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Research Guides

How to Find Engineering Conference Proceedings

About Conference Proceedings
Conference proceedings are called many things, such as: Congresses, Symposiums, Colloquiums, Annual Meetings, and more.

They are shelved according to their subject area in the General Stacks at the Engineering Library (i.e. on the third or fourth floors). Some may be online (see below).

Search Tips

Conference proceedings can be tricky to find since sometimes they are cataloged individually (like a book) or as a series (like a journal). Here are some tips to help you find conference proceedings in the UW Libraries Search:

The GOLDEN RULE for searching in Libraries Search is:  Use unique words from the title of the conference and
search these words as a KEYWORD search in the catalog.

More search tips:

  • Search on the association or conference title as an AUTHOR in the catalog.
  • Use the organizational acronym in your search (e.g. ASCE, ASME, SME).
  • Use the date in the keyword search

Sometimes it will be necessary to verify the citation before being able to accurately search in the UW Libraries. You can often check a specific citation from a conference proceeding:

  • searching Google
  • on the sponsoring organization’s website.
  • in the Compendex or INSPEC databases.

Search in UW Libraries Search
Searching in the UW Libraries Search system finds items that are available at the UW Libraries or can be requested from a Summit Library. 

To Find at the UW Libraries Only 
Before you put key words in the search menu, click the downward arrow beside Articles, Books, and more for the pull-down a menu that allows you to choose UW Libraries only.

Online Conference Proceedings
You can also find additional conference proceedings in areas like civil and environmental engineering (ASCE), electrical engineering (IEEE), computer science (ACM), optical engineering (SPIE) and aeronautic and astronautic engineering (AIAA) from the following online collections from the UW Engineering Library: ( UW Restricted)

You can access additional online collections from the Engineering Databases List.

Need more help?

  • If the paper you need is not available from the UW Libraries you can request it from Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
  • If you are unable to find the conference paper or proceedings you are looking for, feel free to AskUs or contact the Engineering Library.