Geosciences (GEOL)

CSU Libraries has many encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference materials available both online and in print.  These can be excellent places to begin your research, since they provide an overview of the issues surrounding a topic.  Pay special attention to any words or phrases that you could use to find more information.

Books often approach a subject more broadly than journal articles do, so it can be beneficial to include them in your research.  Search the catalogs listed below for books and e-books, government documents, theses and dissertations, journals, and more.

CSU Libraries purchases e-books in a variety of formats.  All can be browsed online for a short time, but some may require free specialized software to borrow and read offline.

Library databases are great places to search for journal articles.  Databases may also include other types of information such as newspaper articles, book chapters, or conference proceedings.  No single database will contain all of the information that is available on a topic, so it is generally a good idea to search in at least two.  Pick databases that include the subject areas and types of materials that you hope to find.

Recommended Databases for Geosciences

Many library databases only include abstracts (summaries) of articles.  If you don't see a link that says "PDF full text" or "HTML full text" in a database, look for the FindIt@CSU icon. This will link you to the full text of the article.

Search Terms

A single concept can be described in many different ways, so use a variety of words when you are searching to retrieve more information on your topic.

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators can help you to find exactly the information that you need.  Learn more about how to use them by watching this video from the University of Alabama Libraries.

More Search Techniques

Two other search techniques work in most databases.

• Truncation:  Place an asterisk at the end of a word stem to search for other forms of that word
  • Ex)  bicycl* - finds bicycle, bicycling, etc.
  • Truncation expands the results
• Phrase searching:  Put short phrases in quotations to search for results which contain that phrase
  • Ex) "bicycle commuting"
  • Phrase searching narrows the results

These government websites provide a wealth of geological and earth science information.

Find CSU Theses & Dissertations

To find a thesis or dissertation from a CSU academic department, search using the words Colorado State, either the word thesis or dissertation, and words from the department name.  You may want to include previous department names.  For instance, the Geosciences Department used to be called the Department of Earth Resources, and before that, the Department of Geology.  You'll also want to limit your search to "Books and More."

Example search:

Find Theses & Dissertations from Other Institutions