• Getting Started
  
• Finding Books
  
• Finding Articles
• Government Information
  
• Web Sites
  

The reference collection provides materials to assist you in choosing a topic and finding background information, facts, and statistics. Don't forget that the bibliographies in reference works can direct you to important works in an academic field.

A Dictionary of Ecology. Edited by Michael Allaby. 2d. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Ref QH540.4.C66 1998
A comprehensive illustrated dictionary of ecology-related terms with helpful charts at the end.

Dictionary of Ecology and the Environment. Editor: P.H. Collin. 3rd ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.
Ref QH540.4.C65 1998.
"Provides the user with basic vocabulary used in studies relating to ecology and the environment."

Lincoln, Roger. A Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. Roger Lincoln, Geoff Boxshall, Paul Clark. 2d.ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Ref QH540.4.L56 1998. Defines terms related to the study of natural history, taxonomy and evolution. Includes specialized maps and charts at the end.

Ecological Stewardship: a Common Reference for Ecosystem Management. Editors: N.C. Johnson, and others. Kidlington: Elsevier Science, 1999. 3 vols.
Ref GE300.E365 1999
Developed jointly by several U.S. federal agencies and a number of private conversation foundations, this work covers "ecological, economic, social and political" factors in ecosystem management.

The Encyclopedia of Ecology & Environmental Management. Editor-in-chief: Peter Calow. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1998.
Ref GE300.E53 1998
A one volume illustrated encyclopedia covering both theory and applications. Longer entries have short bibliographies leading to more detailed sources of information.

Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues. Pasadena CA: Salem Press, 2000. 3 vols.
Ref GE10.E52 2000
Includes articles on topics such as human health, urban planning, population issues and waste management as well as endangered species, pollution, ecosystems and nuclear power. Longer articles have bibliographies

Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Edited by David E. Alexander and Rhodes W. Fairbridge. Dordrecht, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.
Ref GE10.E52 1999
According to the preface, the Encyclopedia covers both the living and inanimate components of the Earth's surface from 50 km above the surface to several hundred meters below it. Includes short bibliographies at the end of articles.

Encyclopedia of Global Change. Andrew S. Goudie, editor in chief, David J. Cuff, associate editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 2 vols.
Ref GE149.E47 2002
"...presents our current knowledge of natural and anthropogenic changes in the Earth's physical, chemical, and biological systems and resources, and it examines the effects of those changes on human society."

Human Development Report. Published by the United Nations Development Programme.
Ref HD72.H85 2000
An annual publication that includes statistics on demographic trends,energy use, and environmental profiles of countries of the world.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 8th. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. Ref Q121.M3 1997. 20 vols.
A good general encyclopedia for a variety of scientific subjects

National Environmental Directory
A directory of 13,000 environmental groups in the U.S.

Back to Top

• Environmental chemistry.
• Environmental indicators.
• Environmental toxicology.
• Environmentally induced diseases.

• Abandoned mines -- Environmental aspects -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C. and Tenn.).
• Hydroelectric power plants -- Environmental aspects -- Washington (State) -- Pend Oreille County.

But note that some environmental subject headings might not use the word "Environmental" at all.

• Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)
  Fishes -- Effect of chemicals on -- Minnesota.

Browsing the shelves: Because environmental studies is an interdisciplinary field, printed sources that may be useful are likely to be found in more than one part of the Library of Congress classification system. Try browsing the books in the following areas:

• GB - Physical geography including landforms and hydrology.
• GE - Environmental sciences.
• GF - Human ecology - humans' relationship to specific environments.
• HD - Economic history and conditions of specific countries.
• HT - City planning, regional planning, rural development.
• NA - 9000's Aesthetics of cities, city beautification.
• QH - Natural history and ecology.
• S900's - Conservation of natural resources.
• TD - Environmental technology.

Back to Top

Finding Articles

Because environmental issues are constantly changing, it is critical that you consult current periodical (journal, magazine & newspaper) literature.

The best way to find articles is through our Databases & Indexes. We have a lot of databases that cover environmental topics. Some specific databases that may be useful in particular cases are listed below.

Newspapers Articles:

Lexis Nexis Academic indexes newspaper articles in major national and regional U.S. and major foreign newspapers. Does not always include the text of the article.

ProQuest Newsstand indexes national newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and the New York Times. Includes the full text of the articles.

Proquest Historical Newspapers provides full text access to the New York Times 1851-1999 and the Wall Street Journal 1889-1985

General Articles:

The following databases index popular magazines as well as some scholarly journals. Often the full text of the articles is included.

Proquest Research Library indexes from 1971 to the present.

Academic Search Premier indexes more scholarly journals, many with full text.

Economic, Sociological, and Policy-Related Articles:

Econlit The main index to articles in economics. International in scope, it indexes such journals as Ecological Economics and Journal of Environmental Planning & Management.

Human Population & Natural Resource Managment an index of articles covering human population and demography topics as they relate to natural resource management.

PAIS International An index of articles, books, and government documents, international in scope, on public policy interpreted very broadly. Does not include full text.

Sociological Abstracts indexes articles and books covering rural sociology, human - environment interactions, demography, and other environmental topics. Does not imclude full text.

Scientific and Technical Articles:

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) offers collection of databases that index various scientific fields. Of particular relevance to ENTS are AGRICOLA, the premier agriculture index, and the Environmental Science and Pollution Management collection of databases.

SciFinder Scholar provides access to Chemical Abstracts, the primary chemistry index. Be sure to download the SciFinder software here before searching.

Web of Science is a family of three databases: Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Each enables searching for works referenced or cited by other scholars.

Core ENTS Journals at Gould Library

Ecologist
Main Periodicals (1997-present); ProQuest Research Library (1989-present)

Environmental Values
Main Periodicals (1997- present)

Ethics and the Environment
Project Muse (2000-present)

Global Environmental Change
Main Periodicals (1996-present); Science Direct (1998-present)

Global Environmental Change, Part B.
Main Periodicals (1999-present); Science Direct (1999-present)

Journal of Environment & Development
Main Periodicals (1997-present)

Back to Top

Government Information

Many current government publications are available online for free or through a subscription database.

Science.gov A gateway and search engine for scientific information published by the US government. You can find a lot of environmental information through this page.

National Library for the Environment An excellent source of non-partisan Congressional Research Service reports on environmental topics. Look at the "Reference Resources" list for help getting started in particular subjects.

Environmental Law This compilation from the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has the PDF version of the text of Federal environmental and public works laws.

Lexis Nexis Congressional provides full text access to legislative information, including laws, bills, testimony from congressional hearings, and regulations.

US Department of Energy Web site supplies a wealth of information about energy stores, production, and consumption worldwide.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Web site allows access to environmental data, chemical factsheets, consumer information, and much more.

US Geological Survey Web site provides (sometimes free) access to maps and remote sensing data.

Gould Library has an extensive collection of print U.S. federal documents. To locate prelevant documents in the print collection, search by keyword in Bridge or browse the following areas of the Government Documents collection on Level 1:

• A13 - U.S. Forest Service
• C55 - U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• E2 - U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• EP - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• I19 - U.S. Geological Survey
• I29 - U.S. Park Service
• I49 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• I53 - U.S. Bureau of Land Management

For more information about finding government information, see our Government Information page maintained by Carolyn Sanford.

Back to Top

Web Sites

The quality and authority of environment-related information on web sites varies tremendously. Use a search engine when you are looking for the name of a very specialized or specific organization or government agency. Otherwise you may find more useful information on your topic by checking out some web sites geared specifically to organizing environmental information on the web, such as:

EarthTrends: The Environmental Portal
Provides access to environmental reports and data worldwide; users must register for a free log-in.

Ecology WWW Page

EnviroLink
News, resources, maps and other information.

Eldis Gateway to Development Information
Links to full-text articles on all aspects of development produced by a variety of NGO's.

Back to Top