Step 1: Start by searching SAE Mobilus.
You will be prompted to log in using the normal blue Kettering Authentication page if you are not currently logged in. On the homepage, you be able to search the entire database, including the content that Kettering is not subscribed to.
There are several areas on the homepage we want to point to help ease your navigation through the database. See the image below.
- Using the primary search bar on the homepage, you can enter any combination of keywords, authors, topics, or standard numbers.
- If you are looking only for engineering standards, you can click the standards link below the search bar and it will filter results immediately.
- The "My Subscriptions" link will take you directly to only the items in the Kettering collection. This is helpful when you're in a hurry and don't have time to wait for us to acquire access to other materials for you, which can take several days.
Step 2: Filtering your results is easy.
After entering your search term(s) and hitting enter, you will be taken to results with lots of available filters on the left side of the page. Here are some helpful filters we recommend using, which are highlighted in the image below.
- Only: gives the option to sort by several facets. First, you can choose "New Content," which will show items both subscribed and not in our subscription. Second, you can choose "My Subscription," which shows only the items in the library's subscription. Last, you can choose "Full Text," which will remove listings that are abstracts only. You can select any or all of these facets.
- Industries: helpful if you are looking for a specific field's documentation only.
- Content Types: narrows your search to specific types of documents, such as technical papers, technical standards, material specifications, reports, articles, etc.
- Other Filters not shown in the image:
- Published: allows you to set a specific set of years you want to search, for example, 2021-2024
- Topics: allows further sorting of dozens of topics, including Power and Propulsion, Materials, Powertrains, Engines, Aircraft, Parts, Components, and Fuels, among many others.
Step 3: Other things to note on the results.
There are other important things to note when you look at the results in SAE Mobilus, which are numbered here and correspond to the image below.
- This field tells you what sort of document you are accessing, such as a Standard, Journal Article, Recommended Practice, Technical Paper, Material Specification, etc.
- This field is the Standard number. Each type of standard and standard publishing body has different codes here. For example, the SAE standards that start with J are ground vehicle standards. Many, but not all, standard numbers will incorporate the latest year's update into the schema. For example, this standard is broken down as J49 (the standard) and then further to note that it is the 202003 version, meaning March of 2020 was the latest update.
- This field is the date the standard was published or updated.
- The symbols of either a checkmark or padlock indicate if the item in in the library's subscription. If a padlock appears, it is not in our subscription, but we can still help you obtain it if you need it for your research or project.
- This field is very important to note! In the example below, you see the word "Current," which means that it is the most up-to-date version of the standard. You will also encounter some that say "Historical," and they are not to be used in industry any longer. You may also see some that say "Withdrawn." These are also not acceptable in industry or in projects. They are generally removed when they are no longer necessary in the field or are no longer safe to use.
Step 4: Downloading and more.
Here are a few last things we want to show you how to find once you click on the document you want.
- Revisions: shows you the current version at the top, and the historical versions can be viewed below. These are clickable.
- Download: click the downward arrow to download the document. It can also be done with the 3-dot menu to the right of the arrow.
- 3-dot menu: gives more options, such as download, print, share, and export.
- Datasets: when available, clicking this tab will allow you to access and download the datasets used to create/update the standard. Not all standards offer this capability.
Step 5: What if you can't find what you need?
- If you think you should be able to find a technical paper or standard in SAE Mobilus but can't, send an email to library@kettering.edu and let the librarians help.
- If you see a document in the "Unsubscribed" section you need to access for your projects or research, send an email to mod@kettering.edu and we will purchase access for you.
