Geology Research Guide
- Find Background Info
- Find Books
- Find Articles
- Citing Sources
Find Background Info
Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research.
- Locate reliable sources to clarify keywords.
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and key words about the research area. Knowing the primary phrases and concepts will help you a lot as you search library databases and online sources.
Credo Reference is multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles covering everything from the arts to astronomy, law to literature, and science to Shakespeare. Currently the collection contains over 162 titles taken from 36 different reference publishers, with plans to add more. Available titles also include a range of multimedia options including thousands of high-quality diagrams, photographs, maps and audio files. Credo hosts several books on topics in geology.
Encyclopedia of Geology
The Encyclopedia of Geology is an expansive collection of 340 articles each covering a different topic in geology. Articles intersect with other topics– like biology and chemistry– while remaining understandable to those inexperienced in geology.
The Handbook of Geoscience
The Handbook of Geoscience is an approachable handbook to the different areas in geology and their utilities for other fields such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
Encyclopedia of Paleontology
The Encyclopedia of Paleontology contains 328 articles that focus on the skills and ideas needed to study paleontology.
Print and e-Books are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors, while others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant to your work.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title of a book here:
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other material that are available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service where patrons of one library can borrow books and other materials, and access journal articles that are owned by another library.
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster College students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC partner libraries. Each UALC library has different circulation policies, but all require a current, valid, legal photo identification and proof of current enrollment at Westminster. Some libraries may also require other verification methods, so it is recommended that you contact the library you are interested in for details.
Popular Titles and Featured Texts
The Giovale Library provides access to several subject databases that you can use to find journal articles on topics within a specific discipline or field of study. The databases listed on this page are those that are most useful for finding research published in geology.
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other material available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases.
Academic Search Ultimate
Academic Search Ultimate is an interdisciplinary database. It contains academic and popular sources. Academic Search Ultimate provides full text and indexing for academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education, and multi-cultural journals.
Environmental Studies and Policy
The Giovale Library addresses environmental concerns and research with coverage from journals and book reference content. Content includes articles relevant to biology, chemistry, and geology as well as environmental studies.
Science Direct: Health and Life Sciences (Elsevier)
ScienceDirect is a leading full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters. Journals are guided by eminent editorial boards and articles are rigorously peer-reviewed. Books on ScienceDirect cover 24 subject collections across disciplines such as biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, chemistry, clinical medicine, engineering and environmental science.
Properly citing your sources shows that you’ve done research to become knowledgeable about your topic and helps you avoid plagiarism. Explore citation resources to learn how to correctly cite sources based on style.
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Chat with a Librarian
Use the chat box below to ask the library staff a question. If chat is unavailable or we don’t respond quickly, please use the email form on our Get Research Help page and a library staff member will contact you as soon as we are available.