Library Geology 109

Overview

This course guide lists resources that will be useful to you as you complete research assignments for this class.

Please be sure to visit the Citing Sources tab to make sure you are properly crediting sources in your work.

Databases: Find articles, book chapters, e-books

• GeoRef (1785 [North America]; 1933 [Int'l])
  International database of journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters covering geology and earth sciences.
• Agricultural & Environmental Science Database (ProQuest) (1960 to present)
  Multidisciplinary database providing access to the international literature in agricultural and environmental science.
• Web of Science (1984 to present)
  Search thousands of journals across the sciences and social sciences and track cited references to locate more recent articles.
• GeoScienceWorld (1905 to present)
  Collection of journals published by leading geoscientific organizations and societies.
• Environmental Studies and Policy Collection (Gale)
  Covers environmental issues and policies, including diverse perspectives from the scientific community, governmental policy makers, as well as corporate interests.
• Environment Complete
  A full-text database covering environmental studies, ecology, energy, urban planning, and affiliated areas of study.

News article databases

• Global Newsstream (ProQuest)
  Search the most recent global news, including major US dailies, with archives that stretch back into the 1980s from over 2,700 news sources that include newspapers, newswires, television and radio transcripts, blogs, and more in full-text format.
• Access World News (Newsbank) (date coverage varies)
  Electronic editions of over 2,600 local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as 1,500 international sources. Fully searchable and browsable by map.
• Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
  Combined search of the historic Boston Globe, Chicago Defender, Chinese Newspapers Collection, Hartford Courant, Los Angeles Times, New York Amsterdam News, New York Times, South China Morning Post, Times of India, and Washington Post.

Web Resources

• US Global Change Research Program
  The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was established by Presidential Initiative in 1989 and mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990 to “assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.”
• NOAA Climate.gov
  NOAA Climate.gov is a source of timely and authoritative scientific data and information about climate.
• Data.gov Climate
  Here you can find data related to climate change that can help inform and prepare America’s communities, businesses, and citizens. You can currently find data and resources related to coastal flooding, food resilience, water, ecosystem vulnerability, human health, energy infrastructure, transportation and the Arctic region.
• Data.gov Energy
  Discover data and resources on key energy topics like alternative fuels, green buildings, efficiency, and managing energy in your own home.
• US Climate Resilience Toolkit
  The site was built in response to the President’s Climate Action Plan and Executive Order 13653 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change), which calls for the federal government to “...develop and provide authoritative, easily accessible, usable, and timely data, information, and decision-support tools on climate preparedness and resilience” to support federal, regional, state, local, tribal, private-sector, and nonprofit-sector efforts to prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Citing Sources

Be sure to properly credit the ideas referenced in your academic work; clear citations also mean that your reader can locate the books, articles, and other sources you used. Don't leave your bibliography until the very end: collect, manage, and format information about what you find as soon as you start your research.

Zotero and Bibliographic Management

Zotero is a free plug-in for Firefox that helps you collect, manage, and cite your sources. It's available in all computer labs on campus, and you can download it on your own computer for free. Tutorials and documentation are also available.

Guides

Using Sources guide from the Writing Center gives advice on finding, using, quoting, paraphrasing, and citing sources in your writing.

Writer's Handbook from the University of Wisconsin/Madison: How to cite sources; sample documents and forms; advice on grammar, etc.

Style Manuals

MLA, Chicago, and APA formatting and style guidelines, from the OWL at Purdue
Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide online, from the full Chicago Manual of Style