limit results to just "Books/eBooks"
   Example:  "In the wake of Tacoma: Suspension bridges and the quest for aerodynamic stability" 

Recommendations for long titles: 

• If the words are not too generic, search just the main title and leave out the subtitle
• Search just the first 5 or 6 words of the title
• For the catalog, when copying and pasting a title in the search box, make sure the last word(s) is not cut off - if the title is too long to fit in the box, eliminate any partial word from the end of the title.  

Example of a citation to a conference proceedings that has a unique title ...

Y.M. Chun, et al., Eds, Sustainable construction materials and technologies: International Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies, 11-13 June 2007, Coventry, UK.  London, Taylor and Francis, 2007.

To find the conference proceedings use:

1. ASU's Library One Search  
   Search UNIQUE TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Sustainable construction materials and technologies

Example of a citation to a conference proceedings that has a generic title (ex. proceedings, papers, digest, etc.) ...

S.S. Rao, P.S. Sundararaghavan, and A. Kunnathur, Eds, Proceedings of the Conference on Gateways and Barriers to Competitiveness.Toledo, OH, University of Toledo, 1991.
 

To find the conference proceedings use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search  
   Search CONFERENCE NAME as KEYWORDS
   Example: Conference on Gateways and Barriers to Competitiveness
   Limiting the results to "Content Type" for Books/eBooks  may help if a large answer set is retrieved.

Notes:

• Conference proceedings can be difficult to find - if you're not sure you have adequately searched the Library One Search database and the Catalog, before you submit an Interlibrary Loan request, send your citation to "Ask a Librarian" and ask us to check.  
   
• Not all conferences publish their proceedings; it's very common for conferences to either provide no documentation at all or to just provide abstracts of presentations.  If the citation does not contain a publisher or the page numbers for a specific paper/presentation within the proceedings, it's highly likely the proceedings were not published.  In these cases, the only source of full documentation may be the author(s). 

Example of a dissertation or thesis citation ...

R.L.Daugherty, Thin film transistor control circuitry for MEMS acoustic transducers. M.S. Thesis, Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, 2012. 
 

To find the dissertation or thesis use: 

1). ASU's Library One Search
     Search TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
     Example: Thin film transistor control circuitry for MEMS acoustic transducers   

2). ASU's Digital Repository (ASU dissertations/theses only)
     Search TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
     Example: "Thin film transistor control circuitry for MEMS acoustic transducers"

Example of an encyclopedia article citation ...

A. R. Hoffman, "Solar Energy," in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy, vol. 3,  J. Zumerchik, Ed.  New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001, vol 3, pp. 1050-1063. 
 

To find the encyclopedia article, use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search 
   Search ARTICLE TITLE AND ENCYCLOPEDIA TITLE as KEYWORDS
   Example: Solar Energy Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy
   If the results list is too large, use the "Content Type" to limit the answer set to REFERENCE

Example of a government document citation ...

NIOSH, Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers (Current Intelligence Bulletin 65), Cincinnati, OH: Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2013.  
 

To find the government document, use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search the DOCUMENT TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers"
    
2. Google 
   Search the DOCUMENT TITLE as PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example:  "Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers" 
    
3. Agency's website
   Use the search engine on the agency's website and search the DOCUMENT TITLE as KEYWORDS
   Example: Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers

Example of a journal article citation ...

R.H. Plaut, "Snap loads and torsional oscillations of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge," Journal of Sound and Vibration,  vol. 309, no. 3, pp. 613-636, 2008

To find the journal article use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search ARTICLE TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Snap loads and torsional oscillations of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge"
    
2. ASU Library's Journal Title Search
   Search JOURNAL TITLE as "Title begins with"
   Note: Use the first search box to see if the journal is available online, use the second search box to see if the ASU Library has the journal in print.
   Example: Journal of Sound and Vibration 

Example of a newspaper article citation ...

S. Cohen, and A. Geller,  "Factors prevented more bridge fatalities," Tulsa World, pp. A.12, August 4, 2007.

To find this newspaper article use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search ARTICLE TITLE as KEYWORD PHRASE  (within quotes)
   Example: "Beltway Truck Wrecks Rise"
    
2. ASU Library's Journal Title Search
   Search NEWSPAPER TITLE 
   Note: Use the first search box to see if the newspaper is available online, use the second search box to see if the ASU Library has the newspaper in print or on microfilm.
   Example: Tulsa World 

Example of a patent citation ...

H. Shimizu, et al., "Reciprocation type linear driving actuator and power toothbrush using the same," U.S. Patent 7474018, January 6, 2009.   

To find the patent use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search the TITLE as KEYWORDS
   Note: if the patent title is too generic, put quotes around the title when searching and for the results list, use the "Content Type" limiter in the left-hand column to restrict answers to just "patents"
   Example: Reciprocation type linear driving actuator power and power toothbrush using the same 
   
   
2. US Patents: Issued 
   Search the PATENT NUMBER
   Example: 7474018
   
   
3. Worldwide Patents
   Search the COUNTRY CODE PATENT NUMBER
   Example: US7474018 

Example of a citation for an industry standard ...

Standard Specification for Copper-Cobalt-Beryllium Alloy and Copper-Nickel-Beryllium Alloy Strip and Sheet, ASTM Standard B768-11.

To find the standard, consult the library guide for Standards.

Example of a technical report citation ...

M. Nelson and C. Shipbaugh,  The Potential of Nanotechnology for Molecular Manufacturing,  RAND Corp, Santa Monica CA, Monograph Rep. MR-615-RC, 1995.
 

To find the technical report, use: 

1. ASU's Library One Search
   Search the REPORT TITLE as a KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example:  "Potential of Nanotechnology for Molecular Manufacturing"
    
2. Google 
   Search the REPORT TITLE as a KEYWORD PHRASE (within quotes)
   Example: "Potential of Nanotechnology for Molecular Manufacturing"
    

Note: technical reports are seldom published and therefore can be hard to find.  If the report did not show up in either Library One Search or Google, send the citation to Ask a Librarian and ask us if we can identify report and see if it's available.