• Reference Books
• Catalog
• Indexes/Electronic Databases
• Web Links

Reference Books

Use these sources at the beginning of your research to get an overview of a topic or to identify synonyms, related terms, or simply data that will apply to your topic. Later, return to these sources to clarify concepts or define new vocabulary. These sources often include bibliographical references that may prove helpful.

Ref QE 5 .E513 1998 vol.1-11
Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1998.
A comprehensive and excellent source on all aspects of earth and physical sciences.

Ref QE 5 .E5137 1996 vol. 1-2
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
Well-organized source for information on all aspects of earth science. Lengthy entries, signed with bibliographies.

Ref QE 515 .E48 1999
Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. London: Kluwer, 1999.
Excellent source, in-depth coverage, signed articles and extensive bibliographies.

Ref QE 703 .E58 vol.1-2
Encyclopedia of Paleontology. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.
Fascinating source; lavish drawings, lengthy articles, bibliographies and biographies of famous paleontologists.

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Catalog

The Gould Library has rich collections of books, journals, government documents, and other resources. You may access them via Bridge, the online catalog (web version or telnet version). You may search Bridge by title, author, subject, or word.

Relevant Library of Congress Call Numbers

Library of Congress Call Numbers to browse in the print collection for Geology texts:

QE 38	Environmental Geology
QE 514	Geochemistry
QE 36	Geologic maps and mapping
GB 400 - GB 649	Geomorphology
QE 28	Historical Geology
GB 651 - GB 2998	Hydrology
QE 351 - QE 399	Mineralogy
GC	Oceanography
QE901 - QE 996	Paleobiology
QE 420 - QE 49	Petrology
QE 511	Plate Tectonics
G 70.40	Remote Sensing
QE 471	Sedimentary Geology
S 590 - S 599	Soils
QE 601 - QE 613	Structural Geology

This is only a partial list of the call numbers pertaining to Geology. For a complete listing, go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline, provided by the Cataloging Policy and Support Office of the Library of Congress.

Subject Headings

Library of Congress Subject Headings are the words and phrases that you will use to do a subject search in Bridge (as opposed to a word search, where you may use any words you like). Although Geology is a Library of Congress Subject Heading, you will probably get better results if you are more specific. If you are interested in the geology of a particular part of the country, use the subject heading Geology and the name of the state.. For example, use Geology--New Mexico to search for books on that particular region. Be careful in your word choices--some words and phrases that may seem very natural to you will not be Library of Congress Subject Headings.

It is often helpful to do a word search on your topic, and, once you find an appropriate source, examine the subject headings. You may then conduct a subject search by clicking on the linked subject heading in Bridge. If you cannot find a source using a word search, consult the print Library of Congress Subject Headings (on the Ready Reference shelves in the Reference Area) to find the proper subject heading.

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Indexes

Use indexes and databases to locate periodical articles on your topic. Carleton does not own every title indexed in the databases. Check Bridge (the library's catalog) to see if we own the journal title, not journal article, you are looking for. If we don't own the journal, take advantage of our Interlibrary Loan Services.

GeoRef
This is it! Indexes a wide array of geological literature back to the late 1700's. This is the definitive source for geological information. Fully compatible with EndNote this is one you must use.

GeoScienceWorld
GeoScienceWorld is a collection of over 30 core geology journals. The full-text is available for most journals from 2000 to present, though some extend much further back. GeoScienceWorld is integrated with GeoRef, so searching on this site will also search GeoRef records. Similarly, if you search GeoRef, the results will automatically link to the full-text on GeoScienceWorld if it is available. You can also set up email alerts to let you know when new articles are published or to send you the table of contents of your favorite geology journal.

Web of Science (aka Science Citation Index)
Indexes a wide array of geological literature from 1900 to the present. This database allows you to see who has "cited" a particular published paper. You can thereby trace the research history of a particular work by tracking the papers that are quoting it in the literature.

SciFinder Scholar
Although this is the preferred database for chemists check it out for information in geochemistry. Indexes all of the chemical literature back to 1947. Powerful search features such as formula, structure, registry, patent number, substance, subject, and author are easily navigable. Has built in full text links to the American Chemical Society journals. Fully compatible with EndNote. One important feature to note is that this product software MUST be loaded on to your hard drive. This is not a web based service. All computers in the library have this software program loaded. Only 2 simultaneous users are allowed.

Current Contents Connect
Indexes thousands of scientific periodicals right up to the current week. An easy and effective way to scan the tables of contents to your favorite geology journals.

JSTOR
A collection of full text journals, but now available in the area of General Science. Journal coverage goes back to the 18th century and all articles found are full text.There are some classic papers in this collection including some of the earliest work in gemology.

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Web Links

Links to selected major sites in geology are provided here.

• GSA Bulletin Style Guide
  This is the preferred style for the Geology department. Information on and examples of references cited start on page 8.
• US Geological Survey
  Browse or search this large collection of high quality science information provided by the U. S. Geological Survey.
• State Geological Surveys
  Use the state surveys to find local and regional geological information.

• Google Scholar
  Google has created this search engine to search scholarly literature on the web. Note: Some of the articles you find will ask you to pay for the article. Do NOT pay for any articles you find, instead check to see if we subscribe to the journal or ask a librarian about requesting it from another library.

• Web Surfer's Biweekly Earth Science Review: HOTLINKS Main Page.
  This page categorizes Earth Science web pages by subject. On each subject page, there is a short explanation of the subject and a list of related webpages that are further broken down in to categories such as "The Basics", "Educational Resources" and "Professional Societies."
• Links for Minerologists.
  This web site does focus on minerology links, but it also contains many links in other geology topics. The links are arranged by subject and the subject pages have brief annotations of each link.