GES 150/GEOPHYS 199: Senior Seminar: Issues in Earth Sciences

Searching Tips

• Less is more!  If you don't find enough results on cycling of nitrates, instead try nitrogen.
• Expand time or geography. If you don't find enough results on Post-Eocene San Joaquin-Tulare Basins, instead try (mesozioc or paleozoic or precambrain) AND San Joaquin.
• Limit with caution. Certain limiting features may limit your retrieval in ways you don't expect. Some recommended limits are: Source Type, Date, and Limiting to “Peer reviewed” (in Basic and Advanced Search).
• GeoRef search tip: The truncation symbol is an asterisk (*) and the wildcard is a questionmark (?). Using the * on a word will look for ALL possible variations for that word:

environment* will search for environment, environmental, environments …

[*3]magnet* will search for magnetic, demagnetization, geomagnetic, geomagnetism …

geolog*  will search for geology, geologic, and geological

• Remember to use Boolean logic. Use the OR search connector to search for different phrasings. If you use AND and OR search commands in the same search, put parentheses around the OR terms: try (mesozioc or paleozoic or precambrain) AND San Joaquin.

To specify a location, consider your site at different scales. For information about Lake Tahoe, use terms like:

• Lake Tahoe
• Northern Sierra Nevada
• State names (California and Nevada); County names

Also add geologically-related terms:

• tectonics
• stratigraphy
• paleogeography
• mines and mining

And consider both time periods and rock formations:

• Cambrian, Pleistocene, etc.
• Navajo Sandstone

Subject Searching: For a more directed search, do a subject search. In a subject search, you need to use official Library of Congress terminology. This type of language might not seem natural to you, but if you are not having any luck with keywords, it can be quite useful. For example, to find a guide for the Lake Tahoe region, you would type:

• Geology--California--Guidebooks
• Geology--Tahoe, Lake, Region (Calif. and Nev.)--Guidebooks
• Geology--Nevada--Reno Region--Guidebooks

Other "official" subject terms include:

• Geology, Structural
• Faults (Geology)
• Geology, Stratigraphic
• Geology, Stratigraphic--Pleistocene
• Plate tectonics

 Library of Congress Subject Terms for Geochemistry

For the subject Geochemistry
search also under the broader term: Chemistry
search also under the broader term: Earth sciences
search also under the narrower term: Analytical geochemistry
search also under the narrower term: Biogeochemistry
search also under the narrower term: Chemical denudation
search also under the narrower term: Chemical weathering
search also under the narrower term: Environmental geochemistry
search also under the narrower term: Geochemical cycles
search also under the narrower term: Geochemical self-organization
search also under the narrower term: Mineralogical chemistry
search also under the narrower term: Mineralogy, Determinative
search also under the narrower term: Organic geochemistry
search also under the narrower term: Soil chemistry
search also under the narrower term: Water chemistry

Library of Congress Subject Terms for Geophysics

For the subject Geophysics
search also under the broader term: Earth sciences
search also under the broader term: Physics
search also under the narrower term: Astronautics in geophysics
search also under the narrower term: Atmospheric physics
search also under the narrower term: Dynamo theory (Cosmic physics)
search also under the narrower term: Earth currents
search also under the narrower term: Electronics in geophysics
search also under the narrower term: Energy budget (Geophysics)
search also under the narrower term: Geodesy
search also under the narrower term: Geodynamics
search also under the narrower term: Geomagnetism
search also under the narrower term: Gravity
search also under the narrower term: Information theory in geophysics
search also under the narrower term: Magnetic reconnection
search also under the narrower term: Magnetoionic theory
search also under the narrower term: Marine geophysics
search also under the narrower term: Paleogeophysics
search also under the narrower term: Prospecting--Geophysical methods
search also under the narrower term: Radiative transfer
search also under the narrower term: Seismology
search also under the narrower term: Soil surveys--Geophysical methods
search also under the narrower term: Solar-terrestrial physics
search also under the narrower term: Terrestrial heat flow