Oceanography Research Guide

This is a general research guide for the undergraduate and graduate courses in OSU's Oceanography program. You'll find suggestions for locating books, articles, topical overviews, research tools, and factual information. If further assistance is needed, please contact the subject librarian for Oceanography to arrange an appointment: Janet Webster, ph# 867-0108, Janet.Webster@oregonstate.edu

 

 
Quicklinks
  OSU Libraries Catalog | Off-Campus Access | ILL Forms | Academic Search Premier | Library Home


  
Table of Contents
Finding Books in Online Catalogs       Selected WWW Resources
Finding Articles in Journals Other Useful Subject Research Guides
Reference Sources

Finding Books in Online Catalogs

  • OSU Libraries Online Catalog

    All formats of materials owned by OSU Libraries are cataloged in this database, including books, government documents, journals to which the library subscribes*, and videos. You can search the database from any computer with Internet access at: http://oasis.oregonstate.edu .

  • * Library online catalogs do NOT give you access to the individual articles within the journals the library subscribes to. See Finding articles...

  • Summit (Orbis) :
    You may also want to search the collective Summit catalog which combines several academic library catalogs in Oregon and Washington. Materials in Summit are available to OSU students, faculty & staff within 3 working days if they aren't checked out. You can extend your search from OSU Libraries Online Catalog to Summit with the click of a button, or connect directly at: http://summit.orbiscascade.org

  • Searching :
    Online catalogs can be searched by author, title, subject, etc. The most effective subject searching utilizes the Library of Congress Subject Headings. The complete list of subject headings is located in the library's reference area; ask if you need help. Notice that each record in the online catalog will indicate the subject headings assigned to that item, and these are usually hot links to other materials on similar topics.

  • Locating by call number: Like most academic libraries, OSU Libraries uses the Library of Congress Classification system to organize and arrange materials in the library. Many biology materials fall into the QH call number range. Other relevant call number areas include QL (Zoology), QP (Physiology and Biochemistry) and QR (Microbiology). These collections are located on the 1st floor of The Valley Library.

  • WorldCat :
    If you don't find enough material in local and regional libraries, you can search for books in WorldCat which is a collective catalog from hundreds of libraries, containing over 30 million records. Each record will indicate which libraries own the item and whether or not they will lend it to another institution. You can submit interlibrary loan requests directly from this database by clicking on " ILL ".

  • Government Publications :
    GPO Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
    Lists many documents published by the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health. The Valley Library has a great number of federal documents in the collection. Some are shelved in Governments Documents. Others have been cataloged with Library of Congress call numbers and are on various floors of the library. Check Oasis.

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Finding Articles in Journal

Basic searching

Journal indexes:
To find individual articles in journals, you will typically use periodical indexes/databases which can either be in printed form or online (electronic) form. Most such indexes allow you to search by author or title of the article as well as subject or topic. Many online indexes also allow you to search the article citation and abstract with a keyword or free text search.

Locating journals:
With the exception of some journals which are available in full-text online, you will need to locate the actual journal to read the article. You can search OASIS for the Journal Title (name of the journal) to determine if we own the journal.
If not, you can get copies of journal articles through our Interlibrary Loan service at: http://osulibrary.orst.edu/ill/ .

Academic Search Premiere -- Library web (1990-present).
Indexes about 1250 publications including general interest and scientific magazines and some newspapers as well as many research journals. Abstracts included and many articles are full-text. The Valley Library subscribes to most of the magazines and journals indexed in this database. Useful for finding information on current issues in the news media.

Applied Science & Technology Abstracts -- Abstracts & Index: 1983-present
Index to journal articles from over 400 research journals covering aeronautics; chemistry; computer technology; engineering; environment; food science; geology; mathematics; metallurgy; mineralogy; oceanography; petroleum/gas; physics; plastics; textiles; transportation; etc. (also print version of index 1913-1991, Valley Reference Z7913 .A7)

National Technical Information Service (NTIS) -- Abstracts and index: 1983-present
Government sponsored research reports and technical papers from all areas of physical, life and applied science.

PapersFirst/ProceedingsFirst -- Index only: 1993-present
Index to conferences and the papers presented at them. Use PapersFirst to search by author or paper title. Use ProceedingsFirst to search by subject or conference name.

ArticleFirst -- Index only: 1990-present
Indexes articles from over 12,500 journals in all fields. Use ArticleFirst to search by author, title and keyword. Also contains table of contents and holdings information for the ArticleFirst journals; search by journal name, journal subject or year.

Dissertation Abstracts -- Abstracts and index: 1861-present
Index to doctoral dissertations and masters theses in all academic disciplines completed at U.S. institutions. Abstracts only since 1980.

Science Citation Index -- Index only: 1987-present
CD Network - Use limited to campus network. - Index of cited articles from over 5000 scientific journals in all areas of science. Search by cited author, original author, title keywords or journal name. (Also print version of index, 1961-1991, 1st Floor Reference Z7401 .S35)

WorldCat
Index to over 30 million records cataloged by most North American and European libraries. Materials indexed include books, journals, conferences, films, videos, recordings, musical scores, computer software, maps and manuscripts. Materials date back to the 11th century.

Comprehensive searching

Physical Oceanography

GeoBase -- Index only: 1980-present
Index to worldwide literature on geology, geography and ecology.

GeoRef -- Index with some abstracts: 1785-present
Index to U.S. Geological Survey publications, U.S. and Canadian Masters' theses and Ph.D. dissertations, journal articles, books, maps and government reports.

Computer & Electrical Engineering and Physics Abstracts Databases (INSPEC) -- Abstracts and index: 1969-present
INSPEC includes citations and abstracts for research articles in physics, computer science and electrical engineering. It corresponds to the following print indexes: Physics Abstracts; Computer & Control Abstracts; and Electrical & Electronics Abstracts.(Also print version of index, 1903-1995, 1st Floor Reference QC1 .S3)

Biological Oceanography

Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) -- Abstracts and index: 1978-present
Index to journal articles, government reports, books, dissertations and conference papers covering all biological and ecological aspects of marine and freshwater environments. (Also print version of index, 1971-1988, Valley Reference and HMSC Reference QH90 .A65)

Biological Abstracts -- Abstracts and index: 1991-present
Index to research articles from over 9000 journals. Also includes government reports and conference papers. (Also print version of index, 1926-1997, Valley Reference QH1 .B5)

Fish & Fisheries Worldwide -- Index only: 1971-present
Index to journal articles, books, conference papers, government reports, theses and other literature covering all areas of fish and fisheries research.

Wildlife & Ecology Studies Worldwide -- Index only: 1935-present
Index to journal articles, books, conference papers, government reports, theses and other literature covering all areas of wildlife research.

Zoological Record -- Index only: 1993-present
Index to journal articles, books, reports, conference proceedings and dissertations. Covers all areas of zoology including: behavior; biochemistry; development; ecology; evolution; feeding and nutrition; genetics; morphology; parasitology; reproduction; systematic; physiology; and zoogeography. (Also paper version of index, Valley Reference Z7991 .Z6)

Electronic journals

OSU's Libraries Electronic Journals

This is the most comprehensive list of electronic journals accessible through the OSU Libraries. You will find links to online access with the catalog record for invidual titles as well.

OSU's Electronic Journal list for Physical Sciences

This list is limited to those in the physical science.

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Reference Sources

Associations

Agencies and Programs

Data Sources

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Selected World Wide Web Resources

 

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Other Useful Subject Research Guides

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Return to the Alphabetical or Subject index of the Subject Research Guides.