Research Guides: Geology: Find Sources

Top Sources for Geology Research Papers and Reports

University Libraries pays for access to these article databases and the journals indexed by them. There are many advantages to searching in article databases that are worth exploring here. To learn how to use these tools, see Research Strategies. For help finding sources for your research, contact Phil.

GeoRef (ProQuest)
Comprehensive collection of scholarly geoscience literature, covering all areas of the world. Covers scholarly research (scientific articles) as well as governments reports from USGS, GSA conference proceedings, master's theses & dissertations, and more.
GeoScienceWorld
Provides access to peer-reviewed articles from major geoscience publishers. Browsable by subject or publication. Great for browsing journals. Some materials (ebooks) are indexed in GeoScienceWorld, but full-text may not be provided.
Web of Science, Web of Science database
Interdisciplinary index that provides citations for high impact journals. Web of Science is a great tool for tracking down citations and targeting important articles in your field. Use Find at CU to locate full text.
Lyell Collection
Full text of scholarly articles and ebooks from the Geological Society of London. Good for tracking down known items. If you're keyword searching, I recommend searching for keywords in the Abstract/Title field.
American Geophysical Union
Publications of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), an organization promoting an understanding of Earth and space. Works best if you have a particular journal you wish to access. Browse journals, their content, and access full text by choosing Publications>Journals.
AAPG Datapages
Archive of geological publications from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).

Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a quick and easy tool that works great for finding known items. Be aware that Google Scholar always searches full-text for your keywords as opposed to limiting a search to an abstract or title --often leading to superfluous results. Search filters are limited in Google Scholar and it's method for ranking results is unclear. Full-text items that you find in Google Scholar are typically available only if you're on-campus or logged into the campus VPN (the library pays for what you access in Google Scholar).

Books & Government Documents

One Search, the Library's Search Engine

One search works great for books, articles, and government documents.
Limit to government documents by choosing the government documents filter in the left column under Content Type.
USGS reports: try copy and pasting the title of a USGS report into One Search to find full text.

Books

Searching the catalog is easiest when you know what you're searching for (ie. the title of the book).
When keyword searching the catalog, try combining Geology subfields with the AND operator (e.g. geomorphology AND rocky mountains).
Most print books and some government documents related to Geological Sciences are located in the Earth Sciences & Map Library.

Maps

The Jerry Crail Johnson Earth Sciences & Map Library holds over 200,000 maps in it's collection, including geologic maps, topographic maps, mining maps, aerial photographs, and more.

See the following research guides for searching for maps:

Resources from Around the Web

United States Geological Survey
USGS maps, data, web applications and projects in the earth sciences.
Colorado Geological Survey
Provides geologic mapping, including digitized data for identifying geological hazards and mineral resources; and research and economic development information on Colorado's mineral and energy industries. It is also the home of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
State Geological Surveys
Links to each state’s Geological Survey.
Web Soil Survey
Soil data provided by the National Soil Cooperative Survey.
Geological Society of America (GSA)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Ask A Map Librarian

Call (303) 492-7578

Email rad@colorado.edu

More about the Map Collection

Earth, Environment & Geospatial Librarian

Philip White

Email Me

Contact:

Earth Sciences & Map Library
Benson Earth Sciences Building
Rm: 165G

303-735-8278

High-Impact Journals

Direct links to important journals in Geology and Geosciences.