Geography

Introduction

Anita Grant

If you have a reference question, book suggestion, library instructional or library service needs, please feel free to contact me (Anita Grant).

Starting Out

The Library's "InfoTree" database is a good place to start.

Infotree is a subject-organized guide to the best research materials in all formats, including:

1. links to electronic resources that either Ohio University or OhioLink receive by subscription;
2. links to other free web-based resources;
3. and links on-site resources such a microform sets, subject guides, etc.

There are two basic ways to search InfoTree.
The InfoTree 'Home Page' is basically the 'top level' of a subject hierarchy and one borrows deeper into the specifics. There is also a word-search option (keep it simple). Here are two useful starting out InfoTree searches:

geography by subject(Note sub-topics on left.)
geography word provides more, but less focused entries.

"ALICE" is the name for Ohio University's library catalog.
Consult this database to find and locate specific books, periodical titles, media and electronic titles, etc. ALICE offers a variety of ways to search for items.

Here are comphrehensive Internet sites.

• Designed specifically for academic institutions Academic Search Complete is a good starting point for articles. It is a multi-disciplinary full text database containing full text for nearly 3,500 scholarly publications, including nearly 2,600 peer-reviewed publications and offers indexing and abstracts for all 4,450 journals in the collection.
  
  
• Geosource (Utrecht University, is a classified directory with nearly 5,000 links to web resources for human geography, physical geography, planning, geosciences, and environmental sciences.)
  
  
• About Geography: with your guide Matt Rosenberg, is quite lively and one the best starting sites for geographical resources on the Internet. This is a commercial site which tends to foist unwanted windows. Try out the subjects menu , good exercises and resources for teachers, K-12. You may wish to browse The About, Homework Help main page for other topics.
  
  
• Odden's Bookmarks (A well organized list of over 20,000 links for those interested in any aspect of maps and mapping.)
  
  
• PCL Map Collection (The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin has put a great many of maps themselves on the Web. It also has a very nice guide "Maps on Other Web Sites" where one can locate maps from a thematic perspective, e.g. historical map sites, outline map sites, etc..)
  
  
• The Map Collection Departmental Page should not be overlooked. This site includes additional library resources and World Wide Web resources of interest to Geography.
  
  
• Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) (A comprehensive site pertaining to weather/atmosphere, University of Wisconisn-Madison.)
  
  
• The Science and Engineering Library at the University of Buffalo Libraries maintains a list of selected Internet resources for Geography and Cartography organized by type of information source.

• Searching InfoTree or "Geography -- Article Databases/Indexes" provides a list of index and abstracting services indexing geography-related periodicals and books.



• Bibliographie Geographique Internationale (Library has V.60(1954)- Current; recent issues in Current Periodicals, rest Gen Stacks, G64 .B53.
  
  
• Geo Abstracts and Geographical Abstracts are varient titles of the same series; check ALICE under "Geo Abstracts" and also "geographical Abstracts" for details on earlier series and subjects, a confusing medly of continuations, name changes and mergers for assorted series and subjects, basically 1966 - 1971; 1972 - 1985; and 1986 - 1988. Two currently active "Geographical Abstracts" titles retained by the Library are:
  Geographical abstracts. Human geography. (Library has 1989 - current; REF GF1 .G47.) Geographical abstracts. Physical geography. (Library has 1989 - current; REF GB54.5 .G46.)
  The above titles are a component part of GEOBASE, a multidisciplinary database under consideration by the Library. Check ALICE and OhioLink.
  
  
• LexisNexis Environmental Universe, 2002- is an on-line index to journal articles, government codes and regulations, case law, and other sources on environmental law and policy. It has the following main components: Environment Abstracts; News, Journals & Commentary; Codes & Regulations; Case Law & Agency Actions; and a section on Waste & Materials.
  
  
• Population index. (1937-1985 is available on-line. 1986-1999 is available in the Reference section) In addition, recent material (1986-2000) can be searched at the Population Index's home page. In March 2000 Population Index closed down its operations. This Index had long been a reference tool to the world's population literature, presenting a bibliographic account of recently published books, journal articles, working papers, and other materials on population topics.
  
  
  
• GeoRef may have some materials related to physical geography. GeoRef indexes journal articles, books, maps and reports to literature in geology covering North America since 1785 and other areas since 1933.
  
  
• Current geographical publications (American Geographical Society); (Library has V.2 (1939) - current; G64 .A435 Alden General Stacks, current issues in Reference.) Reports additions to the American Geographical Society collection of the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Library, the Golda Meir Library.