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 encyclopedias and dictionaries can help to get your research started. Some of the titles listed below are only available in PRINT, and may be found in the REFERENCE section on the main floors of Cornell Library and McCabe Library.
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Physics 20 : Principles of Earth Sciences (SC)
Finding Definitions & Basic Information:
AccessScience @ McGraw-Hill
Full-text access to 7100+ articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology updated daily.
Encyclopedia of Earth
The Encyclopedia of Earth is a new electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society.
Handbook of weather, climate, and water
Publisher: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, c2003.
Cornell Reference QC861 .3 .P67 2003
Oxford companion to the earth
Publisher: Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2000.
Cornell Reference QE5 .O94 2000
Finding Journal Articles:
You should be able to find what you need for this course's 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
An interdisciplinary database which has much full-text. Always a good place to start. Covers 1971-present.
Columbia earthscape
Provides full-text access to journal articles, conference literature, book chapters and data sets in the fields of Earth and environmental sciences. An interdisciplinary resource that examines social, political, and economic issues.
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.
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.
Physics today
Holdings:
(Haverford College) Available from 1985-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1985-present.
Publisher: [College Park, Md.] : American Institute of Physics.
Access back to 1985 (soon to be expanded back to 1948) to this popular Physics publication. A good source of ideas for physics topics.
Finding Web Sites (some metasites)
Google Directory: Earth Sciences
Intute Earth Sciences Gateway
The Intute Earth Sciences Gateway provides free access to high quality resources on the Internet. Each resource has been evaluated and categorised by subject specialists based at UK universities. The target audience is students, staff and researchers in higher and further education.
Earth science world ImageBank
From the American Geological Institute, the Image Bank provides quality geoscience/earth science images. The archive may be browsed by categories, or searched by key word or location.
Earth Sciences Internet Resources
A good list of Earth Sciences Web Sites compiled by the librarians at Berkeley's Earth Sciences & Map Library.
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:
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.