Shounak Dattagupta

M. Parsons
ENG 106
April 28, 2014
Unit 4 Final Draft
A.
Among the many libraries at Purdue University, the Siegesmund Engineering Library is the one that, as
its name suggests, would provide the most utility and resources for an engineering major at this
institution.
The Siegesmund Engineering Library, or simply Siegesmund, is located in Room 160 of the A.A. Potter
Engineering Center; its furnishings were provided for by a donation from John C. Siegesmund, a retired
Vice-President of Engineering with Eli Lilly and Company, and his wife, Lillian. The library was opened in
1978, and was a consolidation of the individual Schools of Engineering libraries. Its collections occupy
three floors of the Potter Engineering Center and include books, journals, conference proceedings,
standards, patents, product literature and technical reports/briefs (Siegesmund Engineering Library
Website, 2014).
Important features of the Library/Layout
Nestled deep within Potter, Siegesmund Engineering Library is located between Knoy Hall of Technoloy
and the Mechanical Engineering building. At first, I had no idea where it was, since it seems nestled in
between two very important buildings, which makes Potter seem not as significant; in a way, thanks to
its brick and cement walls and color scheme, it almost camouflages with its surroundings.
Inside, there are seats and private booths for individuals who either want to independently study in a
secluded environment (or perhaps, for the individuals who want to be louder). When one walks into the
library, there is a small refreshments area with vending machines and couches. As expected, the front
desk is front and center; there are usually two or three rather friendly librarians who man the desk at
any one time. Beyond the front desk there is a path that branches off to the right; this is the main path
to the resources that Siegesmund offers; some of the features that Siegesmund offers is Learning
Studio, located in POTR 141, which accommodates 60 students and can be reserved for one-off or
semester-long courses (Siegesmund Library Website). In addition, there is an Itap (Information
Technology at Purdue) Mini Lab nestled in one of the niches of the library, similar to the one found in
McCutcheon Hall; there is a 7-computer/printer mini-lab in the basement of the library (Siegesmund
Library Website).
B.
Databases/Journals
AccessScience: According to the description on Purdue Libraries website: Provides access to over 7,000
articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of research updates in areas of science and
technology (Purdue Libraries Website). On further inspection, AccessScience is basically a
comprehensive index of anything relating to any scientific field, ranging from Anthropology and
Archeology to Military Science and Food Technology. In my opinion, this seems like a very general
database that is good for preliminary or light research. AccessScience has several search tools; the
databases advanced data search engine is based on Boolean operators such as AND and OR, as well as a
content type check box menu which narrows the search criteria and facilitates the search process for
the user.
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference Proceedings: A searchable
database of all ASEE conference proceedings articles from 1996-present focused on engineering
education for all disciplines of engineering and technology (Purdue Libraries Database Search Website).
This database seems to be much more specific than any other, focusing on particular sessions of
discussion regarding engineering education. This database, like AccessScience, also makes use of
Boolean searching but has limited search fields.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection: Specializing in Mechanical
Engineering, a wealth of information about anything ME-related. ASME has the most thorough
searching process; the search is divided into sections based on citations, specific article or proceedings
by date, and author. These are further sub-divided into particular focuses of engineering (such as
biomechanical, computational and nonlinear dynamics, etc.) through a check box menu.
Applied Science and Technology Full Text & Index Retrospective: Index of over 400 periodicals in a wide
variety of mechanical and industrial arts (Applied Science and Tech website). This is, in my opinion, the
premier resource for any historical research pertaining to anything technology or engineering-related; it
is capable of pulling up important past studies, abstracts, historical research, anything that may provide
context or background research. With this in mind, it is not surprising that this databases advanced
search feature is extremely structured, with Boolean operators and criteria-narrowing check box menus.
Knovel: An interactive database that provides numerical and tabular data from leading engineering and
science resources (Purdue Libraries Database Website). Of the five databases / information search
engines that I have looked in to, Knovel has the most aesthetically pleasing User Interface and color
scheme; it has a pleasant balance between gray and yellow search and side bars, as well as its own
unique logo. Knovels search engine is not as complex, lacking Boolean operators or check boxes, but
still is proficient and does bring up a decent amount of information fairly quickly.
C.
Some Journals considered the best or most prestigious in my field:
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Journal of Micromechanics and Micro-engineering
These journals are considered the best because they have been cited the most in a three year period. Of
the three journals featured above, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics can be considered the best or most
prestigious, as it has the most citations of the three (SCImago Journal and Country Rank). I found this
information by using a search engine to first find several reputable mechanical engineering websites
that offered full-text journals, very briefly browsed a few of them, and then cross-referenced my
findings with a website that ranks journals.
D.
The field I have researched and will be describing is the Engineering and Technology
academic discourse community; specifically, I will focus on articles and literature about
Mechanical Engineering. From what I have seen, most ME literature is collected in databases of
group-based or collaborative research; for example, I seem to find a lot of related articles,
building on each other one after the other, on the web pages of American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (where I found my article of analysis),
and Knovel (an interactive database of collaborated engineering and science resources).
Personally, I did not think this was odd, because as Ive noticed through my own Engineering
classes and other experiences, this field is definitely not a one-man show. As such, authors of
these articles tend to cite the work of their contemporaries as a grounds upon which to develop
and present their own findings, and as such, articles can be called peer-reviewed. Also, most
articles have multiple authors.
These articles are generally headed by an abstract, which summarizes the content of the
paper in a rather verbose fashion (the vocabulary is pretty technical). This abstract is then
followed by several keywords used frequently throughout the entire article, before finally diving
into the article proper.
The writing of the paper is extremely impersonal. There is pretty much no regard for the
un-initiated reader; those who are not part of the specific lexis of academic discourse are pretty
much left completely bewildered by the jargon used in the paper. Furthermore, the citations in
these articles are generally APA format, as APA is the preferred formatting style of scientific
literature.
E.
1. Mura, Andrea (2013). Sensitivity Analysis of a Six Degrees of Freedom Displacement
Measuring Device. Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved 18 April, 2014, from
http://m.pic.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/content/228/1/158.full.pdf.
In Andrea Muras Sensitivity analysis of a six degrees of freedom displacement measuring
device, Mura follows the Swales CARS model very closely in his execution of the argument
and the presentation of his findings.
According to the CARS criterion, there are three discernible moves that an author will make in
order to convey his or her information effectively and in a cohesive style (Swales Three-Move
Model). Mura showcases all three of these moves in his work.
The first move is to establish a territory; that is, Mura must establish the big picture idea of
his research in order to create context and relevance for his reader. Mura accomplishes this by
first pointing out the importance of the subject; in this case, he stipulates that a device
resembling robotic legs can be linear actuators or linear sensors, and that they may easily
control all degrees of freedom of an object into the space by controlling six translations (Mura,
Sensitivity Analysis). Essentially, Mura is talking about a mechanical structure, consisting of six
legs and an array of rotary motors, that, when applied as part of an object, gives the object
several degrees of freedom (allows it to move in several different directions with ease). By
creating a general description of his subject of research and stipulating its possible uses in the
first paragraph, Mura effectively creates context for his subject, essentially completing his
Move 1.
Not only does Mura create context for his subject; he also goes back and references several items
of previous research done upon the subject, further establishing the territory. This is how the
author incorporates other arguments. For example, the author references literature, namely
Rees-Jones and Kerrs presentation and analysis of an early force/torque sensor based on a
Stewart platform.
Mura moves on to Move 2, establishing a niche. The niche is the subject of sensitivity
analysis, specifically of a particular device. This part is much less pronounced than the
establishing a territory phase. In fact, the niche is pretty much already very well established, as
proven by the multitude of other authors who have already written about the field (and have been
cited by Mura). Mura simply builds on their work and solidifies the niche.
Move 3 focuses on occupying the niche created. Again, this section is not as pronounced as the
first, as the niche is already well-occupied; the subject matter of this paper is not at all new or
novel, its simply an elaboration of a rather complex concept. Therefore, Mura only performs
Step 2 of this move, in which is he states the principal findings of the essay. As stated above,
the writing style is impersonal, full of technical vocabulary, and straight to the point.
2. Rees-Jones J. (1987) Cross coordinate control of robot manipulators. In:Proceedings of
International Workshop on Nuclear Robotic Technologies and Applications, University of
Lancaster. Retrieved 18 April, 2014, from
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UzZ3LAYqvRkC&oi=fnd&pg=PP9&dq=Cross+
coordinate+control+of+robot+manipulators.&ots=zUwqSDt2cM&sig=q2GfhgUatbQ8A0n6ujP
AvcZ1e0g#v=onepage&q&f=false

This work by Rees-Jones was referenced by Mura as a source of information and resources. It is
not as concise as an article, yet follows the same basic patterns. The style and formatting of the
piece is very similar to that of Muras; impersonal, full of jargon and calculations. The authors
argument is essentially a proof of several different applications of a computer code (and a lot of
complex mathematics) to controlling a robotic interface. This article serves as an expansive
knowledge base upon which Mura builds his own specified argument.
Works Cited
"Engineering & Technical Reference, Technical Information - Knovel." Engineering Technical
Reference Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<https://app.knovel.com/web/index.v?jsp=main>.
"Applied Science & Technology Index Retrospective" . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/applied-science-technology-index-retrospective>.
"ASME DC | Home." ASME DC | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/>.
"American Society for Engineering Education." Conference Proceedings Search:. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
Apr. 2014. <http://www.asee.org/search/proceedings>.
"Home - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education." Home - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill
Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.accessscience.com/>.
"All Journals within Mechanical Engineering." Journals. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.elsevier.com/journals/subjects/engineering-and-technology/mechanical-
engineering>.
"Follow us:." Scimago Journal & Country Rank. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.scimagojr.com/>.
"Databases." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <https://www.lib.purdue.edu/find/databases>.
"Siegesmund Engineering Library." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
<https://www.lib.purdue.edu/libraries/engr>.