Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons: ELMC 5000: Senior Design I: Search Example for Project Assignment

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Topic: Cell Phone that Automatically Converts to Satellite Phone

Imagine you hiking in the woods in New Hampshire and you have no cell phone service. It's getting dark outside. Wouldn't it be helpful if your phone could automatically convert to satellite service so that you could call for assistance?

What terms might you string together to start your research? Here are some ideas:

mobile phone and satellite
satellite telephony
frequency switching
frequency detection

Library Catalog

Start your search in the library catalog because it is a way of gathering key words and resources that you can use. You can search for books, articles, images, and videos all at once.

Advanced Search

Library Articles

Try searching individual databases related to your discipline. Best bets include ACM Digital Library, ASME DIgital Library or IEEE Explore.

ACM Digital Library
Contains the full-text of every article published by the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). Covering the fields of computing and information technology. Includes peer-reviewed sources.
ASME Digital Collection

Full-text journals covering all disciplines of mechanical engineering, published by the ASME. Journal coverage 2000-present
Applied Science & Technology Full Text

.
Find journal articles about engineering, physics, applied math, environmental science and more. Includes peer-reviewed sources and full-text.
IEEE Xplore
Find journal articles, standards, and conference proceedings about electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics.

Citation Tips

You can use RefWorks to manage your citations, keep track of your resources, and generate bibliographies instantly. Make an appointment to get started or consult the video tutorials on the Refworks Essentials How-To Guide.

RefWorks

RefWorks is a citation management tool you can use to generate in-text citations and bibliographies for your papers and projects.

See our RefWorks Guide for more information.
Users must create a free account to access this resource.
- To create an account, choose the “create account” button and enter your WIT email address and a password of your choice
- Please visit https://library.wit.edu/guides/refworks for additional information about this resource and for tips on using it successfully.

Web Resources

The U.S. government has hundreds of agencies conducting a lot of research that is not necessarily contained in articles and books in the Library so you want to be sure to take a look at them. Most of this government research is on the web, via the usa.gov portal.

USA.gov Portal
U.S. official website includes resources from federal, state, and local government agencies.
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)
This webisite offers publicly accessible research for the U.S. Dept. of Defense.

Patents

Patents can tell you if someone holds an existing patent on an idea. It may inspire you in new ways! Take a look at the patent tab in this guide.