Research Guides: Geosciences: Recommended

Description

The geosciences include the study of the composition, properties, structure, dynamics, and history of the earth and its materials. Some topics include earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, fossils, radiometric dating and mineral resources. Students and researchers with an interest in crystallography, geobiology, geochemistry, geophysics, geophysics, hydrology, oceanography, paleontology and other areas of the earth sciences will find resources here that may be useful to them.

Overview of geosciences

Glossary of Geology
The Glossary of Geology is a primary source for terminology in the field of the geosciences. The Glossary provides access to the more than 39,000 glossary entries contained in the fifth edition of the print glossary.

The Glossary is searchable using terms, words within terms or definitions, categories and Spanish-language equivalents. Boolean operators (and/or/not) are available for each search field. Search fields may also be combined or may be browsed using a pop-up word wheel.

The online Glossary includes several features not available in the print version:

Display option for images of minerals, rocks, fossils and landforms. These images are drawn from the Earth Science World Image Bank maintained by AGI.
Spanish language equivalents for many entries in the online Glossary. Translated by geoscientists whose native language is Spanish, the Spanish entries can be browsed or searched directly.
Hyperlinks to related or similar terms. Synonyms or antonyms and glossary terms appearing as parts of other term definitions are frequently hyperlinked to allow quick reference.

All terms in the Glossary are assigned to general discipline categories. Terms can be restricted to a particular category or all terms in a category can be browsed.

Recommended online resources

GeoRef from ProQuest
GeoRef indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports and theses in the geological sciences. It also includes references to all publications of the U.S. Geological Survey. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1669-present (North America coverage); 1933-present (Worldwide coverage).

The GeoRef database includes references to all publications of the U.S. Geological Survey. Masters' theses and doctoral dissertations from US and Canadian universities are also covered.

To maintain the database, GeoRef editor/indexers regularly scan more than 3,500 journals in 40 languages as well as new books, maps, and reports. They record the bibliographic data for each document and assign index terms to describe it. Each month between 4,000 and 7,000 new references are added to the database.

ProQuest Deep Indexing: Earth Sciences supplements GeoRef with access to deep indexing for tables, figures, graphs, charts and other illustrations from the scholarly research and technical literature for selected records. Records from the database appear with searches of GeoRef to provide an additional path for discovery.
AAPG/Datapages
AAPG/Databases provides article, journal, and ebook collections, and conference presentations from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Content provided in PDF and HTML formats. 1935-present.
National Map from the USGS
The National Geologic Map Database (NGMDB) is a collection of maps, reports, and stratigraphic information about the United States' geology. The NGMBD is a partnership between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG).
Oceanic Abstracts from ProQuest
Oceanic Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles and conference papers in the fields of ecology, marine geology, biological oceanography, marine pollution, geophysics, geochemistry, marine biology, and maritime law. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1981-present.
Scopus
Scopus indexes citations of journal articles, conference papers, and books in the sciences, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities. You can perform cited reference searches. You can compare authors, institutions, and journals using various metrics. 1800s-present
Web of Science from Clarivate Analytics
The Web of Science (WoS) research platform hosts multiple, specialized databases covering academic literature, conference proceedings, patents, and other scholarly content. At the heart of the platform is the Web of Science Core Collection, a curated set of citation indexes for high-quality, peer-reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings. Additional databases cover specific subject areas (e.g. biology), formats, or regional publications (e.g. Korean). Users may search across all databases on the platform or select a specific database from the 'Search in' drop-down menu.
topoView from USGS
topoView provides topological maps from the US Topo series and the Historical Topographic Map Collection. Maps can be downloaded as GeoTIFF, JPEG, and KMZ formats.
University Libraries Digital Library
Discover Virginia Tech University Libraries' digital collections, digital libraries, and digital repositories, including digitized maps and aerial photographs.
Water Resources Abstracts from ProQuest
Water Resources Abstracts indexes abstracts and citations from journal articles, conference proceedings, books, technical reports, patents, theses, and dissertations on natural resources related on water: conservation, control, pollution, treatment, and use and management of water resources. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1967-present.

Interlibrary Loan Services

All current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, regardless of your location, may request through ILLiad for materials:

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