Library: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: Home

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Welcome! This guide will serve as a starting point for Shippensburg University students wishing to conduct research on various aspects of the national debate over artificial intelligence and robotics. You will find background sources that introduce you to your topic and keep you up-to-date with links to news articles, research websites, journal articles, and research reports concerning artificial intelligence and robotics.

You will also find selected key publications, books & e-books, data sources, research organizations and advocacy groups, and links to general and specialized databases for further research.

Search Terms

Main Term(s): artificial intelligence, robotics
Related Terms: automation, cognitive science, cybernetics, decision support systems, fifth generation computers, neural computers, robot industry, robotics engineers
Broader Terms: bionics, self-organizing systems, engineering
Narrower Terms: animatronics, cognitive robotics, computational intelligence, distributed artificial intelligence, evolutionary robotics, heuristic programming, machine learning, nanorobotics, neural networks, perceptrons, robotics in [aeronautics, education, geology, oceanography], robots, question-answering systems, soft robotics, space robotics

Background

Background Sources

Books & Reference Books

Reference Books & Ebooks

Military Robots and Drones: A Reference Handbook by Paul J. Springer
Call Number: EBL E-book
Publication Date: 2012
"Military Robots and Drones: A Reference Handbook" explains the many military applications of robotics as well as current limitations and disadvantages. The book also provides a general history of robotic warfare; examines key individuals, agencies, documents, and models; discusses controversies within the field of robotic and drone warfare, such as ethical considerations; and explains how increased reliance on robotics has affected the structure and strategy of the military.

Books & Ebooks

Artificial Intelligence: The Basics by Kevin Warwick
Call Number: EBL E-book
Publication Date: 2011
Artificial Intelligence: The Basics is a concise and cutting-edge introduction to the fast moving world of AI. The author Kevin Warwick, a pioneer in the field, examines issues of what it means to be man or machine and looks at advances in robotics which have blurred the boundaries. Topics covered include: how intelligence can be defined whether machines can 'think' sensory input in machine systems the nature of consciousness the controversial culturing of human neurons.
Future Robots: Towards a Robotic Science of Human Beings by Domenico Parisi
Call Number: KLN E-book
Publication Date: 2014
This book is for both robot builders and scientists who study human behaviour and human societies. Theories of human behaviour and human societies are traditionally expressed in words but, today, with the advent of the computer they can also be expressed by constructing computer-based artefacts.
Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds by Russell Blackford
Call Number: EBL E-book
Publication Date: 2014
Intelligence Unbound explores the prospects, promises, and potential dangers of machine intelligence and uploaded minds in a collection of state-of-the-art essays from internationally recognized philosophers, AI researchers, science fiction authors, and theorists. The book offers current, diverse perspectives on machine intelligence and uploaded minds.
Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics by Patrick Lin (Editor); Keith Abney (Editor); George A. Bekey (Editor)
Call Number: EBSCO E-book
Publication Date: 2011
Robots today serve in many roles, from entertainer to educator to executioner. As robotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: Should robots be programmed to follow a code of ethics, if this is even possible? Are there risks in forming emotional bonds with robots? How might society--and ethics--change with robotics?
Smart Machines: IBM's Watson and the Era of Cognitive Computing by John E. Kelly; Steve Hamm
Call Number: QA76.76.E95 K434 2013 (and EBL E-book)
Publication Date: 2013
We are crossing a new frontier in the evolution of computing and entering the era of cognitive systems. The victory of IBM's Watson on the television quiz show Jeopardy! revealed how scientists and engineers at IBM and elsewhere are pushing the boundaries of science and technology to create machines that sense, learn, reason, and interact with people in new ways to provide insight and advice.
Philosophy and Theory of Artificial Intelligence by Vincent C. Müller (Editor)
Call Number: EBL E-book
Publication Date: 2012
Can we make machines that think and act like humans or other natural intelligent agents? The answer to this question depends on how we see ourselves and how we see the machines in question. Classical AI and cognitive science had claimed that cognition is computation, and can thus be reproduced on other computing machines, possibly surpassing the abilities of human intelligence. This consensus has now come under threat and the agenda for the philosophy and theory of AI must be set anew, re-defining the relation between AI and Cognitive Science.
The Quest for Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Achievements by Nils J. Nilsson
Call Number: Q335 .N55 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field within computer science that is attempting to build enhanced intelligence into computer systems. This book traces the history of the subject, from the early dreams of eighteenth-century (and earlier) pioneers to the more successful work of today's AI engineers.
Wired for War: the Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the Twenty-first Century by P. W. Singer
Call Number: UG450 .S45 2010
Publication Date: 2009
In Wired for War, P. W. Singer explores the greatest revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb: the dawn of robotic warfare. We are on the cusp of a massive shift in military technology that threatens to make real the stuff of I, Robot and The Terminator. Blending historical evidence with interviews of an amazing cast of characters, Singer shows how technology is changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and the ethics that surround war itself. Travelling from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to modern-day 'skunk works' in the midst of suburbia, Wired for War will tantalise a wide readership, from military buffs to policy wonks to gearheads.

Key Publications

Autonomous Weapons (Ethical Autonomy Project - Center for New American Security)
Includes links to an extensive series of reports on the ethical issues stemming from development and use of autonomous weapons.
Robots in American Law (Ryan Calo, Univ. of Washington School of Law)

Research Organizations

U.S. Government Organizations

Research Highlights (Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence)

Advocacy Organizations

Artificial Intelligence (Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies)
Artificial intelligence reports and other documents from a think tank specializing in "how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies" -- website.
Campaign to Stop Killer Robots
A global coalition that supports a ban on fully autonomous weapons. See especially the Bibliography section for a list of reports and articles.
International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC)
An international not-for-profit organization whose members support peaceful use of robotics and regulation of robotics weapons
Killer Robots (Human Rights Watch)
An international non-governmental organization that supports human rights and a ban on fully autonomous weapons
Robotics Search (Heritage Foundation)
Reports and other resources from a leading conservative think tank supporting the responsible development of robotics, especially in military applications.

Databases

General

Ship Discovery Search This link opens in a new window
This library database serves as a search engine to search most library databases at the same time, including magazine and journal databases, e-book collections, and the library catalog. News databases are not included in a comprehensive way. Supplement this with direct searching of ProQuest Newstand and Lexis Nexis Academic. Search results default to items that the library owns, either in online or print format. Remove the "Available in Library Collection" limiter to retrieve items available through interlibrary loan.
Access on-campus or off-campus with your ShipID
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Complete is our most important general database. covering all subject areas. It is useful for research in all classes, as it includes 26+ million newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, with 50% of these immediately available in full-text.
Access from on campus or off campus with Ship ID.
Contents indexed in Ship Library Discovery Search.
ProQuest Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
One of the most comprehensive news databases in the world, ProQuest Global Newstream includes access to over 3000 news sources, including 2,200 newspapers, as well as blogs, podcasts, websites and news wire feeds worldwide.
Development note - alt link use stats: (91 total hits, 33 since 7/2012 -- 10 /2012)

Library Guide to Current News Sources
This mobile-friendly guide provide excellent access to the best high-quality new sources.

Westlaw This link opens in a new window
This library database is one of the world's largest full-text databases, including very extensive news, legal, and business information. Along with ProQuest Newstand, it is our primary source of news information.
Access from on campus or off campus with Ship ID.

Science News

Specialized

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Business Source Complete is the world's definitive scholarly business database, providing the leading collection of bibliographic and full text content. As part of the comprehensive coverage offered by this database, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back as far as 1886 are included. In addition, searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,300 journals.
Access from on campus or off campus with Ship ID.

Find Your Own Sources

Library Background Databases

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Library database that covers the most important and controversial issues of the day. Contains the full text of CQ Researcher, a weekly publication. Each issue provides a comprehensive overview and background essay, data tables and graphs, chronology, pro-con starter, and list of major research and advocacy groups. Includes extensive lists of sources and hot-linked footnotes throughout.
Access from on campus or off campus with Ship ID.

Quality Web Sources

In-Depth Journalism

ProPublica
ProPublica is a freely available website produced by a major online non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest. ProPublica features two kinds of reporting: Investigations, which include a series of in-depth articles about a topic (often between 15 and 30 articles - major topics range from dozens to 100+ articles). MuckReads are shorter reports featuring investigative journalism from other news agencies. Major areas of interest include, among others: healthcare and the health industry, fracking, censorship, money and politics, and financial and economic issues.
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting
Reveal is a freely available website and the online media platform for the Center for Investigative Journalism, a major online non-profit news organization, founded in 1977, and dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest. They publish series of investigative reports on a topic (typically between 10 and 20). Major areas of coverage include: criminal justice, the environment, guns, health care, labor and employment, national security, religion, surveillance and privacy, and veterans.
Center for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a freely available website produced by a major online non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth investigative reporting about current issues in the public interest, with a special focus on accountability and fairness, especially in terms of the role and influence of money. Topics featured include politics and elections, national security business, the environment, juvenile justice and health.
National Public Radio (NPR)
NPR is one of the most important freely-available sources of investigative journalism. It includes excellent topical pages but these are not easily browseable on the website. Use the High Quality Web Source Finder search box to locate the topical pages for your issue.
Journalist's Resource
This very high quality web site, located at Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and sponsored by leading academic journalism programs, guides journalists and other researchers to find scholarly sources related to many of the most important topics in the news. Whenever the source is not available in full-text, use the discovery layer or library A-Z journal list to get library access to the article or to order it on interlibrary loan.

Newspaper Topic Guides

A number of important national newspapers have topic or issue sections of their website that bring together all the paper's articles on particular topics. The leading example of this is "Times Topics" from the New York Times. Each topic guide/section has a search tool that lets you refine your search.

Unfortunately, these sections are often not easy to browse or locate on the newspaper websites. Use the "High Quality Web Source Finder" search box above to search for your topic. Then choose the Newspaper Topic Guides tab to look for these in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune. If you should hit a pay wall when browsing these newspapers, simply search for articles from any of these three papers using the ProQuest Newstand library database.

Science News

Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS Reports)

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research division of Congress. It issues detailed research reports on a very wide range of issues. CRS doesn't maintain its own website, but its reports are available through several organizations and libraries.

EveryCRSReport.com
Website that attempts to make all CRS reports easily available to the public. The result of a bi-partisan movement to get Congress to pass a bill requiring open access.
Congressional Research Service Reports (University of North Texas)
The University of North Texas maintains a freely available digital library collection of Congressional Research Service reports, with the goal "to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different web sites since 1990" -- website. Best search tool for finding CRS reports. Update holdings of specific reports through the Federation of American Scientists or through a web search on the name of a report.
Congressional Research Service Reports Archive (Federation of American Scientists)
As a public service, the Federation of American Scientists maintains this free archive of CRS reports.

Web Directories

Public Policy Issues and Groups (Vanderbilt Univ.)
This freely available website produced by the Vanderbilt University Libraries provides an alphabetical topical directory to important websites on some 50 current issues. These guide pages typically include sections for these kinds of web resources: Basic Sites, Government, International, News, Statistics, Interest Groups and Research Centers and Other Educational Sites.

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Home

Search Terms

Background

Background Sources

Books & Reference Books

Reference Books & Ebooks

Books & Ebooks

Key Publications

Research Organizations

Research Organizations

U.S. Government Organizations

Advocacy Organizations

Databases

General

Science News

Specialized

Find Your Own Sources

Library Background Databases

Quality Web Sources

High Quality Web Source Finder

In-Depth Journalism

Newspaper Topic Guides

Science News

Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS Reports)

Web Directories

Contact the Ezra Lehman Memorial Library