on Wikipedia

[first_seventhe]

So the lab report I just completed was like an introduction to polymeric manipulation and finishing methods. It was a lot more qualitative than the other lab reports - we watched demonstrations and did small experiments, and we had to answer questions rather than produce analysis and calculations

Comments

[salarta]

Hey, I'm younger than you (I think) and I still had to do the whole no websites unless you have to thing. Wikipedia was a definite "don't you dare" as well as a result of how easy it is for someone to come in and edit a page to fill it with lies.

That didn't stop me from using wikipedia to prepare for tests for several university courses, however. And I got my best grades on those ones.

However, on the subject of whether or not you can get to the library to check those books, are you sure you don't have access to electronic databases through your university library that might provide you with this information? And is there any way you can contact a reference librarian, by E-mail or instant messaging service or anything? Many times university libraries provide databases with access to journals and books that you can't read other than getting a physical copy.

And in saying that I don't mean to make it sound like you're a dunce at libraries. :P I'm just trying to help and assuming from the bottom. I'd check your university's site but I have to do work now.

[first_seventhe]

Well, we have OhioLink, which is a book/journal sharing program uniting universities across Ohio. It actually had really good journal access (people from work ask me to get them articles; I will cry when I graduate and lose it, I really will). But it doesn't appear to have electronic access to books, just to journals. I could order the book from there but I'd still have to go to the library to read it.

[salarta]

DEAR SEV.

This is the closest I can find: http://www.uakron.edu/libraries/bierce_scitech/research_tools/research_tools_listing.dot?ctg=155189 . Your university library is balls about being able to follow a direct link to search results though, so you'll have to click "Polymer Engineering" under the Subjects drop-down to see Knovel.

There's a possibility that you have more resources at your disposal than Knovel, for instance some libraries have access to things like ebrary and Books 24x7 that would give them access to whole books. One library I've used only showed such access by searching for the book in the catalog, which I did really quickly and found some books where you'd be able to get full-text by clicking the "Go" button. :)

Speaking of, you can very quickly try netlibrary: https://www.uakron.edu/libraries/bierce_scitech/research_tools/research_tools_listing.dot?keywords=netlibrary&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0 . It says it has online books "on many subjects." The problem, though, is that you can only access netlibrary after creating an account for it while on campus. It doesn't help you much right now, but maybe it'll help you later.

Oh, one last one you can try that I found: https://www.uakron.edu/libraries/bierce_scitech/research_tools/research_tools_detail.dot?id=1725103

Now then, back to doing my actual work for me. :) No problem if you don't want to try them out, and if you do then I hope they help you get things done!