Patent Quality Matters | Article One Partners Blog

Featured Resource: IEEE Xplore

  

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

IEEE Xplore is run by IEEE, or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.  The organization has over 395,000 members in 160 countries, making it the world’s largest technical professional association.  IEEE Xplore is a digital library, containing almost 3 million documents, coming from a variety of sources.  Since the library is run by a scientific association, the references are mostly engineering and technical literature.

Specific and Detailed Scientific Literature

While IEEE Xplore carries many references from normal sources like journals, books, and scientific magazines, there are also more difficult-to-find resources available as well.  One example is conference proceedings and papers.  This is where being attached to a professional association is truly valuable for the database.  Since IEEE runs and sponsors numerous conferences every year, they are able to quickly post and include the records of those events.  IEEE also works with other organizations to increase the size of their database. 

Recently, IEEE partnered with VDE VERLAG, one of the largest technical publishing houses in Europe.  VDE’s conference proceedings, including over 3,000 papers from more than 20 annual conferences, are now accessible on IEEE Xplore.  These conferences are often fantastic places to find non-patent literature, making IEEE’s effort to include as many as possible a great resource for an Article One Researcher.

Customizable Presentation

One of IEEE’s key strengths is its presentation.  The resource provides researchers with many ways to download and view their references. For instance, IEEE Xplore is one of the most mobile-friendly search engines available.  The database is in the process of converting many of its sources into eBooks, allowing researchers to read and work on the go.  IEEE does a fantastic job of providing an easy-to-read list of results. 

The sources can be opened and viewed in a number of ways, including in Microsoft Excel files and in HTML.  This variety gives researchers a choice, enabling them to customize their experience and work in whatever manner is most comfortable and conducive to their personal tastes.  Another option is to use OpenURL.  This feature allows easier linking in cases where the source is not accessible online.  OpenURL assists in the process of linking to institutional libraries to discover if the source is obtainable in print at a researcher’s local library.

To gain access to this database, researchers must first become a subscribed member of IEEE.  In addition to IEEE Xplore, members can gain admission to numerous other resources available from the association, as well as take part in one of the strongest technical communities in the world.

For additional search tools, visit Article One’s Resources & Tools page.