Earth & Environmental Systems: Geology

ISU Department of Earth & Environmental Systems - "... provides students with the opportunity to explore a wide range of environmental, earth, and human systems. Anthropologists, geographers, and geologists, investigate fundamental questions that relate directly to the mechanics of the Earth’s physical processes, the spatial organization of societies, the study of human diversity, and the interaction between people and their environment."

Geological Society of America - "Established in 1888, The Geological Society of America provides access to elements that are essential to the professional growth of earth scientists at all levels of expertise and from all sectors: academic, government, business, and industry."  GSA publications include Geology, GSA Bulletin, Geosphere, Lithosphere, GSA Today and Environmental & Engineering Geoscience.

US Geological Survey - "The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information."

Electronic Books (eBooks) and print books are accessible through the library's online catalog.   

If you know the citation of your article, you have two choices:

1. You can check to see whether we have access to an electronic version of your article.  From the library's home page, click on "Articles and Databases" below the image.  Then, click on the "Electronic Resources Home" link under the Search button.   (Here's a shortcut.)  In the goldenrod area marked "Find e-journals, eBooks, and media by title or identifying number," enter the first few words of the title of the journal you want. (Make sure the drop-down menu reads "Title begins with."   If we have it, you'll be taken to a page with links to databases that provide access to your journal.  Just pick one that includes the date of your article. 
2. If we don't have electronic access, we may still have access to a print version of the journal.  Simply search Fusion or Fusion Plus (see above) for the journal title.  Once you've located the journal, note the call number, find the correct volume/issue or year and proceed to your article.  Nearly all bound print and microform periodicals are in the library's basement, two floors below ground level. 

If you're searching by subject, the best way to retrieve articles is through a database which indexes the articles in the geology literature.  The two best databases we have for geology are below:

• GeoRef - Closely related to GeoScienceWorld (below), this ProQuest database contains links to numerous articles on geology and geophysics.  Many citations appear in both GSW and in GeoRef.  Coverage is from 1785 to the present.

• GeoScienceWorld - Prefer the "advanced search." You can search by keyword, title, author or by a term in the GSW thesaurus.  There are also options to limit your search by latitude and longitude.  Some articles date back to 1669!  This databse has a lot of overlap with GeoRef. 

There are a number of other databases which index geology literature too. 

• Academic Search Complete - A general-interest EBSCO academic database which includes a lot of info on geography, meteorology and climatology.  

• Earthshots - Produced by the US Geological Survey,Earthshots uses Landsat data to document how people and nature are changing the surface of the planet.  Each Earthshot page outlines the changes revealed by the satellite images to a particular location.  The data go back to 1972.  
• Gale's Environmental Studies - considers these topics from a worldwide perspective.  It indexes scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, videos and other resources.  An unusual feature is its interactive world map which permits you to focus on a particular area.  This is a fine source for sustainability issues.
• GreenFILE - This EBSCO database covers how humans affect the environment.  You can use its subject terms to narrow your search, and you can limit your results to scholarly articles as well.  It addresses the environment's connections to other discuples such as agriculture, heath and technology.  It indexes more than 200 journals, government documents and reports. 
• ISI Web of Science (also called the Web of Knowledge) - This database is especially valuable for determining who's citing an article you found useful.  Chances are, the articles which cite an article you like will be useful for your research, too.  You can search by topic, author and more.  Coverage goes back to 1984.  

• JSTOR - Great for older materials!  Coverage extends back into the 19th Century and even earlier.  Use "Advanced Search" and select "Geology" journals. You may find other subject headings relevant as well. 

• ProQuest Environmental Science Collection - This collection contains environmental science related full-text articles.  You can also acceess figures and tables within articles, environmental impact statements, and items from Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management (ESPM). ESPM provides comprehensive coverage of the environmental sciences drawn from more than 10,000 serials including scientific journals, conference proceedings, reports, monographs, books and government publications.

• Sycamore Scholars - A data repository featuring the work of faculty, staff and students at ISU.  This is a great place to look for recent ISU theses and dissertations.  

• USGS Map Locator & Downloader - A place to find and download maps.  Some are free; some are not.  

• Water Resources of the United States - Maintained by the US Geological Survey, its mission is to "collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information that is needed to understand the nation's ater resources."

Still not finding anything?  One nearly sure-fire way to get a lot of hits is to use:

• SycaMORE Research - This is the first search box you come to on the library's home page.  It's not a bad place to start when you don't have a clear idea what you want.  It produces a very broad search, including dozens of databases as well as our online book catalog, to bring you articles, books, streaming video and more..  Search as specifically as possible.  It can give you thousands - even millions - of hits, but if you're not careful, many will be irrelevant or only marginally relevant.  You'll probably have better luck if you use SycaMORE Research's Advanced Search.