CBE Senior Design Project - Course Guide: Overview

Print books can be requested through the Penn Libraries' Pickup@Penn or Books by Mail services.

Book chapters and journal articles from Penn Libraries' print collection can be scanned and delivered to your desktop.  Learn more about this service.

Welcome to the library!  These are some resources that will help you with your CBE 459 Senior Design projects.

We have broken the resources into collections of related material.  They are:

• Background Information: Books and encyclopedias to give you a good idea of the general landscape of research in your area
• Journal Articles, Patents, and Standards: Tools for locating primary source materials, which report experimental procedures, results, and specifications
• Chemicals, Properties, and Reactions: Use these sources to search for all things chemical
• Hazards, Safety, and Regulatory Information: A selection of materials to help you find supporting information for your proposed design
• Industry and Supplier Information: Important resources that didn't fit into the other categories
• Managing and Formatting Your References: Tools that will make it easy for you to create and format bibliographies

Remember that we are here to help!  Please don't hesitate to use it!

You can also visit us at the Engineering Collection and the Chemistry Library. 

Got a reference and need to get to the full text?  Here is a set of suggestions for getting to the text of journal articles and books.  The options are ordered from the one that will get the information in your hands the fastest to the one that will take the most time.

Searching for Journal Articles

1. Look up the title of the journal in the Catalog to see if we have electronic full text.  If we do: Instantaneous access!
2. If we don't have electronic full text, look up the title of the journal in Franklin to see if we have print holdings on campus.  If we do:
   • Walk over to the library that has the item and make a copy or scan yourself (does not apply to material in LIBRA).  You get access as soon as you get to the library!
   • Make a Scan and Deliver request for the item to be scanned and delivered electronically to your desktop (required for material in LIBRA; optional for all other locations).  You get access within 24-48 hours.
3. If we don't have print at all, check the catalog at Drexel to see if they have the journal in their collection.  If they do, you can walk over to use it in their library at 33rd and Market Streets.  You get access as soon as you get to the library!
4. If neither Penn nor Drexel has access, perform an Interlibrary Loan journal article request for the article.  You get access within 1-5 business days.

Searching for Books

1. Look up the title of the book in the Catalog.  If we have electronic full text, follow the link.  You get instantaneous access!If we do not have electronic full text, check for print holdings.  If we have the book in print and it is on the shelf:
   • Walk to the library that holds the book (does not apply to materials held in LIBRA).  You get access as soon as you get to the library!
   • Request that the book be delivered to the library of your choice by using the Request option (required for material in LIBRA; optional for all other locations).  You get the book within 24-48 hours.
2. If Penn does not have access to the book or if it is checked out to someone else, check the BorrowDirect and EZ-Borrow catalogs.  If one of our partner institutions has a copy of the book available, request that it be delivered to the most convenient library for you.  You get the book within 5 business days.
3. If none of our BorrowDirect or EZ-Borrow partners has an available copy of the book, perform an Interlibrary Loan book request.  You do not need to know where or if the book is available to use this option.  Our ILL staff will try to find a copy of the book for you to borrow.  You get the book within 2 weeks.