Aeronautics and Astronautics

Databases & Electronic Journals

Databases for Aeronautics
E-Journals for Aeronautics

The links above will connect to the Vera database of MIT's electronic resources. Vera is the gateway to all electronic resources offered by the MIT Libraries.

More information on especially useful Aeronautics resources:

Databases | Handbooks | Encyclopedias | Books

Databases - a database is like a search engine for journal articles, conference papers and, sometimes, technical reports. Below are the basic databases for Aerospace Engineering in order of significance in the field:

• Aerospace and High Technology Database
  Perhaps the most important database in the field, this database indexes journal articles, conference papers and some NASA reports in the fields of aeronautics, astronautics and space sciences. Contains links to full text of many journals and AIAA conferences. Covers back to 1962.
  
• NASA Technical Report Server
  This public, free, database contains references to all NASA publications, including NACA reports. Many reports are available as full text. If you don’t see a link to the report you need, email your information to aero-lib@mit.edu (MIT only) and we will try to get it for you. See also our Finding Guide for NASA Reports.
  
• AIAA Technical Meeting Papers
  Search by author, title, paper number, conference date and location, for citations to technical papers and access to fulltext. The Aero/Astro Library provides access to AIAA papers on line from 1996 to the present. We also have all earlier AIAA papers in print or on microfiche.
  
• Compendex
  This database covers journal articles, conferences, and reports in all engineering fields; covers worldwide engineering and technical literature as well as related fields in science and management. By covering all fields it offers less depth in Aerospace Engineering. Covers back to 1884.
  
• Google Scholar
  Many of you use this database, but beware. It is a beta mode and it is unclear how much it covers and what years it covers. See Use Google Appropriately.
  
• Web of Science
  This database is especially good for “citation searching" enabling you to search forward to find who has cited an earlier paper. It covers all branches of science and engineering and does not offer the depth in engineering that Aerospace and High Technology or Compendex does.

You will find an alphabetical list of these and other useful databases in Vera.

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Handbooks - Handbooks provide data and can include review articles. Use Knovel to search many handbooks at one time, or try the on-line version of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.

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Encyclopedias - Search for general information about a topic. The best is the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, which contains the full text of the 8th edition of the print encyclopedia as well as over 115,000 definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms.

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Books - To find books at MIT, search Barton, the online catalog. To find a book that is not at MIT, search Worldcat, a database of all books cataloged through the Library of Congress.

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This page was last updated on 02/29/08