Go to TRIPOD and do a WORD search to see if there are any books on your topic. Be sure to look at publication dates - unless this is an historical overview, you'll most likely want current books on your topic. For this class, topics may end up coming from all different areas of the Library classification scheme ( GEs, QDs, TDs, TPs and more) although for basic Chemistry texts, you want to browse around QD33.The 'official' Library of Congress call number for Chemical Engineering is TD193 if you like to browse the shelves for books.
Subject Portal » Chemistry » Course Guides »
Chemistry 1 : Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society (SC)
Finding Definitions & Background Information:
Using encyclopedias & handbooks in the Reference areas, plus a variety of online reference tools can give you good overview articles & definitions and are often a good source of ideas for interesting topics!
Print Reference Books:
Encyclopedia of environmental issues
Publisher: Pasadena, Calif. : Salem Press, 2000.
Cornell Ref GE10 .E52 2000 v. 1-3
Van Nostrand's encyclopedia of chemistry.
Publisher: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, c2005.
Cornell Ref QD5 .V37 2005
Kirk-Othmer concise encyclopedia of chemical technology.
Publisher: New York : Wiley, c1999.
Cornell Ref TP9 .K54 1999
Online Reference Tools:
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.
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.
Finding Journal Articles:
You should be able to find what you need for your Chem 1 papers and assignments here at Swarthmore. If you are having difficulty finding materials here, 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.
button to link you to the online article, if we have access to it.
ProQuest Research Library
Provider: ProQuest
This interdisciplinary database is always a good place to start your research. There is lots of full text available. Covers 1971-present.
LexisNexis academic
Provider: LN
Full-text of thousands of newspapers, magazines, news transcripts, reference works, and legal materials. Includes NY Times (1980-current)
Access world news
Provider: NewsBank
Newspaper collections from NewsBank provide full-text articles from the electronic editions of record for more than 700 newspapers around the globe, including the NY Times (2000-present). Database covers 1977-present.
Chemical & engineering news
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1998-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1998-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1998-present.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : American Chemical Society.
This is an American Chemical Society which has good articles for this course. Online coverage begins in 1998.
Looksmart Find Articles
Run by Looksmart. Offers access to lots of free journal articles on the web.
Google scholar
Google provides a good database for searching for scholarly literature. Use this IN ADDITION to library-provided databases, as there is a lot that is NOT included in Google Scholar. But - it also often digs up good stuff that the other databases don't! Use the "Check Tripod" and "Find it @ Swarthmore" links to see if we have access to full text.
Finding General Web Sites:
Google: Environmental Chemistry
Google Environment
EPA Envirofacts
Citing Your Resources:
ACS Style Guidelines
A brief website of guidelines for various types of sources, put together by American Chemical Society.
Duke University Citation Guide
For online information on CITING information, check out this online guide. It gives examples of different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago & Turabian) for both print & electronic resources.
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). (For this course, you should be able to get everything you need from within the TriCo Library network.)
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!