CIE 225: Transportation Engineering

Examples from Library Class Session

Materials in the library:

Fogler has a variety of transportation trade magazines and scholarly journals. Search URSUS for subject: Transportation -- Periodicals. Many of these are also available electronically - look for E-SERIAL in the right column.

Example 1: Preventative Maintenance articles using the Transportation Research Record Index Online and URSUS.

Goals: to demonstrate searching an index, using URSUS to find full text articles, and the value of reading abstracts before finding the full text.

• First search TRR Index linked to the TRB site. This is only and index - full text will not be found here but we can search the index for relevant articles and then look for the full text using URSUS. http://trb.metapress.com/home/main.mpx
• Search string = "preventative maintenance" with quotes (14 results).
• View Result #7: Review the abstract first to insure this is a relevant article for your research. Note the journal title, volume, year and page numbers.
• Search URSUS for title: Transportation Research Record and select second result in list. View LIB HAS (some in Periodical Stacks, some on CD-ROM) and also click the Latest Received link for holdings not listed on the LIB HAS statement. We're looking for issue 1887 from year 2004, so this article is available in full text in the periodical stacks.

Example 2: Asphalt and Concrete pavement life-cycle articles using ASCE Database.

Goals: to demonstrate searching by thesaurus (Subject Headings), narrowing search results using keywords, and using alternate spellings.

Additional objective: to show related Maine DOT Research Reports.

• From Transportation Engineering Subject Portal, click on ASCE Civil Engineernig Database under Articles and More.
• Open Subject Heading List in a separate tab/window.
• Find Pavement in subject heading list and review broader and narrower terms.
• Copy Asphalt pavements and Concrete pavements into search box (search string = Asphalt pavements Concrete pavements). Perform search (52 results).
• Narrow search by including life-cyle in keyword field. Note alternate spellings: life cycle, and life-cycle. According to database rules, hyphens are ignored so life-cycle is the same as life cycle. (3 results).
• Open one of the results, review abstract and subject headings. If this article is relevant to your research, go to the full text.
• All articles in the ASCE Civil Engineering Database are available in full text. To get to it, click on the link Download Fulltext at the top left, then click the link for the PDF on the next page.

It is important to note that the database rules in ASCE Civil Engineering Database are very different from most other databases. If you are getting unintended search results, be sure to check the search tips.

• Review list of Maine DOT Research Reports related to pavement, also linked to the Transportation Engineering Subject Portal under Suggested Resources.

Example 3: Critter Crossings articles using Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS)/National Transportation Library (NTL) Integrated Search.

Goals: to demonstrate use of alternate words/terms, Boolean operators, word truncation using wildcard symbol (*), searching within abstracts, and locating full text using URSUS.

• Open TRIS Online & National Transportation Library Integrated Search System from link on the Transportation Engineering Subject Portal under Articles and More.
• Click on Advanced Search tab.
• Make sure Search In is set to Search All.
• In first box enter critter* and relevant alternate words (synonyms) separated by OR. Use the wildcard symbol (*) to find plurals and other word endings when applicable. (Search string = animal* OR critter* OR roadkill).
• In second box enter crossing* and use alternate words, Boolean and wildcard as described above. (Search string = crossing* OR barrier*).
• Change drop down menus to Abstract and perform search (84 results).

Although there are some full text articles linked to TRIS/NTL, most of the records you will find do not include the full text. To find the full text, use URSUS as explained in example 1 above, and search for the title of the journal. Still, many of the articles will not be available at Fogler either, so it is a good idea to have an Interlibrary Loan account in order to request articles from other libraries that have the full text. 

Example 4: Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) articles using Compendex on Engineering Village.

Goals: to demonstrate Compendex on Engineering Village database and Article Linker.

• Open Compendex (Engineering Index) from link on the Transportation Engineering Subject Portal under Articles and More. The Engineering Village will open, and Compendex should be pre-selected as the default database. If not, go ahead and select it.
• In first box enter "Vehicle Miles Traveled" (with quotes) and relevant alternate words (synonyms) separated by OR. (Search string = "Vehicle Miles Traveled" OR VMT).
• In next box enter tax* and in third box enter fee*.
• Change all three Search In dropdown menus to Subject/Title/Abstract and click Search (5 results).
• Review the abstracts and subject headings (called IE Controlled Terms in Compendex).
• Locate full text by following the Article Linker button. Article linker will try to find the full text in other databases that University of Maine subscribes to. (Try result number 3 for an example of Article Linker finding a full text article). If no electronic full text is found, it will help you search URSUS for the print version of the article, and if the print is not found it will help you file an interlibrary loan request (you must first have an interlibrary loan account already set up.)
• A helpful tutorial for using Article Linker is available from the University of Southern Maine Libraries. It takes about 6 minutes to complete. If you are still having problems locating full text, please contact us.

Remember: If you need additional help, don't hesitate to contact us - that's what we're here for! There are many ways you can reach us:

Science & Engineering Center
martin.wallace@umit.maine.edu
(207) 581-1678
Revised: 01/28/2008

Home | Resources | Services | Search | Help | Site Map | Campus

Copyright 2000-2008, Raymond H. Fogler Library, The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5729