WPI Library Search (the main search box on the library homepage) searches across most of the library's resources at once and can be used to find books, articles, and more. Enter your keywords to get started. Then use the tips below to refine your search results.
Use these search terms to narrow or broaden your search:
|
Term |
Example |
Result |
|
AND |
media AND bias |
Narrows the search to entries containing both terms. |
|
OR |
cats OR kittens |
Broadens the search to entries containing either term. |
|
NOT |
bat NOT baseball |
Excludes entries containing the second term. |
|
“ ” |
“social work” |
Retrieves results containing the exact phrase in quotes. |
|
? |
globali?ation |
Wildcard: Retrieves both globalization and globalisation. |
|
* |
feminis* |
Truncation: Retrieves feminism, feminist, feminists, etc. |
After you search, refine your search results using the filters on the left. Filter by availability, resource type, publication date, and more.
To save items and to set up a saved search in the WPI Library Search, you need to be signed in to WPI Library account. You can sign in by clicking on "Library Account" on the library homepage.
Or, if you have already begun searching in the WPI Library Search, you can click on "Sign in" in the top right corner.
To save items in the WPI Library Search, enter your search terms and select your search filters. When you find an item you want to save, click on the "pin" icon to the right of the title.
To set up a saved search in the WPI Library Search, enter your keywords and select your search filters. For example, here we are searching for climate change mitigation and we have turned on the "peer-reviewed" filter. At the top of the search results, click on "Save query."
After you click "Save query," a yellow bar will appear at the top of the page with an option to "turn on notifications for this query."
You can access your saved items and saved searches by clicking on the pin icon in the top right of the WPI Library Search (make sure you are signed in!).
From here, you can view your saved records, saved searches, and your search history.
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Use the databases listed below to find journal articles, books, and book chapters related to your research topic. These databases have been broken down into different categories. Depending on your research topic, you may need to conduct research in databases from several different categories.
A powerful search tool to streamline your library research. Entering terms into a single search box yields results that include: books and e-books, research and news articles, project reports, electronic theses and dissertations, archival materials, patents, open access collections and more.
Google search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports on all topic areas. Use to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, prepublication repositories and universities.
With ProQuest One Academic, four core multi-disciplinary products – ProQuest Central, Academic Complete, Academic Video Online and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global– are available and cross-searchable.
Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research. Scopus delivers the most comprehensive overview of the world’s research output in the fields of Science, Technology, Medicine, Social Sciences, and Arts & Humanities. As research becomes increasingly global, interdisciplinary and collaborative, Scopus helps ensure that crucial research from around the world is not missed.
Full text access to more than 2000 Elsevier science, social science, engineering and management scholarly journals.
The SciTech Premium Collection provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, and more. For those researchers who need to conduct comprehensive literature reviews, this database includes specialized, editorial-controlled A&I resources for discovery of relevant scholarly research and technical literature critical to the discipline. Subject areas include: • Advanced technologies • Aerospace • Agricultural science • Aquatic science • Atmospheric science • Biological science • Computer science • Earth science • Environmental science • Engineering • Materials science • Polymer science. See https://proquest.libguides.com/scitechpremium/about for more information and searching guidance.
For biology research, you may also want to consult the databases for Health & Medicine, Psychology, and Environmental Science. The general science databases Scopus and ScienceDirect will also be useful for biology research.
This database includes the renowned Biological Sciences, MEDLINE, and TOXLINE databases and provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications. The database includes specialized, editorially-curated citations providing access to the extensive variety of biology’s cutting edge research, with applications to medicine, technology and the environment. Coverage: 1946 - current
For environmental science research, you will also want to consult the general science databases Scopus and ScienceDirect.
Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection offers full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications. It also includes specialized, editorially-curated A&I resources as well as the renowned AGRICOLA and TOXLINE databases and content previously available in ESPM (Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). Coverage: 1960 - current
The Natural Science Collection includes the Agri & Env, Bio Science, and Earth, Atmospheric & Aqua Databases and provides full-text titles from around the world including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications and more. Includes specialized, editorial-controlled A&I resources for discovery of relevant scholarly research and technical literature critical to the discipline. Coverage: 1946 - current
Information on all aspects of human impact to the environment. 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.
PubMed comprises more than 29 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.
Contains hundreds of peer-reviewed open access journals. BMC is dedicated to publishing the best open access journals across a portfolio of over 250 titles and are always striving to drive progress in biology, health sciences and medicine.
For psychology and behavioral science research, you will also want to consult the Health & Medicine databases.
Full text of articles from American Psychological Association (APA) PyscNET and selected Educational Publishing Foundation (EPF) journals.
Abstracts from the Compendex database, which includes the electronic version of Engineering Index, with links to full text articles, patents, standards and handbooks in scientific, applied science, technical and engineering disciplines. Comprising journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, standards, books, and recently preprints, Compendex content is sourced from thousands of publishers from around the world, including major engineering societies such as IEEE, ASME, SAE and ACM.
Collection of critical science and engineering handbooks.(Subscription includes: Biochemistry Biology & Biotechnology; Chemistry & Chemical Engineering; Fire Protection Engineering & Emergency Response; General Engineering & Project Administration; Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering ; ASM International Materials Collection Online).
Full text of the Transactions Journals of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Applied Mechanics Reviews.
The IEEE Xplore digital library is a resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and its publishing partners. It contains the.full text of all IEEE and IEE journal articles, conference papers, and standards. Tutorials are available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplorehelp/ieee-xplore-training/video-tutorials
The ACM Digital Library is a research, discovery and networking platform containing:
Provides searchable access to Mathematical Reviews and Current Mathematical Publications produced by the American Mathematical Society.
Indexes all American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publications.. WPI has full text access to the ASCE journals only (not conference proceedings).
From the Transportation Research Board at the National Academy of Sciences, indexes transportation literature and links to some full text.
Search abstracts of 100+ journals from American Institute of Physics (AIP), American Physical Society (APS), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), and science and engineering societies. WPI subscribes to 70+ titles.
Online archive of eBooks and complete backruns of scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields.
Indexing and full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world on various humanities topics.
Full text access to scholarly humanities, social sciences, and mathematics journals.
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Books are a vital sources of historical scholarship. To find books at the Gordon Library, type your keywords into the WPI Library Search. Use the drop-down menu to the right of the search box to select "Books & Media."
To limit your search to online books, go to the Availability filter on the left and select Available online.
To limit your search to print books, go to the Availability filter on the left and select Available on shelf.
200,000+ full text books on many topics: Business & Economics, Computers, Technology & Engineering, Humanities, Life & Physical Sciences, Social & Behavioral Sciences. For help using Ebook Central: https://proquest.libguides.com/ebookcentral
You must either be on campus or using the VPN if off campus to connect with this content.
>>In case of difficulty, try clearing your browser's cache.<<
e-Book collection of over 75,000 titles from Springer; most books can be downloaded in PDF format by chapter or book. **Full text access is available ONLY for WPI subscribed titles, not the full Springer collection.
Collection of critical science and engineering handbooks.(Subscription includes: Biochemistry Biology & Biotechnology; Chemistry & Chemical Engineering; Fire Protection Engineering & Emergency Response; General Engineering & Project Administration; Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering ; ASM International Materials Collection Online).
A peer-reviewed journal is a respected publication. Before articles are published within these types of journals, they are sent by the editors of the journal to other scholars in the field ("peers"), often anonymously, to get feedback on the quality of the scholarship, review research methods, as well as relevance or importance to the field. The article may be accepted, often with revisions suggested, or rejected for publication. Many peer-reviewed journals have low acceptance rates.
Peer-reviewed articles are typically substantial in length (often 10 pages or more) and typically have many citations.
To find peer reviewed articles in WPI Library Search, enter your keywords and then choose the Peer-Reviewed Journals filter on the left.
Use BrowZine to find journals available at WPI. Search by journal title or browse by subject to find relevant journals. You can access BrowZine using the "Journals" link on the library homepage:
You can create an account in Browzine to save journals and set up alerts. Click on the "gear" icon in the top right corner to set up your account. Use your WPI email address and the password of your choice.
Once you have a Browzine account, you can add journals to your "Bookshelf."
You can access journals in your bookshelf by clicking on "My Bookshelf" at the top of the screen in Browzine.
Newspaper articles can be good places to learn about new research, but use caution when reading newspaper articles and other popular news sources about scientific studies. These reports may be sensationalized or may leave out important information about a study. When you learn about a new study in a popular news source, look up the original study to get more details about it. Often news articles will mention the lead authors of the study, the topic of the study, and sometimes the name of the publication where the original study can be found (for example the New England Journal of Medicine). Use these clues to look for the original study in WPI Library Search or Google Scholar.
To find newspaper articles in WPI Library Search, type your keywords into the search box, then click on Resource Type to the left of the search results, and then select the Newspaper Articles filter:
The Gordon Library provides free access for current students, faculty, and staff with a WPI email address to NYTimes.com. This service will provide you with an e-subscription to The New York Times to stay connected with the events of the day. In addition, you will have access to the extensive NYT database dating back to 1851 – a tremendous research tool.
To set up your account, go to:
http://www.accessnyt.com/ (If on campus or otherwise within the WPI IP range or on VPN)
http://ezproxy.wpi.edu/login?url=http://ezmyaccount.nytimes.com/grouppass/redir (If off campus and outside the WPI IP range)
Once you have activated your account you can log in no matter where you are at https://www.nytimes.com/
**WPI NYT faculty & staff subscribers need to renew your "academic pass" once every 4 years, on or before your registration anniversary date. (Students will have access until their graduation date.)
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to accessnyt.com (from campus or using the VPN)
2. Search for/select Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Then follow the directions to activate the Academic Pass.
Once completed, your digital access will be active and you can navigate directly to nytimes.com from any web-enabled device.
Tips and Troubleshooting
Current WPI students, faculty, and staff can access The Wall Street Journal online through Gordon Library's subscription service. To activate your account go to https://partner.wsj.com/partner/WorcesterPolytechnicInstitute. You'll be prompted to log in with your WPI username and password. Then, you'll create your WSJ account with a new password, using your WPI email address.
For students, when you register for your WSJ account, you will need to indicate your date of graduation, and your account will stay active until that date. Faculty and staff will need to renew their accounts annually. If you see a "Membership Inactive" message when trying to log in to the Wall Street Journal, use the activation link above to reactivate your account.
Once you have activated your account you can log in no matter where you are at https://www.wsj.com/
Search full text of The Boston Globe. Each issue is indexed thoroughly, with access to not only top news stories but also the information contained on the various sections of the paper. The indexing covers not only complete bibliographic information but also companies, people, products, etc. Coverage: 1980 - current. This publication's detailed indexing helps users quickly find the news information they need. Each issue is indexed thoroughly, so they have access to not only top news stories but also the information contained on the various sections of the paper. The indexing covers not only complete bibliographic information but also companies, people, products, etc.
Nexis Uni provides access to more than 17,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis. Nexis Uni includes: 1) full-text access to thousands of news sources (primarily newspapers, magazines and journals) in the U.S. and abroad back to the 1970s; 2) aggregated economic data - including company financial information, and SEC filings and reports - on businesses, corporations, and industries in the U.S. and abroad; 3) full-text legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, federal and state agency regulations, Shepard's Citations to Supreme Court cases (back to 1789), and law reviews from the late 18th century to present.
Access the most recent and relevant statistics and studies on a specific topic by simply entering a keyword. statista aggregates statistical data on over 600 international industries from more than 18,000 sources, including market researchers, trade organizations, scientific journals, and government databases.
Clean data: Save time by discovering effortless strategies for cleaning, organizing, and manipulating your data by 
Bad data handbook: Cleaning up the data so you can get back to work by 
Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation by Search and review patents to understand:
Includes full text and full image U.S. patents and patent applications.
Nexis Uni provides access to more than 17,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis. Nexis Uni includes: 1) full-text access to thousands of news sources (primarily newspapers, magazines and journals) in the U.S. and abroad back to the 1970s; 2) aggregated economic data - including company financial information, and SEC filings and reports - on businesses, corporations, and industries in the U.S. and abroad; 3) full-text legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, federal and state agency regulations, Shepard's Citations to Supreme Court cases (back to 1789), and law reviews from the late 18th century to present.
Search International patent search with full images in PDF format.
Search and display U.S. patents 1790 to the present using the technology that powers Google Book Search, with the ability to scroll and zoom in on text and illustrations.
When searching in the library's databases, you may find an abstract for an article but not the full-text. When this happens, click on the FullTextFinder icon.
The FullTextFinder will either redirect you to another database that has the full-text of the article or it will tell you that we don't have this article in our collections. If we don't have an article that you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service that allows WPI students and faculty to request items from other libraries free of charge.
Is there something you need that the WPI library doesn't have? Our Interlibrary Loan service allows WPI students and faculty to request items from other libraries free of charge.
Use WorldCat.org to search for books, articles, and more at libraries around the world. Request materials from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan.
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Citation managers are software or browser plug-in tools that help you organize your sources while you research, and also generate citations in your bibliography. Popular citation managers include Zotero, Mendeley, and Endnote. The librarians at WPI recommend Zotero - but it's up to you! Using a citation manager at all is a personal choice; many researchers still prefer to track citations by hand. If you choose to use a citation manager, check out our in-depth explanation of how to get started with Zotero.