Welcome to the Material Science Subject Guide - key library resources that will help you find the information you need for projects and research in Material Science.
This guide is designed to cover Material Science generally. If you can't find what you need here contact Your Librarian (I'm in the left Navigation bar!) or try one the Library's other guides.
Go to
Before you start your research decide what kinds of information you need.
Need Information on a chemical substance?
PubChem is a great place to start. Get a summary of common names, molecular structure, physical information, drug actions, chemical safety data, and links to literature. By the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), which also runs PubMed.
Need an overview of a topic?
Search Books, Videos and More (WorldCat Discovery) from the Library's Main Page. Search the word "Encyclopedia" or "Handbook" with the topic such as "thermophysical or thermochemical" "alloys" "nanotechnology or nanoscience" "engineered materials"
ISBN: 9781461443377 Publication Date: 2012-09-22 ISBN: 9781627083935 Publication Date: 2023-12-30 ASM Handbook Volume 11BReview articles, provide up-to-date overviews of recent research, search for review articles in one of the material science research article databases. For info on the databases we have , go to the Find Material Science Research Articles Research Articles section this guide.
For tips on finding review articles, see the Find Review Articles, Technical Reports, Conference Papers section
Need information on current research and experiments?
Search for for scholarly/peer reviewed articles in one of our databases. For:
Physical reference data
Use SciFinder substance search or use the resources in the Find Chemical Structures, Properties, Characteristics, Spectra section of this guide
Get Organized
Before you start your research, spend some time preparing and getting organized:
Identify the parameters of the topic such as scope, depth, purpose:
Clearly Define your Topic: Make a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables of interest. Make sure to list synonyms and related terms. As you search and discover new terminology, added it to your list.
Take Good Notes as you Research. This will help you develop your literature review later, and will help you keep track of which sources relate to your research and how. You may want to make note of:
It can be helpful to Keep a search log. Think of this like a research notebook, but one that tracks your search strategy and results. Report the date, database, search string and filters, relevance of results and any other notes that might be useful if you get ideas later or can't remember what you found where.
Track your sources. Using citation manger software like EndNote Web, Zotero and Mendeley can help, and your notes can go right into the software with the citation attached.
Are you Off Campus? Log into my.boisestate.edu first
Many Library resources are paid for by the Library on your behalf, and come with strict licensing agreements. To use them, you will need to go through the Library's proxy server to authenticate you as a BSU affiliate. If you're using Google Scholar and have it set up to help you Find full text in the BSU Library's collection, you won't have access to the full text without authentication.
Log into myboiseState.edu before you start your research and single sign-on will take care of the authentication for you. By doing this you'll avoid the interruptions that come with authentication requests to put in your BSU user name and password to get to materials.
Set up Google Scholar, InterLibrary Loan and a Citation Manager
Before you start your research, take time to do the following if you haven't already done so:
All of these options are free, and will reduce the interruptions you face you do your research. You'll find resources in the pages of this guide to help you accomplish these things.
