Skip To Main ContentUniversity of Oregon
University of Oregon Libraries
University of Oregon Libraries

Sciences

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in the Sciences. For further assistance, contact a Science Reference Librarian.

Starting Your Research

These resources can provide an overview of a subject and some will include references for further reading. If you need to choose a topic you may want to browse them for ideas. If you have already chosen a topic, they can supply background information and lead you to other sources. This list refers to general sources. In the Science Library there are also specialized reference sources and journals for every branch of science from astronomy to zoology.

General Reference Sources

These are located in the Science Reference area. They will provide short articles with a bibliography. Some recommended titles are:

  • Encyclopedias
    • Encyclopaedia Britannica. [SCI. REF. AE5 .E363 1993] or Brittanica Online
    • McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. [SCI. REF. Q121 .M3 2002]
    • Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. Glenn Considine, ed. [SCI. REF. Q121 .V269 2002]
  • Dictionaries
    • (Oxford) Dictionary of Science, 5th ed. [SCI. REF. Q123 .C68 2005]
    • Dictionary of Named Effects and Laws In Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. D. W. G. Ballentyne & D. R. Lovett. [SCI. REF. Q123.B32 1980]
    • McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Science and Technical Terms, 6th ed. [SCI. REF. Q123 .M15 2003]
    • Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science. [SCI. REF. Q123 .U43 1998]
  • Units & Measurement
    • Conversion Tables of Units for Science & Engineering. Ari L. Horvath [SCI. REF. Q199.C65]
    • Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units. Donald Fenna. [SCI. REF.  QC82 .F428 2002]
    • MacMillan Dictionary of Measurement. Mike Darton & John Clark.[SCI. REF. QC82 .D37 1994]
  • History & Biography
    • Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Charles Gillespie, ed. [SCI. REF. Q141 .D5]
    • Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology & Medicine in the Non-Western World. Helaine Selin, ed. [SCI. REF. Q124.8 .E53 1997]
    • Science and Its Times. Neil Schlager, ed. [SCI. REF. Q175.46 .S35 2000]
  • Journals
    Current issues are located on the shelves closest to the photocopier room. They are shelved alphabetically by title. Try browsing Discover, New Scientist, Science News and Scientific American. In each issue of Science and Nature there is a research news section in which the latest information is reported at a readable, non-specialist level.

    Finding Articles

    To find articles in journals, newspapers or magazines, you will need to search in an index. You can search a topic using keywords, or by author or title if you already have a citation. In all of the databases below, you can click on the "FindText" button to see if the UO has the article in electronic full-text. If not, you can check if the UO Libraries own a print copy of the journal containing an article you want, or request it from another library.

    • Academic Search Premier 
      An interdisciplinary article index with many full-text articles. Features include 'peer reviewed only' and 'full-text only' search options. The mix of scholarly and popular journals make it a good place to search for opinion or controversy papers.
    • ArticleFirst
      An interdisciplinary article index that covers the sciences well. Features include links to the UO catalog (making it easy to check whether we own the journal) and a link to Interlibrary Loan (making it easy to order the article if we do not own the journal). A good place to search interdisciplinary topics like Native American use of the camas plant. However, because this database will only search on words in an article's title the results are not complete.
    • Web of Science
      The web version of the Science Citation Index (as well as the Social Sciences Citation Index) from 1975 to the present. This interdisciplinary database allows you to find out who has cited a known reference, as well as searching for current research articles by author, topic, etc. Earlier years of the Science Citation Index can be searched in print [Z7401 .S365].

    Return to top

    Finding BOOKS

    • UO Library Catalog
      Identify books by topic, title or author; identify journals and magazines owned by the UO Library. To find journal articles on your topic, use the databases listed in the section above. Once you have a citation, you can check the library catalog by doing a title search on the name of the journal to see if we have it here.
    • Summit: The Orbis Cascade Alliance Union Catalog
      A library catalog that combines information from Northwest academic libraries into a single unified database, putting millions of items at your fingertips. Look here for books the UO does not own or that are not available for checkout. UO students and faculty may borrow books from Orbis-Cascade institutions by selecting the 'Request Item' option. Within 3 days the book requested should be on hold for you at Knight Library. You can request books and some other types of material, but not journal articles.
    • WorldCat
      WorldCat provides access to library catalogs from around the world. The database contains bibliographic records describing books, dissertations, journals, maps, electronic and Internet resources, manuscripts, and more. From within this database, you can check if UO owns a book of interest, and if not, request an interlibrary loan. (Always check Orbis first, though.)

    Return to top

    Web Resources

    • How Stuff Works
      The name says it all!
    • Nobel Foundation
      A searchable website that contains biographical information on Nobel Laureates, articles and papers by the Nobel Laureates, and the latest information on this year's nominees.
    • Online Field Guides
      Covers flora and fauna of the continental U.S. and Alaska.
    • SciSeek
      Guide to Internet sites in the fields of science.
    • Unit Converter
      Converts area, density, energy, force, length, mass, power, pressure, speed, temperature and volume!

    Return to top

    Fun Science

    • Hot AIR
      The homepage of the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), a humor magazine about science, medicine and technology.
    • Invention Dimension
      A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) site
    • San Francisco Exploratorium
      The website of this hands-on museum of science and perception includes interactive exhibitions.
    • Science for the Millennium
      The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)'s "Multimedia Online Expo."
    • Science Hobbyist Homepage
      A good source for science demonstrations, experiments and more..
    • T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project
      Presents findings of Rice University students who performed scientific tests on the popular snack cake.
    Prepared by Victoria Mitchell, Head, Science Library
    (541) 346-3076 · vmitch@uoregon.edu
    Last modified August 14, 2006 • DPW
    http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/science/