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Meg Spencer, Science Librarian (SC)

Sections:

Finding Definitions & Basic Information
Finding Books
Finding Journal Articles
Finding Web Sites
InterLibrary Loan & TriCollege Borrowing
Citing Information

Related Subjects:

Databases A-Z:

Other:

Astronomy : Swarthmore Astronomy Courses (SC)

This page of resources is general enough to be used by ALL Astronomy courses being taught at Swarthmore. It lists some of the more basic print resources, and databases for different levels of study. Speak to your professor or to Meg about the appropriateness of the resources for your course.

If you plan to use ENDNOTE WEB for this class (or any class), you will need to create your own account. Go to the Endnote Web site and register as a new user. You will need to create a password, and then you will be able to access your stored citations whenever you log in to the site.

QB is where Astronomy books are shelved in the library.

Finding Definitions & Basic Information:

Sometimes you will need to look up words or get some basic information before you are able to fully understand the articles you are reading in scientific journals. Using these online encyclopedias and dictionaries can help to get your research started. There is also a very good collection of PRINT resources found in the REFERENCE section on the main floor of Cornell Library (under QB).

AccessScience @ McGraw-Hill

Provides full-text access to articles, dictionary terms, biographies, research updates and links to related websites in all areas of science and technology. Covers 2000-present.

Collins dictionary of astronomy

An online general Astronomy dictionary.

A Dictionary of Astronomy

Encyclopedia of astronomy and astrophysics

Provides full text for over 2,700 frequently updated articles in astronomy and astrophysics.

Encyclopedia of the solar system

Provides a framework for understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system, historical discoveries, and details about planetary bodies and how they interact. Includes the latest explorations and observations and hundreds of new color digital images and illustrations.

Finding Books:

Tripod library catalog.

The library catalog of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges.

Ebrary

Academic Complete includes more than 30,000 current e-books from leading publishers, including life and physical sciences (2,400 titles). It spans all subjects.

Note: If you plan to PRINT from eBrary titles, you will be restricted to printing only TWENTY pages at a time, and FORTY pages in one session. If you need to print more than forty pages, you will need to close the browser & then open a new window (but copy the URL of the e-Book before you close, so you can paste it into the new browser window).

Worldcat

"The world's largest library network" - try out WorldCat's new simple public interface.

Finding Journal Articles:

You should be able to find what you need for your lower leve Astro course papers and assignments here at Swarthmore, but for upper level Astro courses, you may need to use InterLibrary Loan. If you are having difficulty finding materials, please talk to your professor or drop by the Science Librarian's office and talk to Meg Spencer. And look for the

button to link you to the online article, if we have access to it.

ProQuest Research Library

Provider: ProQuest

Provides citations and full-text magazine and journal articles in a wide variety of disciplines, both scholarly and popular in scope. Always a good place to begin your research! Covers 1971-present.

NASA astrophysics data system

The Astrophysics Data System offers some access to FULL TEXT of most major Astronomy journals, usually before 1996 (back to the 1870's for some titles - !).

Web of science

Provider: ISI

This multidisciplinary database can be searched by subject, author, and journal title. Articles that CITE a known author or work can also be searched. Cited reference searching helps identify more recent articles on the same topic. Coverage for the Science Citation Index in WofS now goes back to 1900!

ArXiv.org e-print archive

Provides an electronic archive of research papers in full-text for physics and related disciplines, including mathematics, computer science and quantitative biology. Covers 1991-present.

Google scholar

Google Scholar often digs up good resources that the other databases don't. So it is a good database to use in addition to the others. Use the "Check Tripod" and "Find it @ Swarthmore" links to see if we have access to full text.

Finding Web Sites:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Presents a different astronomy photo every day, provided by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell. Includes an explanation of the photograph, written by a professional astronomer. Links to an archive of past photographs.

Scirus

Searchable database of scientific resources found on the World Wide Web.

Note: You can turn on the FIND IT! button in Scirus by going to SEARCH PREFERENCES. Select ENABLE next to ‘Library Partner Links’, then select Swarthmore College Library from the drop-down menu. Then select the SAVE PREFERENCES button.

Digitized Sky Survey

"DSS comprises a set of all-sky photographic surveys in E, V, J, R, and N bands conducted with the Palomar and UK Schmidt telescopes."

Google: Astronomy directory

MSU Astronomy Links

SIMBAD astronomical database

The acronym SIMBAD stands for Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data. The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications and bibliography for astronomical objects outside the solar system.

USNO Astronomical Applications Department

Access to almanacs, software, and web services - provide precise astronomical data for practical applications, serving the defense, scientific, commercial, and civilian communities.

InterLibrary Loan & TriCollege Borrowing:

While Cornell Library has a really good collection, obviously there will be times when we don't actually own something you've located in your research. That is when you'll need to borrow from other libraries and to do this you will need Inter-Library Loan (ILL).

Tri-College ILL - BOOKS: If you want a book from Bryn Mawr or Haverford, simply press the REQUEST button at the top of the Tripod screen. Enter your name & barcode, and select WHERE you want to pick up the book. Delivery takes approximately one day library to library.

Non-TriCollege ILL - BOOKS: For books NOT available in Tripod, try E-Z Borrow and request books directly from nearby Pennsylvania & NJ libraries. Books usually arrive within a few days.

JOURNAL ARTICLES: For articles in journals not available from the main libraries in TriCo*, use the online ILL form. You must put the COMPLETE JOURNAL TITLE in your request - do not use abbreviations, or your request will most likely be sent back to you. For complete journal titles, check the book behind the Circulation Desk, or go to Journal Abbreviation Sources.

* Journals DO circulate from main libraries, so if you need an article from a non-science library journal, place a hold on the actual journal volume in Tripod and it will be sent via TriCo van!

Citing Information:

There is no definative guide to citing Astronomy resources, so ask your professor what citation style you should use for your papers. If there is no preference, copy the format set out by a journal you cite in your paper. For trickier items, like web pages, check out the Duke University Citation Guide or our own Guide to Citing in the Sciences.