Subject Research guide
Agricultural & Biological Engineering

Find Articles | Find Books | Standards | Reference | Evaluating | Citing | Internet

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Agricultural Sciences Librarian
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phone: 814-865-3706

Top 5 Resources

Books: The CAT
Journal Articles:
CAB Abstracts or Compendex
Encyclopedia: Agropedia
ASABE Publications: ASABE Technical Library

Articles and Databases

• CAB Abstracts includes agricultural engineering, as well all other agricultural subjects
• Compendex a comprehensive engineering database
• ASABE Technical Library the online version of all ASABE publications. It includes the full text of all ASABE journals, conference proceedings, meeting papers, textbooks, monographs and standards
• AGRICOLA covers a wide variety of agricultural engineering information as well as other agricultural subjects
• Ag Engineering Index available for downloading, courtesy of UC Davis, this is a searchable database which includes all technical articles appearing in ASAE periodicals from 1950 to 1999 (plus some articles appearing in publications from other international societies). Follow the on-screen instructions carefully.
• Dissertations & Theses includes dissertations from most U.S. institutions
• Web of Science (cited references) search for new articles which cite an older article by using the "cited ref" search mode.

Don't forget: Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines and newspapers or pro and con debate information.

Article Search Tips: Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps:

• Select a database from the list above.
• Enter and combine terms appropriate to your topic
• Look at the best references you retrieve and determine the subject terms used for those articles. Then revise your search using these new terms.
• Write down or print off all pertinent information (called the 'citation') including the journal title, volume, date, and page numbers.
• Explore other databases and subject terms (which vary between databases) for more information.

Get the full text: Once you find the citation in a database, try the button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you can use the ILLiad link to request it from another library.

Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print!

Find Books:

Use The CAT for finding books owned by Penn State.

CAT Search Tips: The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries. Go to the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first). Go to the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms. Write down the call number and location for any book you want. For more detailed searching information go to the Quick Guide to the CAT.

Suggested CAT Search Terms: Search for specific products (i.e. farm equipment or tractors), processes (i.e. ventilation or fermentation) or concepts (i.e. farm safety or feed processing).

Call Numbers: At University Park, most materials in the life sciences are located on the 4th floor of Paterno Library. Engineering specific information and materials are located in the Engineering Library. Some technology material is located on the 3rd floor of Paterno. General call numbers and subject areas are:

• S671-S790– agricultural engineering, equipment, machinery, buildings (UP location: 4th floor Paterno)
• TJ1480-TJ1500– agricultural machinery (UP location: 3rd floor Paterno or Engineering Library)
• TK4018– electricity in agriculture (UP location: 3rd floor Paterno or Engineering Library)
• TP370-465– food technology, manufacturing and processing (UP location: 3rd floor Paterno or Engineering Library)

Books Elsewhere: WorldCat

Libraries Borrowing Policies: Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. Loan periods are usually four weeks but books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code.

Standards

The following resources are useful for determining standards:

• ASABE Standards the core standards in agricultural engineering
• ASTM standards. Includes the full text of the current standards from the ASTM. Select "Subscription Only" under the "Quick Searches" menu.
• IEEE Standards are available through the online IEEE Electronic Library (IEEEXplore).
• NSSN includes a searchable index to standards from NIST/ANSI that are available for purchase.
• Index and directory of industry standards. This is a printed index to standards from many industry groups.
• Other industry standards from organizations such as ANSI, IEEE, SAE, and ASME may be available in the library. Try searching The CAT by title of the standard. You may also search the name of the sponsoring agency, or keyword searches on the subject of the standard.

Other Reference Material

Agropedia a compilation of agriculture encyclopedias, including the Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering. Or try the online Access Science database.

IEEE Xplore contains the full text of all IEEE and IEE journal articles, conference papers, and standards published since 1988.

Knovel (engineering and science handbooks) a collection of over 800 essential reference books and databases from the world's leading scientific publishers and professional societies in 18 industrially important subject areas.

ENGnetBASE (Engineering Handbooks) A collection of over 100 handbooks covering all fields of engineering.

ASABE - American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers provides information about the organization.

National Ag Safety Database Home Page is an extensive compendium of agricultural safety and health education information resources.

AGRIS and CARIS Homepage provides access to several databases focusing on international information for the agricultural sciences and technology. It was created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Technical terms may be found in printed dictionaries of agricultural science or engineering.

Search for patent information through the Patents and Trademarks Research Guide provided by the Penn State Physical And Mathematical Sciences Library.

Evaluating Resources for Content

To evaluate print sources and web sites, you should ask a series of questions concerning the source’s currency, authority, validity, intended audience and bias. See this How to Evaluate Information site for details.

Citing Your Sources

When using information from another source you must give credit to the original author or you are plagiarizing. You give credit by citing the source. Make sure your citation contains everything you would need to backtrack and find the information again. It is best to pick one citation style and be consistent. For Agricultural and Biological Engineering, you might want to use the ASABE Guide for Authors; References.

Plagiarism, whether you copy a paragraph from a book or cut and paste someone else's words from an e-mail, is a violation of Penn State's academic integrity policy. See this Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty.

Internet Resources

You can look for information on the Internet by using one of the 'guides' listed below, or by using an Internet Search Engine like Google. Usually the search engines are most appropriate when you have a narrow, specific information need. If you are just looking for information in a general topic area, a subject guide is most appropriate.

WWW Virtual Library: Engineering has many links to specific engineering disciplines.

WWW Virtual Library: Agriculture has many links to specific agricultural disciplines.

Yahoo! - Science:Agriculture is a hierarchical listing of agricultural WWW resources.

Yahoo! - Science: Engineering is a hierarchical listing of engineering WWW resources.