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Use Reference Sources, such as encyclopedias, to get a general overview of your topic. They are not intended to be read cover-to-cover, but rather provide you with more concise information as you begin to explore a topic. Reference sources generally provide several things:
Reference books are located on the Main Floor of the Library.
Full-text entries from encyclopedias and reference works for multidisciplinary and subject-specific research in areas such as social sciences, education, business, psychology, art, history, etc.
Check out science news and project websites. If there is a particular inventor or company whose innovations inspire you, go to the Patents tab to look up their work.
Browse thousands of open access documents by topic, or check out design competitions from engineering professional organizations like ASME and IEEE in Cornell's arXiv online repository. Use the competitions for project ideas or to enter to win!