How to Find Library Resources for

UIUC Geology Class Projects and Papers

Quick Links

Tools for Finding Articles

GeoREF
GeoBase
Current Contents
Web of Science/Web of Knowledge (Science Citation Index)
Ingenta - Browse or search publications
Science Direct (Elsevier Online Journals)
JSTOR
EI Compendex Plus
Conference Papers Index
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts) - Only from Geology Library or Chemistry Library public computers. Please remember to log off!
Other Article Databases - for other disciples intersecting with geology (examples: health, life sciences...)
Locations of Many UIUC Print Geology Journals

General, for undergraduate papers:

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Expanded Academic (Infotrac)
Periodical Abstracts

Full Text Electronic Journals

Connect to Full Text Electronic Journals in the Geosciences
The Full List of Electronic Journals Available to UIUC Patrons

Tools for Finding Books and Documents

UIUC Online Library Catalog (Web)
World Cat
See Library Catalogs for other online catalogs
Dissertation Abstracts (ProQuest Digital Dissertations)
Proceedings First
GPO Monthly Catalog (MoCat)
Virtual Technical Reports Center - U. Maryland Libraries
National Academy Press

Borrow Material not Owned by UIUC

I-Share: Search and get material from one of the Illinios Libraries Online Catalogs
Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Service

Internet Resources

A place to start

RefWorks
References for Scientific Communication and Literary Style - from Dr. Steven Altaner, Geology Dept., UIUC
GSA Style Guide
AGU Style Guide
Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students
Citation Guides for Electronic Documents
Suggestions to Authors of the Reports of the United States Geological Survey

Reference

Online Reference Collection
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Other online reference resources are available from the Geology Library home page.
Print reference resources are available in the Reference Section (Reading Room) of the Geology Library.
Glossary of geology, 4th ed., 1997 [Geology Ref: 550.3 Am3gL1997]

Steps for Finding Information on Your Topic

Step 1. Select and narrow your topic.

One of the most common mistakes made by college students, particularly undergraduates, is the failure to sufficiently narrow the topic of the paper. For example "Global Climate Change" is a good place to start, but needs to be narrowed. Another common mistake is to narrow the topic to the point that not enough material is available. For this example, let's use the topic: Geochemical models for hydrology.

Step 2. Choose your search terms.

Think of synonyms. You will add to your list as you search and evaluate your search results. Example:

Step 3. Define your search strategy.

Your search strategy will partly depend on the search engine you use. Search engines are not yet standardized, and each will handle elements such as Boolean operators, truncation, and so forth differently. Consult the help functions for each search engine to ensure that you obtain the correct results.

• Search tools:
  • Boolean Operators: and, or, not (and not, but not). See figure. These are used to connect search terms in order to widen or narrow the search.
    
  • Truncation: *, #, +, !, ?, $, etc. These are used as substitutes for characters within search terms.
    
  • Nesting: Tells the search engine the order to perform operations by using parentheses.
    
  • Phrases: Treated differently by the different search engines. With some search engines phrases must be enclosed in quotes.
    
  • Adjacency: How close words must be within text. Treated differently by the different search engines.
    
  • Stop words: Common words such as "a", "the", "of" that are not included in a search by the search engine. Treated differently by the different search engines.
    
  • Fields: Some search engines, such as GeoRef, allow limiting the search to specific fields. For example, "hydrology in ti de ab" limits the search to the title, descriptor and abstract fields. This is useful when unwanted hits are resulting from terms in an institutional field or such.

• Example of a complex search strategy using Boolean operators, truncation and nesting with GeoRef:
  (water or aqueous or hydro*) and (chemi* or geochemi*) and (model* or computer program* or simulation or software)

• Example of problems using truncation: rock* (returns rock and rocks, but also rockets, rockers, etc.)

Step 4. Choose your database

GeoRef (via CSA)

• Indexes geological information published from 1700's to present; includes government documents.
• Searching:
  • Boolean: and, or, not
  • Truncation: *
  • Nesting: can be used
  • Fields: "ti=", "au=", "so="

GeoBase (OCLC FirstSearch)

• Indexes the worldwide literature on geography, geology, and ecology
• Searching:
  • Truncation, Wildcards, Plurals:
    • +: Plural and singular only. Example: rock+
    • *: Retrieves root word with all suffixes. Set to read a limit of 50 index entries. Example: struct*
    • #: Wildcard. Can be used within a word. Example: Colo?r.
  • Caution: Make sure the correct fields are selected for your complete search (watch the defaults!).

Current Contents (Ovid)

• Indexes thousands of journals in all disciplines
• Updated every few weeks
• 1996 through present
• Searching:
  • Boolean Operators:
    AND, OR, NOT
  • Truncation:
    • $: Unlimited Truncation. Used to retrieve all possible suffix variations of a root word.
      Example: struct? retrieves the words structure, structures, structural.
    • ?: Optional Wild Card Can be used at the end, or within a term.
      Example: Colo?r returns documents with either color or colour.
      
  • Adjacency:
    • "The defined adjacency operator (ADJn) retrieves two or more query terms within n words of each other, and in any order. The number n may be any number from 1 through 99, and should immediately follow ADJ without a space..."
  • Nesting (operator precedence): is used
  • Phrases: assumed if two words are together
  • Frequency: The Frequency Operator (FREQ) allows you to specify a threshold of occurrence for a term. For instructions, see the help menu when connected to the database.

Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management (CSA)

• Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management is a multidisciplinary database covering literature of the environmental sciences published from 1981 to present. Topics related to geology include energy resources, environmental engineering, and pollution of land and water.
• Searching:
  Use the Advanced Search mode to build your search.
  Truncation: * retrieves all forms of a root word.
  Multicharacter Wildcard: Example: Pal*ntology for paleontology and palaentology.
  Single character Wildcard: ? For example, cent?? will return center and centre.

Ingenta

• Indexes thousands of journals in all disciplines
• Updating is sometimes slow
• 1988 through present
• Searching:
  • Boolean: and, or, and not
  • Truncation (right hand only): *
  • Nesting: is used
• Disadvantage: Sometimes not consistently up-to-date.

U.S. Government Documents (GPO Monthly Catalog; MoCat)

• The Catalog of United States Government Publications indexes print and electronic information published by Federal agencies. Many of these publications are distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program. The Catalog via paid subscription contains records from 1976 to present. A free index contains records generated since January 1994 and is updated daily. A print index, Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, contains earlier information.

Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey:

• USGS Publications Warehouse - many with links to full text; searchable

Web of Science:

• Web of Science is the online equivalent of print citation products, such as Science Citation Index. Citation searching enables one to track lines of research forward in time by determining citations to older, important articles.
• Searching:
  • See the help section while connected to the database. This database is a bit more complicated than others, and results may be adversely effected by not understanding the system. See the librarian for help.
  • Search operators: and, or, not, same
  • Truncation/Wildcards:
    Single character: ? Multiple characters: *

Many other databases are available:

• Take a look at these lists.

Step 5. Conduct your search

Step 6. Evaluate search results, note additional terms and unwanted terms.

Step 7. Refine search and re-do.

Step 8. Find out whether UIUC has the material; if not, use Interlibrary Loan (IRRC).

• To find out whether UIUC has a particular book, use the online catalog.
  

• For journals:
  • Use the online catalog to find the call number. You can use the ISSN number from database output (For example, the "IS" field in GeoRef).
    
  • Or find the location of many of the geology journals by looking at this list (coming soon).
    
  • Check the Full Text Electronic Journals pages.
    
• If UIUC doesn't have what you need, and it isn't available full text on the Web, use the online catalog to find out if one of the other Illinois Libraries has it. You can directly request circulating material held at these institutions without going through the Interlibrary Borrowing Office.
  
• If none of the Illinois Libraries have the material, use Interlibrary Loan.
  
• Make sure you leave plenty of time to receive material through Interlibrary Loan!

Other:

Geology Library Home Page

UIUC Department of Geology

Illinois State Geological Survey

Please come see me if you need any help. If you'd like to make an appointment, contact me by phone (333-2676) or e-mail (luraj@uiuc.edu).

Lura Joseph
Created 01/08/02 LEJ