Borrowing Books
You can search and request to have a physical book (or any other items from the circulating collections) delivered to any of our libraries. For example, place a request for a book that is located in Mann Library to be delivered to Uris Library Tower, and simply pick it up once you get a notification email saying that it is ready.
- Cornell University Library WebsiteMain library website
- Cornell Library CatalogSearch the Cornell's online library catalog that has records for nearly ten million books, and thousands of journals and articles. Updated daily.
Is the book currently checked out to another person? You might be able to recall the book, which will send the borrower a notice to return the book sooner than the original due date. You can also request a book through Borrow Direct, a system that allows you to search and borrow from the combined library catalogs of participating institutions, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Yale.
Not finding a book in the Library Catalog? Submit a request for Interlibrary Loan (ILL), which allows Cornell Library users to borrow books from other libraries and universities.
Or feel free to Recommend a Purchase!
Journals and Journal Articles (and Preprints)
- Engineering VillageComprehensive engineering database of journal articles and conference proceedings. Example search: 'storm surge model* uncertainty quantification "sensitivity analysis"'
- ScopusLargest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Use for article searching, potential collaborator or funding agency searching in your research area, and impactful journal identification.
- Web of ScienceCitation databases covering all subjects from 1900 to present. Find highly cited articles and key authors and journals in your research topic/field.
- SPIE Digital LibrarySPIE (Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers) Digital Library provides full-text access to e-books, conference proceedings, and journal articles in the field of optics and photonics research from 1962 to present.
- GeoRefGeoscience literature in subject areas like geophysics, hydrology, and marine geology and oceanography. Find scholarly articles, books, maps, and government reports.
- IEEE XploreFull-text access to IEEE journals, books, and conference proceedings published since 1988, and all current IEEE standards.
Depending on research area, researchers are increasingly publishing their work prior to peer review, called preprints. Preprint servers with a focus on earth and atmospheric sciences include Earth and Space Science Open Archive (ESSOAr) and EarthArXiv. Read more about preprint initiatives in this field with the Science Insider news article, titled Dueling preprint servers coming for the geosciences.
- ArXivOpen-access archive of over 2 million preprint publications.
Technical Reports
Technical reports are usually produced to provide in-depth information on a research project to a funding agency. These reports often include detailed research process, data, and results. However, these are usually not peer-reviewed.
Finding technical reports can be hard -- don't hesitate to ask for help at engrref@cornell.edu.
Good starting points for finding governmental reports are:
- Army Corps of Engineers Official Publications of the Headquarters
- Defense of Technical Information Center
- Georef for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) open file reports
- Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), U.S. Department of Energy
Includes National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) publications - NASA Scientific and Technical Information Repository (NTRS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Service Center for Environmental Publications, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Technical Report Library
- Technical Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL) for government agency technical reports
- Water and Agriculture Information Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture
For non-governmental reports, you can start your search from:
- Engineering Village database for American Society for Mechanical Engineers) technical papers
- SAE Mobilus database for Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) technical papers
Standards and Safety Information
Safety information will be in standards and federal codes and regulations.
ASTM Standards are available online. This includes thousands of standards and ASTM journals.
- ANSI StandardsIndex to standards worldwide, with information on ordering. This is not a full-text database. The library has some standards and we order specific ones on demand. Email any questions regarding standards to engrref@cornell.edu.
- Code of Federal RegulationsTitle 40 contains the EPA regulations, and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
- IEEE xploreContains IEEE standards as well as IEEE journal and conference papers.
- Safety Data SheetsSafety Data Sheets (formerly MSDS) for chemicals and materials can be found in several free collections, see this site for links and FAQ.
- SciFinder-n(Cornell subscription): comprehensive coverage of literature in chemistry and related fields, including articles, patents, characterized chemicals, chemical reactions, and commercial sources. (Register first, use your Cornell email)
Patents
If you are interested in commercializing your work and don't know where to start, look for prior art (or patents) in your research topic. These databases let you search patents from many countries:
- lens.orgAllows patent and scholarly literature searching, and provides visualization of the search results.
For example, search 'remote sensing,' and play with the filters to refine the search and the 'Analysis' to see, for example, most cited patents, top applicants and top inventors in the field. - Google PatentsFastest place to go for all U.S. patents and some U.S. patent applications. Contains descriptions and images in PDF and HTML.
- USPTO Patent Public SearchOfficial U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent search engine
- Espacenet Patent SearchEspacenet (formerly esp@cenet) contains European patents, World patents, and patent applications. Ability to search patents by origin country (e.g., CN for China.)
- SciFinder-nFind chemical-related patents.
To apply for a patent, get advice on patent licensing, or help with copyright questions, reach out to:
- Cornell Center for Technology LicensingGo here to apply for a patent, and get advice on patent licensing.
- Copyright at CornellCopyright policies, resources, and services at Cornell