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Library Resources & Tips for Phys353 Final Project


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Useful Resources & Starting Points


Library Research Guide for Physics


Reference sources

  • Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics [Sci Ref QB14 .E534 2001] 4 volumes
  • Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry (online) For those doing topics on dna, biomembranes, etc.
  • Encyclopedia of Global Change (online) For those doing the global warming topic, this could give you some ideas for something specific.
  • Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences (online) For the global warming topic: information on global water cycles and climate change; very scientific work, with many references.
  • Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, 3rd ed. [Sci Ref Q123 .E497 2002] This 18-volume work covers physics, chemistry, engineering, and materials science.
  • Encyclopedia of Polymer Science & Technology, 3rd ed. [Sci Ref TP1110 .E53 2003] 12 volumes of polymer science!
  • Oxford Reference Online: Physical Sciences & Mathematics -- a collection of dictionaries.

Review Articles
Review articles provide a synopsis of the research in a particular area and can be good for getting an idea for a topic that's been thoroughly researched. These articles have comprehensive bibliographies, so you will have many potentially useful references to pursue. Databases such as Inspec and Web of Science allow you to limit your search to reviews. While many research journals publish the occasional review article, there also are "review journals", which publish reviews exclusively. One review journal recommended by your professor is Reviews of Modern Physics. A good place to start searching for review articles is the Annual Reviews: Physical Sciences suite of journals, which includes, among others:

Print volumes of the above titles may be found in the Science Library, Bound Journals, alphabetically by title.

See also IOP Physics Reviews -- a collection of review articles published in Institute of Physics journals.

 

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Books


Author Search: Last First (comma not necessary)

Title Search: Introduction to modern astrophysics (don't include the "An" at the front). You don't have to type in the full title, but you do have to start at the beginning, excluding initial articles -- a, an, the.

Subject Search: The library catalog uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) in the subject search field. If a subject search is unsuccessful, do a keyword search.

Keyword Search: You can combine terms using Boolean operators and truncation. A keyword search can turn up book records containing LC subject headings that will find you more books, or narrow your search, by including that subject heading in your keyword search.

Example: dna AND (melt* OR zipper*)

NB: Boolean operators do not have to be uppercase -- they are in this example merely to emphasize that that's what they are.
If the book you want is unavailable in the UO Libraries (e.g., checked out), try requesting it from Summit. If it is available through Summit, this is usually a faster way of obtaining the book than recalling it from the UO patron. If the book displays as available in the catalog, but is not on the shelf, see a library staff member for help.

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Articles


In OneSearch or in any of the individual article databases, click on the button to see if you the UO has a subscription to the full text of the article.


See also Review Articles, above.

OneSearch

OneSearch is a search engine that allows you simultaneously to search multiple databases that use different search interfaces, under one interface. I recommend OneSearch Advanced. The category Physics --General may be a good place to start. It can give you an idea of which database(s) will be most useful for your topic.


Individual Databases


The following two are your probable best choices:

INSPEC

  • The most comprehensive index for the physics literature, covering from 1969 to present. It includes conference proceedings and book chapters as well as journal articles. As well as covering all aspects of physics (including astrophysics), it also covers electrical and computer engineering.

Web of Science

  • An interdisciplinary science index, covering from 1965 to present. Unlike INSPEC, it covers only journals. While not as deep in the physics literature, it will include topics in areas that INSPEC may not, such as in materials, biophysics, etc. Its special feature is cited reference searching, which allows you to find articles that cite an article you already have.

See also:

IEEE Xplore
  • If you are doing a topic with strong connections to applied physics and engineering, such as refrigeration or superconductivity, you may find a lot of references in this database. Please be aware that our access to full text includes only the IEEE journals (not the conference proceedings), from 1998 to present, for most titles.

Google Scholar
  • If you use Google Scholar be sure to use the link from the library's web page, so that you will get the FindText links to our journal subscriptions.

SciFinder Scholar
  • If you are doing a chemically-related topic, such as polymers, you might want to use this. SciFinder Scholar is a desktop client for searching Chemical Abstracts Online, and related databases. Chemical Abstracts is the most comprehensive index available for the chemical literature. The SciFinder Scholar software must be downloaded and installed on your computer. The link above will take you to a page that verifies your status at the UO so that you can download SciFinder Scholar. SciFinder Scholar Resources are guides to searching SciFinder Scholar. They help you to exploit the full potential of this very complex and powerful research tool.

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Maintained by: Victoria Mitchell, vmitch@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 04/23/2008