All guides: Engineering: Key Resources

Key Databases

Databases are collections of resources, primarily journal articles, but they can also contain conference papers, videos, eBooks, reports, images and more. Many databases specialise in a specific subject area, so you know when you're searching the database you will find material relevant to your studies.

Scopus (Elsevier)
Scopus is a comprehensive scientific, medical, technical and social science database containing relevant literature.
Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics)
Web of Science provides seamless access to the Science Citation Expanded®, Social Sciences Citation Index®, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index™. It enables users to search current and retrospective multidisciplinary information from approximately 8,500 of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world.
Inspec Direct
Stay up-to-date with the latest in engineering, physics and computer science research with Inspec Direct. Start your search to pinpoint relevant literature from nearly 19 million records, covering over 4,500 global journals and spanning more than 50 years.
Note: Access is now via IET. It was previously via Engineering Village.
ATRI: Australian Transport Index (Informit)
This database indexes and abstracts published and unpublished Australian material on transport. Subject coverage includes road safety, transport economics, transport administration, intelligent transport systems, transport and the environment, public transport, road and airfield pavements, road design and engineering, traffic engineering and control, vehicle design.

eFunda: engineering fundamentals
eFunda's mission is to develop an online destination for the engineering community, in which you can promptly find succinct and reliable engineering information. Topics include materials, processes, formulas, vendors and products, units, mathematics, and designs.

Knovel
Comprehensive database for finding answers to science and engineering questions
Technology Collection (ProQuest)
This database is the total technology research solution, indexing world literature on technology and applied science, including materials science, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, condensed matter physics, computer science and electronic engineering. It incorporates Materials Research Database with METADEX, Engineering Research Database, High Technology Research Database with Aerospace and all of their subfiles.
ENGINE: Australian Engineering Database (Informit)
Australian Engineering Database (ENGINE), is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts published and unpublished material on Australian engineering information, particularly information published by the Institution since 1980. Source documents include conference papers, journal articles, technical papers, books, discussions, news articles and unpublished papers.
SciFinder
SciFinder Scholar providing the most accurate and comprehensive chemical and related scientific information including: journal articles and patents, substance data, chemical reactions, chemical regulatory data, chemical suppliers, biomedical literature.
TRID (TRIS & ITRD)
TRID is an integrated database that combines the records from TRB’s Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the OECD’s Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to more than one million records of transportation research worldwide.
Engineering Collection (Informit)
The Engineering Collection is a suite of full text resources comprising journal articles, conference papers, working papers and other grey literature. It is based on the Engineers Australia library collection and is the only database that covers all aspects of engineering in Australia. The collection features tens of thousands of full text articles published since 1980.
ProQuest SciTech Premium Collection
Full text journals with detailed indexing of global literature on natural sciences, engineering and technology. Areas covered include materials science, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, biology, aquatic sciences, environmental science, computer science and earth sciences in addition to many more. It fully incorporates ProQuest Natural Science Collection and ProQuest Technology Collection.
ENGINE: Australian Engineering Database (Informit)
Australian Engineering Database (ENGINE), is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts published and unpublished material on Australian engineering information, particularly information published by the Institution since 1980. Source documents include conference papers, journal articles, technical papers, books, discussions, news articles and unpublished papers.
ATRI: Australian Transport Index (Informit)
This database indexes and abstracts published and unpublished Australian material on transport. Subject coverage includes road safety, transport economics, transport administration, intelligent transport systems, transport and the environment, public transport, road and airfield pavements, road design and engineering, traffic engineering and control, vehicle design.
Wiley Online Library
Wiley Online Library provides access to over 4 million articles from 1500 journals, over 14,000 online books, and hundreds of reference works, laboratory protocols and databases.
Emerald Insight
A powerful business research tool that provides critical information when it is most needed. Users have instant access to over 35,000 full text articles from Emerald's international management portfolio, complete with full text archives back to 1994. Subject coverage spans a spectrum of management disciplines including: strategy; leadership; library and information management; marketing and human resource management; plus a substantial number of engineering, applied science and technology titles
SpringerLink
SpringerLink is one of the world's leading online information services for scientific, technical, and medical (STM) books and journals.

Specialist Databases

Aerospace Engineering databases:

Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Collection (ProQuest)
Includes the renowned Aerospace Database and provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications.
ARC: Aerospace Research Central - Journals (AIAA)
AIAA has been the leading publisher in aerospace for more than seven decades. We're the premier provider worldwide of information on aerospace technology, engineering, and science. Our titles document the most important developments and research in air and space history.
SAE Mobilus
SAE is your one-stop resource for standards development, events, and technical information and expertise used in designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space.

Chemical and Environmental Engineering databases:

CHERUB: Chemical Engineering Reference User Bibliography (Informit Archive)
CHemical Engineering Reference User Bibliography (CHERUB) is a bibliographic database that indexes articles from journals on all chemical engineering topics. Source documents include journal articles taken from the forty-nine most important chemical engineering and related journals comprising approximately 6,500+ references per year.
SPIE Digital Library
The SPIE Digital Library is the most extensive resource available on optics and photonics, providing unprecedented access to more than 200,000 technical papers from SPIE Journals and Conference Proceedings from 1990 to the present. More than 17,000 new technical papers are added annually.
Environmental Engineering Abstracts (ProQuest)
This database is a comprehensive index to world literature on all technological and engineering aspects of air, water and soil quality, environmental safety, sustainability and energy production.
GreenFILE (EBSCO)
GreenFILE covers all aspects of human impact to the environment. It is a collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles, and includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records.

Civil and Infrastructure Engineering databases:

ASCE: American Society of Civil Engineers Civil Engineering Database
Off-campus users please use this link to access ASCE full text content Civil engineering content from ASCE's journal, paper and conference publications since 1970.
BUILD: Australian Building Construction and Engineering Database (Informit)
Australian Building Construction & Engineering Database (BUILD), produced by the Building Information Resource Centre of CSIRO Building, Construction and Engineering, is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts published and unpublished material on worldwide information in the building, construction and engineering field including fire technology.

Austroads Guide to Road Design
The Austroads Guide to Road Design is intended to provide designers with a framework that promotes efficiency in design and construction, economy, and both consistency and safety for road users.
Other Austroads guides
All PDFs of the guides can be downloaded from Austroads website free of charge.

Manufacturing and Materials Engineering databases:

Engineered Materials Abstracts (ProQuest)
This database is a comprehensive index to world literature on engineered materials such as polymers, plastics, rubber, ceramics and composites. The database addresses manufacturing practices, properties and applications of these materials.
Material ConneXion
Material ConneXion is the definitive source to discover and research new and innovative materials and processes from around the world. Architects, engineers and industrial and interior designers can discover materials from a large spectrum of industries typically unnoticed or difficult to reach by the design community.
ATRI: Australian Transport Index (Informit)
This database indexes and abstracts published and unpublished Australian material on transport. Subject coverage includes road safety, transport economics, transport administration, intelligent transport systems, transport and the environment, public transport, road and airfield pavements, road design and engineering, traffic engineering and control, vehicle design.

Mechanical and Automotive Engineering databases:

ASME Digital Collection
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers digital archive provides access to 27 journal titles and and around 140 ebooks.
SAE Mobilus
SAE is your one-stop resource for standards development, events, and technical information and expertise used in designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space.

Materials Information

Explain that stuff- materials
450 easy-to-understand articles designed to support STEM topics.
How products are made, 2006-2015, vols 1-7
How Products Are Made explains and details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery.
The site provides step by step descriptions of the assembly and the manufacturing process (complemented with illustrations and diagrams). Each product also has related information such as the background, how the item works, who invented the product, raw materials that were used, product applications, by-products that are generated, possible future developments, quality control procedures, etc.
Material Safety Data Sheets
Search from over 3.5 million MSDSs on MSDS.com. You can perform unlimited searches, and view/download 5 MSDSs free of charge.
MatWeb
Free searchable database of engineering materials designed by engineers for engineers. Contains data sheets for over 125,000 materials -- thermoplastic and thermoset polymers, metals and alloys, ceramics, wood, fibers, stone, lubricants, inorganic salts, and other engineering materials.
National Academies Press - Materials
Browse and download e-books on engineering materials for free.
Safe Work Australia - Safety Data Sheets
A to Z of Materials
The initial focus of AZoM is on what are commonly termed “Advanced Materials” – a loose definition being, high value metals, ceramics, polymers, fibres and composites.
Victorian Trades Hall Council - Material Safety Data Sheets

Quick Links

Further Support

Study Support
Book a one-on-one consultation with an academic skills advisor or librarian. Connect with a peer mentor to help you with your course. Discover a range of tools to support your study.

Your feedback and suggestions

Send us your feedback about this guide.

Library subject guides

Engineering

Need help? Ask the Library!