IEEE offers a Powerful Digital Library for Engineering Research

Bruce Schreiner posted 2014-09-10

Imagine you are designing a new electronic device that requires analog to digital conversions (ADC).  To start your research you'll need to find the state of the art in current ADC methods. 

Unfortunately, Google and other public search engines will give you a fire hose of unfiltered and non-validated results.  If what you really need is the latest journals, articles, conference papers and standards from a reliable source, you should consider the IEEE Xplore digital library.

The IEEE Xplore digital library provides up-to-date and groundbreaking information for engineers, with a variety of subscription options.  (To compare subscription features, download the 2015 Comparison Chart.)

Searching the IEEE Xplore digital library starts with a simple search box. It then expands to allow for results filtering through an intuitive interface.


Figure 1: Filtered for Conference Publications
from 2013 – 2014 and Journals & Magazines
from 2008 – 2014.
To further advance the ADC search, for example, users can use wildcard functions like the asterisk (*) to find similar expressions. For instance, searching "ADC theo*" might come up with expressions like "ADC theory," "ADC theoretical," and many more.

Filtering can then be used to narrow down your search. Let's say you choose to include only journal-based entries from 2008 to 2014. This will provide results from a broad spectrum.  Further filtering can zero in on newer innovations by searching for more recent conference proceedings from 2013 to 2014.

The filtering capabilities of IEEE Xplore are demonstrated in the window to the left.  Summarized pull-down options appear with the click of a mouse to assist the filtering process.

The ultimate advantage of the IEEE Xplore digital library becomes apparent when comparing search results to that of Google.  The Google results that show successive approximation and flash conversion are foundational methods for analog conversions, not ground-breaking recent research.   Also, 18,700,000 results from Google require an unrealistic amount of time to filter, and even then, many of the top entries are still YouTube videos and other non-authoritative links. 

Not only does the IEEE Xplore digital library have a significant and easy-to-use interface for filtering results quickly, the original content of the documents in the library represent significant research.  It offers peer-reviewed content that provides pertinent information without wasted effort.

To help you get up-to-speed, IEEE provides training videos and screen captures for IEEE Xplore on the client services pages. These provide a method for advancing your experience quickly and serve as a starting point for most questions.

The database has over 3.5 million documents published which includes the 38 IEEE technical society's publications.

Results from a recent survey of professional engineers across various company types (telecom, aerospace & defense, power & energy, research, electronics, etc.) cited that IEEE Xplore increases productivity, saves time, keeps them up-to-date, and encourages innovative thinking.

On the quality spectrum, the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports (JCR) list of the top 20 electrical and electronic engineering titles includes 19 IEEE titles.  The IEEE is also the most cited publisher in patents.

The IEEE Xplore digital library can help drive the bottom line for engineering teams by providing up-to-date, relevant, and innovative information quickly.  It is used by practicing engineers to fuel the imagination, build from previous research, and inspire new ideas in a much more efficient way than scouring the internet.

IEEE is offering a free 30 day trial for your organization.

IEEE has paid a fee to ENGINEERING.com to promote their knowledge based solutions.  They have no editorial input to this post.  All opinions are mine. – Bruce Schreiner