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Materials Science

 

Contact

Linda Musser photo

Linda Musser
Title: Distinguished Librarian and Head Earth and Mineral Sciences Library


 

Earth and Mineral Sciences Library
105 Deike Building
University Park, PA
814-865-9517

Articles and Databases

Materials science is a multidisciplinary field that draws upon resources ranging from chemistry and physics to engineering and medicine. Although there are distinct sub-disciplines such as metals and metallurgy, ceramics, and polymers, most information resources are broad and inclusive.

The literature on materials science is extensive and multiple databases may need to be searched. Following are the most useful databases for locating relevant articles in materials science.

COMPENDEX COMPENDEX - more information. External resource, opens new window – engineering from 1884+

INSPEC  INSPEC - more information. External resource, opens new window – electronic materials from 1896+

Web of Science Web of Science - more information. External resource, opens new window – scientific journals from 1900+

SciFinder Scholar SciFinder Scholar - more information. External resource, opens new window – chemistry from 1907+

NTIS NTIS - more information. External resource, opens new window – NTIS is the U.S. Government agency charged with the collecting and disseminating scientific and technical reports from government-sponsored research. The NTIS database contains records of unclassified research materials from 1964 to date. Citations and abstracts from unclassified government-sponsored research reports from the Departments of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA, EPA, and other federal agencies, and international government departments and other international organizations including those from Canada, Japan, the former Soviet Union, Western and Eastern European countries. There is a free version, Technical Reports Search, that contains brief records only.

Books

The CAT is the best tool to identify books (online and print) and conference proceedings available at Penn State.  Most materials science resources will be found in the following call number areas:

Call Letters for Materials Science
Call Letters   Subject Area
QD - chemistry of materials
TA174.7 - nanotechnology
TA401+ - materials properties
TK - electronic materials
TN's - metals and metallurgy
TP785+ - ceramics
TP1080+ - polymers

 

Data Resources

Materials property data is widely dispersed in handbooks, manuals, articles, and other resources.  Some useful resources for locating materials property information follow:

Materials Data and Databases 

  • Reaxys – source for physical and organic chemistry data. (Based largely on Beilstein and Gmelin handbooks.)
  • eFunda – Free source of materials properties data.
  • Index to Physical, Chemical, and Other Property Data (University of Arizona Science Reference Room) – this page is an index to selected library and internet resources that contain chemical, physical, thermodynamic, mechanical, toxicological, and safety data.
  • NIST Chemistry WebBook – this site contains chemical & physical property data for thousands of compounds.
  • THERMODEX – an Index of Selected Thermodynamic Data Handbooks.
  • WebElements  – an online periodic table.
  • MatWeb – this site provides information on engineering materials properties. It is searchable by property or by material category.
  • AMMTIAC (Advanced Materials, Manufacturing, and Testing Information Analysis Center) – this center has a useful library database of documents related to advanced materials and also provides a limited amount of free help in answering questions related to advanced materials properties and testing.
  • Powder Diffraction File - This on-going set is available on the Reference shelves of the EMS Library (call number QC481.A42). (See CAT record)  [Note: Materials Research Institute staff have access to an electronic version.  Penn Staters may request a search of this database; contact Linda Musser, EMS Library, for more information.]
  • ASTM Standards – these standards cover all kinds of materials and testing methods. To limit search to viewable ASTM standards, under Quick Searches, select "Subscription Only". Older editions are available in the set Annual Book of ASTM Standards. (See CAT record. )
  • ASM Alloy Center – contains property data for thousands of metals and alloys. Some non-metallic (e.g., ceramics, composites, coatings, etc.) materials data are also included.
  • Phase Equilibria Diagrams Online- Searchable database of ceramics phase diagrams and data  from NIST/ACerS.
  • ASM Alloy Phase Diagram Center – provides access to binary and ternary phase diagrams and associated phase data for more than 6200 alloy systems. Crystal data, reaction data, transformation, phase diagrams are included.
  • Materials Project - This resource provides access to various free apps for phase diagrams, materials information, and other tools.


Specialized data resources:

Other Resources

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