LibrarySearch is CCCU’s library discovery tool and a key resource for you. It allows you to easily search across library resources, including books, e-books and journal articles. Many of the resources available via Library Search are not freely available on the web, and rather than worrying about paywalls, it automatically limits your search to full-text. Remember to sign in to access all the resources.

Google Scholar is also an excellent resource. It can be used to search for scholarly information on the internet, including ebooks, journal articles and conference papers. It can also be linked to library holdings, showing you where CCCU has paid for access to a resource and allowing you to link through.

Searching LibrarySearch alongside Google Scholar for your assignment topics is a good place to start.

You can also access databases individually for more in-depth searching or for specific types of resources such as statistics, reports or documentaries (please see under Databases below for some recommendations)

You can use LibrarySearch to search for the books you need. Just type in a few words from the title plus the surname of the author(s) into the search box. If you get stuck – please ask!

We use the Dewey Decimal System to classify the books so it’s easier to find them. Each number refers to a different subject area. In Augustine House, the lowest numbers are on the first floor and the highest numbers are on the third floor. 

You will find the majority of the product design engineering book collection on the second and third floors at Augustine House:

• 510-519 Mathematics
• 530 Physics
• 604.2 Technical Drawing
• 620-629 Engineering
• 620.11 Material Science
• 659.5752 Product Design
• 745.2 Industrial Art and Design

Remember to check the different areas housing the 7-day loan (open shelves) and 4-week loans (moving shelves).

The library also has hundreds of e-books for engineering. To search for e-books in LibrarySearch, limit your results in the left-hand pane of the search screen to e-books and click on the link to CCCU e-book to download or read online.

You can browse printed copies of journals on the second floor of Augustine House in the Silent Zone (west wing) – they are shelved in alphabetical order of the title of the journal. These are for use in the library only. However, most journals are also available online. Online journals relevant to product design engineering include:

• Design and Culture
• Design Studies
• Engineering and Technology, The IET monthly magazine
• Ergonomics
• Human Factors
• IEEE Spectrum
• Journal of Human-Computer Studies
• Journal of Visual Culture
• Materials & Design
• New Scientist
• Product Design and Development
• Technology Reviews: MIT’s magazine of innovation
• The Design Journal
• Visual Communication

You can see which journals are available online by using LibrarySearch. Make sure you log in first! (You will need your university username and password).Try entering the title of a journal into the search box or using the “Find e-journals by title” link.

You can also browse e-journals by subject, using Browzine. This software allows you to read a journal like an e-book, so you can look through the whole journal rather than just individual articles. There is an app so you can use it easily on your phone or other mobile device. 

You can find individual journal articles to read online by doing a quick search in LibrarySearch. Try searching for a key word or phrase connected with your research topic, e.g. “product design”. See our quick guide for more information.

Open access journals

The Directory of Open Access Journals includes some design and engineering journals. Open access journals are usually scholarly, but the difference is, the publishers of these journals believe in making their research freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This means that you (or your institution) don’t have to have a subscription to the journal to be able to read the articles they publish.

There are lots of databases that contain articles about product design engineering, and they are all available via LibrarySearch – just click on the “Find databases” link in the left-hand menu and you will see an alphabetical list. Browse the list until you find the one you want.

The most useful databases for your subject include:

Art Full Text an index of art journal articles from periodicals published throughout the world. Some journals are available in full text. (Guide to Art Full Text)

British Standards Online: British Standards Online (BSOL) contains British standards and international and European standards that have been adopted as British standards.

Business Source Premier a major business research database, providing access to over 2,100 full text journals covering the subject areas of marketing, management, finance, accounting and economics. Additional full-text, non-journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses. (Guide to Business Source Premier)

Engineering Case Studies Online: Engineering Case Studies Online contains a wide range of video and text material focusing on engineering failures and successes. At completion, the collection will contain 250 hours and 50,000 pages of quality documentaries, accident reports, experiments, visualizations, case studies, lectures and interviews from leading engineering institutions around the world.

Engineering Village: Search several engineering databases with multiple search options, with journals, standards, property search and materials, equations, conference proceedings, and more. (Guide to Engineering Village)

Espacenet – European Patent Office: Index to more than 120 million patent documents worldwide from 1836 onwards. Full-text access to British patents from 1859. Full-text access to patents from other countries includes US from 1836 and various starting dates for EPO, WIPO, France, Germany and Switzerland.

GreenFILE a free research database providing scholarly, government and general-interest sources covering the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and governments and what can be done at each level to minimise negative impacts. Topics covered include global climate change and green building.

IEL Online (IEEE Xplore): Full-text access to the entire IEEE and IET collection of journals, magazines, and conference proceedings, plus all active and historical IEEE standards.

Lens Patent Search: Discovery and analytics tools on a comprehensive collection of patent literature with citation indexing.

MiNTEL contains market research reports, news items and analyst data. Gain an overview of categories such as technology or the automotive industry including statistics, consumer data, market data and brand research. Investigate the Technology sector to read reports on consumer attitudes towards wearable tech or virtual reality. (Guide to Mintel)

New Scientist provides access to the articles from this weekly international science magazine. Articles are grouped by broad field or topic, and you can browse by date or search for a specific subject. It also includes lists of jobs and careers advice information. [Access via LibrarySearch and then choose OpenAthens link on the New Scientist page].

Oxford Art Online/ Grove Art Online Oxford Art Online provides web access to the entire text of the Grove Dictionary of Art with quarterly additions to new material and updates to the text, plus extensive image links. It also includes the full text of the Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms and the Encyclopaedia of Aesthetics. (Guide to Oxford Art Online)

ScienceDirect searches across 2,500 peer-reviewed titles – or over 9.5 million articles. This is a good source for journal articles in engineering.

Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database containing both peer-reviewed research literature and quality web sources. With over 22,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, Scopus offers researchers a quick, easy and comprehensive resource to support research, including in the fields of engineering, science and technology.

US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Online database for the United States Patent and Trademark Office with guidance on the search process. PDF images for all USA patents from 1790 onwards, plus full-text and PDF images of applications.

Web of Science (WoS) a multi-disciplinary service, where you can search for articles from over 18,000 journals in a wide range of science fields. You can access full-text journal articles, if the Library has an active subscription. (Guide to Web of Science)

Wiley Online Library searches across a multi-disciplinary collection of journals covering industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, mathematics and materials science.

The following websites are a good starting point:

Core77 an industrial design magazine. Keep up to date with articles and discussion forums plus use the database of design firms to search for design firms and creative agencies.

Design inSite describes manufacturing processed and materials and the products for which they are used. The creators hope to inspire designers to consider new or little known materials and processes resulting in innovate products. Search by product, material or process to see images and descriptions. The site currently showcases 190 products, 120 materials and 100 processess.

HSE the website of the Health and Safety Executive. Find news and guidance on topics such as machine safety.

Intellectual Property Office this is official UK government body responsible for intellectual property rights. Find information on patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.

vads: Visual Arts Data Service a collection of approximately 140,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK. Collections include the Design Museum of Plastics, Mechanical Engineering Image Collection, Design Council Archive and Design Council Slide Collection.

Box of Broadcasts: On-demand TV and radio service for education. Allows staff and students to record programmes and create clips from over 60 free-to-air channels, both TV and radio, and search an archive of over 2 million broadcasts. If you’ve seen or heard something on TV or radio that you think would be useful to your learning or teaching, there’s a good chance you can access it via B.o.B. Access within the UK only (Guide to B.o.B)

EU Screen Portal: Offers free access to thousands of archival audio-visual items from across Europe, bringing together clips that provide an insight into the social, cultural, political, and economic events that have shaped the 20th and 21st centuries.

Kanopy: Access to a large, curated catalogue of over 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films. A wide range of subject coverage (e.g. Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, Health and Sciences). Watch anytime, anywhere and on any device including via media streaming apps.