Electronic Resources in Transportation

Slide 1
Electronic Resources in Transportation

Electronic Resources in Transportation:
There are Lots of Signs on the Information Superhighway but
Where is the Information I Really Need*?
*without hitting a lot of roadblocks and detours

Bonnie Osif
Penn State
bao2@psu.edu

Slide 2
Overview

• Electronic Resources
  • Databases
  • Search Engines
  • Gateways
• Tools to help you locate information and resources
  • RSS
  • Blogs, etc.

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Fee Databases

• Compendex
• NTIS
• TRIS* (also available for free through the NTL)
• ITRD
• Web of Science

Slide 4
Database Services

• Advanced Searching
• Full text
• Ordering options
• Alerts
• RSS
• Search assistance

Slide 5
Compendex

Screen shot of Commpendex search results with red arrows highlighting the following:

• Blog This
• My Alerts
• Add a tag (for del.icio.us)

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Free Databases

• TRIS (ntl.bts.gov)
• Google Scholar* (scholar.google.com)
• DoE Information Bridge (http://www.osti.gov/bridge/ )
• Civil Engineering Database (cedb.asce.org)
• TLCat (ntl.bts.gov)
• Specialized Google Meta Search Engines*

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Transportation Meta Search

Screen shot of first screen on the Transportation Meta Search. Items hightlighted include:

• WSDOT Library - Creator
• Searches 971 sites

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Full text Resources

• Transportation Statistics (www.bts.gov)
• Bibliographies (ntl.bts.gov, dotlibrary.dot.gov)
• Federal laws (http://thomas.loc.gov/)
• Fee based services

For additional resources see
www.libraries.psu.edu/eng/webinar.html

Slide 9
Web “Layers”

Image: Pyramid of layers of web. Private Web forms the base with Deep Web next and Surface Web as the top of the pyramid.

Surface Web: Links are found by search engine spiders “traditional web”

Deep Web: Dynamic pages, not open to spidering,

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General Search Engines

• www.google.com (1)
• www.yahoo.com (2)
• http://www.msn.com/ (4)
• www.ask.com (8)
• scholar.google.com

(indicates December 2007 ranking in use statistics from http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2018)

Slide 11
Google Scholar

Screen shot of search results for "bridge 'nondestructive evaluation'" in Google Scholar. Items highlighted include:

• Cited by
• Related Artices

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Metasearch Engines

• www.dogpile.com
• www.clusty.com
• www.mamma.com
• www.surfwax.com
• www.kartoo.com

Slide 13
KartOO visual meta search engine

Screen shot of search results for "nondestructive evaluation bridges'" in KartOO

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Deep Web Searching

• www.completeplanet.com
• turbo10.com
• directory.google.com
• www.scirus.com

For more information see -
http://websearch.about.com/od/invisibleweb/a/invisibleweb.htm

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Sample Page - Scirus

Screen shot of search results for "nondestructive evaluation bridge*" in Scirus. Items highlighted include:

• Refine your search option
• Where the documents listed are available from

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Gateways – a short list

• TRB (www.trb.org)
• NTL (ntl.bts.gov)
• Minnesota Dept. of Transportation (http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/)
• Thomas (thomas.loc.gov)
• Science.gov (www.science.gov)

Slide 17
Mn/DOT Library homepage

Screen shot of Mn/DOT Library homepage

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NEW TOOLS YOU CAN USE

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Transportation Meta Search

Screen shot of first screen on the Transportation Meta Search.

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National Transportation Library homepage

Screen shot of National Transportation Library homepage. Items highlighted include:

• Custom Google Transportation Related Searches
• TLCat
• Online Digital Special Collections
• Spotlights

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TLCat

Screen shot of search results for "kw:pavements and yr:2008'" in TLCat. Items highlighted include:

• Name - Transportation Libraries Catalog
• Number of Libraries (Transportation and Worldwide) who own the item

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Department of Transportation Library homepage

Screen shot of Department of Transportation Library homepage

Slide 23
Google Products

Screen shot of Google products page. Items highlighted include:

• Alerts
• Blog Search
• Custom Search
• Labs

Slide 24
Google Custom Search Engine

Screen shot of Google Custom Search Engine homepage

Slide 25
Google Custom Search Engine -- Configuration

Screen shot of Google Custom Search Engine configuration screen 1

Slide 26
Google Custom Search Engine -- Configuration

Screen shot of Google Custom Search Engine configuration screen 1 part two

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Google Custom Search Engine -- transportation databaes

Screen shot of new created Google Custom Search Engine transportation databases

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Google Custom Search Engine -- transportation databaes

Screen shot of new created Google Custom Search Engine transportation databases search results for "bridge deck evaluation"

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iGoogle

Screen shot of iGoogle with link to newly created Google Custom Search Engine -- transportation databases

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Google Alerts

Screen shot of Google Alerts.

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Google Alerts -- Configuration

Screen shot of setting up a Google Alerts for nondestructive evaluation briges.

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Google Alerts -- Management

Screen shot of managing your Google Alerts for nondestructive evaluation briges.

Slide 33
Google Blog Search

Screen shot of Google Advanced Blog Search Resutls for search includes all words: pavements and exact phrase: transportation infrastructure.

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Google Blog Search -- Search Results

Screen shot of Google Advanced Blog Search. Search includes all words: pavements and exact phrase: transportation infrastructure.

Slide 35
Google Reader

Screen shot of Google Reader.

Slide 36
TransLiblog

Screen shot of TransLiblog.

Slide 37
Building Your Collections

• Databases – subject and dates searches
• Bibliographies
• “New in the library” lists
• Commericial sites
• Blogs, list servs

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Search Helps

• Research tutorials/guides
  • InfoPeople (www.infopeople.org/search/index.html)
  • Laura Cohen’s guides (http://www.internettutorials.net/)
  • Bare Bones 101 (http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml)
• Help pages/FAQs
• TRB Library
• Your Transportation Librarian Networks!