You are here: Library Home | Help Guides

Frequently Asked Questions and Help



Research Help
 
Outreach and Training
 
Website Troubleshooting

Do you have a question not answered here? Ask a Librarian!

How do I find an article?


Return to topTop of page

The journal collection contains titles on subjects that reflect Glenn's ongoing research and program efforts. If you have some idea of the specific article(s) that you are interested in locating, use one of our full-text databases: IEEE Xplore , TORPEDOUltra or any site listed on our Electronic Journals and Books page. There is search capability on these sites that will allow you to search by author, title words/phrases, subject terms or journal volume and issue.

If you have no specifics but rather a general subject area in which you are interested researching, then you can use one of our databases: Aeronautics and Space Database , Engineering Village , Web of Science or any other source found on our Research Databases page. Generally these sites are used to search a topic by subject or keyword. Results will identify journal articles, etc. and in some cases connect to full text. If full text is not indicated you may use the method above to find your full text article or request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Another method of identifying current journal articles is through table of contents alerting through ingenta.

 

How do I find a book?


Return to topTop of page

The Glenn book collection contains scientific and technical books primarily in the fields of aeronautics, space, materials science, physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and telecommunications. There are also selections in administration, Business, management, and personnel.

Books are found by using NASA Galaxie, NASA's online catalog which contains holdings for Glenn as well as the 9 other NASA Centers.

You can do a quick subject search of NASA Galaxie from the left side of our Library home page using the "Search NASA Galaxie" box.

From the search results page you can limit your search in a number of ways by clicking the limit option.

Of particular interest, you may want to limit the type to Journal to search for keywords or pharases occuring only in journals (excluding books).

For more detailed instruction for advanced searching in NASA Galaxie see our NASA Galaxie Search Guide.

Also, check out the selection of Electronic Books available in the Glenn Digital Library.

If you did not find what you were looking for you can fill out a request form to have the book borrowed from another library through InterLibrary Loan.

Other options for finding books

Open WorldCat is also a source for finding material from libraries around the world. Open WorldCat makes library catalogs from around the world available directly in popular search engines. Search for a book in one of the sources below.

Google   
Google Scholar   
Yahoo Search   

Note: You can perform an Open WorldCat search in Yahoo or Google directly by using the advanced search feature with the domain set to only "worldcatlibraries.org"

 

How do I find a specific journal by title?


Return to topTop of page

Access to journal literature through the Digital Library is through two means.

Finding Print Journals

First, you can access print journal listings through the NASA Galaxie catalog by searching for a keyword in "periodical title."

When you find the desired title click on the Details button:

And then click on the Item Information tab:

This tab will give you information on what years/volumes the Library holds in print.

Finding Electronic Journals

Second, we have subscriptions to individual journal titles at the Electronic Journals page and we provide access to thousands of journals through a number of databases on our Databases page.

If you know the name of a specific journal you can type it into the Site Search Box in the upper left of the website.

This search will return webpages that contained the title you searched for; this will normally be one of three pages:

Electronic Journal Page: This means that the Library has a single subscription to this title. Go the the Electronic Journals Page and scroll down to find the title in alphabetical order.

IEEE Titles Page: This means that the Library has access to this title through the database IEEE Xplore. Go the the IEEE Titles Page and scroll down to find the title in alphabetical order.

Torpedo Titles Page: This means that the Library has access to this title through the database TORPEDOUltra. Go the the Torpedo Titles Page and scroll down to find the title in alphabetical order.

Once you are at the appropriate page use your browser's find in page function:

Find in Page in Firefox:

 

Find (on This Page) in Internet Explorer:

If you are unsure of the exact title of a journal you can use the Site Search to do a keyword search. Try the search tips page for more information.

How do I find a good resource on a particular subject?


Return to topTop of page

Try one of the subject guides. These guides provide links to books, journals, databases, organizations, and news all geared toward a specific topic. These topics were chosen by request from Library patrons or as basic research areas at Glenn. If you would like to suggest a topic for a subject guide email Paige Lucas-Stannard or call at 3-8499.

Subject Guides:
Configuration Management Nanotechnology
Electrochemistry NASA Sites
Materials Science Propulsion
Microgravity Search Engines

Quick Reference:
Copyright Government Resources
Encyclopedia, Dictionaries and Thesauri Technology Transfer
Search Engines

 

How do I suggest a resource for Glenn Science and Engineering Library?


Return to topTop of page

The Glenn Science and Engineering Library welcomes suggestions for materials you would like us to consider purchasing for the collection.

Suggestions will be evaluated based on the library's current collection, demand for the resource and budgetary constraints.

To suggest a resource, email the Librarian.

How do I get training for my group/division/branch?


Return to topTop of page

Librarians are available to provide individual or group library training and/or research consultations. Please fill out the online request form , or stop by the Reference Desk to schedule an appointment. Training sessions can be tailored to fit your individual or project needs.

How do I get a demo of a Library product?


Return to topTop of page

The Librarians at Glenn Science and Engineering Library offer library instruction to the Glenn community. Library instruction is designed to introduce users to the resources available at the library and enable users to pursue their research information needs. Demonstrations can be offered to individuals or groups and can be done either at the Library or at division/branch staff meetings. Visit our Outreach page for more information.

 

I'm getting a "runtime error" or "debugging error."


Return to topTop of page

When using Internet Explorer you may see an error box similar to the ones below:

To aviod seeing this error you must disable script debugging in Internet Explorer. For more information about this error read the Microsoft Help and Support. To disasble script debugging:

1. Start Internet Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options .

3. In the Internet Options dialog box, click Advanced .

4. Click to select the Disable script debugging check box.

5. Click to clear the Display a notification about every script error check box.

6. Click OK .

What happened to the Science Direct (or Wiley Interscience) Links on the Databases page?


Return to topTop of page

Science Direct titles and Wiley Interscience titles are all available in the TORPEDOUltra database. You can search for a specific title in TORPEDOUltra or click on one of the following links to see only Science Direct or only Wiley Interscience titles:

Why can't I find Glenn Technical Reports in the NASA Technical Reports Server?


Return to topTop of page

The NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS) uses data harvesting to pull information from each Center's technical report server to build the NTRS database. This process is based on a technology standard called Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). The historical collection of Glenn Technical Reports is not OAI compliant - meaning that NTRS can not harvest our reports. Our more recent reports are being harvested but Glenn is still not an option on the advanced search page of NTRS. The best source for Glenn Technical Reports is still the Glenn Technical Report Server. There is more information about this at the NTRS site.

What does the RSS News icon logo mean?


Return to topTop of page

When you see this logo on a Library page it signifies that a news feed exists for that page's topic or resource. News feeds are webpages that update hourly with new information from all over the web to bring you the latest items of interest to your subject.

You will find the News feed logo on the Subject Guide pages and on some journals. The Library also supplies News feeds for NASA and Sci/Tech news.

 

Which format do I want to use, pdf or ppt?


Return to topTop of page

When downloading documents from the Library's webpage you will sometimes have a choice between PowerPoint (ppt) or Portable Document Format (pdf). PDF is readable on any computer and prints easily. However, some information in an original PowerPoint presentation might be lost thie the PDF version, such as movie clips and animations. PPT format is preferrable if you want the complete presentation experience, while PDF may be preferred for printing a presentation.