Finding Information in the Atmospheric Sciences Overview of library services MadCat, the library catalog Searching Finding journal articles Finding government documents Finding dissertations

Schwerdtfeger Library Services

Project support, general and in-depth reference Provide access to and instruction in use of library

resources, e.g., Resources in Atmospheric Sciences Find, recall, borrow, return books from/to campus libraries Borrow books from libraries off campus Get articles from journals not available on campus Current Contents Instructional support to faculty and graduate students Create bibliographies/subject collections Create image collections

MadCat

The Library catalog, used to find books, government reports, journal titles and their locations on campus

Journal articles or contents of books (specific chapters) ARE NOT in MadCat -- find them in appropriate database, then search for journal or book title in MadCat

Schwerdtfeger Library holdings in MadCat

MadCat Options

View your library record Renew books View course reserves Place requests Proxy service Searching E-mail search results About electronic journals

Search Strategies

Plan your search Remember variant word endings, Boolean

connectors and synonyms Limit search terms to specific fields (title,

subject heading), within a certain proximity to each other, year ranges

Note controlled vocabularies

Finding Journal Articles

UW Madison Libraries have licensed many databases for your use

Emphasis is on finding literature related to the atmospheric sciences

After finding specific articles, search for the journal title in MadCat for location on campus

Some databases may have links to full-text

Databases

Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts Oceanic Abstracts Aerospace Database Web of Science INSPEC GEOREF NTIS

Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts Updated monthly, July 1974 - MGA covers meteorology, climatology,

oceanography, remote sensing, atmospheric chemistry, hydrology, etc.

Indexes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, technical reports

Includes abstract for most entries Pre-1974 literature can be found using print

version of Met. Abstracts

Search Met Abstracts

Select “Advanced Search” Serials source list Thesaurus -- subject terms Author index Search history Search results -- retrieve full-text for AMS

journals, e-mail or export results

Oceanic Abstracts

Updated monthly, 1984 - Premier database for marine resources Covers biology, ecology, marine geology,

geophysics, geochemistry, oceanography, marine pollution, environmental protection

Search results Same interface as Met Abstracts, Aerospace

Database

Aerospace Database

Updated quarterly, 1986 - Journal articles, conferences, books, reports,

theses and patents Covers fields of aerospace engineering,

technology, and space-related research, including meteorology

Same search interface as Met Abstracts, Oceanic Abstracts

Web of Science

Updated weekly, 1982 - Combination of three databases Indexes peer-reviewed journal literature only -- does

not include reports, conference proceedings, dissertations…

Known for its currency and meticulous indexing Used to do general, cited reference or author

searching Pre-1981, use Science Citation Index in print

Search Web of Science

Full Search Select “Science Citation Index” and coverage General search Cited reference search Search results

Inspec: Information Services for the Physics & Engineering Communities Updated monthly, 1969 - Covers physics, electrical engineering, electronics,

computers, etc. Includes journal articles, conference papers,

significant books, tech reports, dissertations Includes abstracts Pre-1969, consult Computer and Control Abstracts,

Science Abstracts Series A: Physics and Science

Abstracts Series B: Electrical, in print

Georef

Updated bimonthly, 1785 - Indexes earth sciences literature of the world Includes journal articles, conference papers,

reports, guidebooks, theses, monographs Recommend using “search builder” and

“indexes” NTIS, Inspec and Georef have same search

interface and can be searched simultaneously

Government Documents, Gray Literature

What are they? Why are they important? Who publishes them? What characteristics do they have? Where can I find them? How can I obtain them?

NTIS Bibliographic Index

Updated quarterly, 1983 - Contains descriptions of U.S. government sponsored

sci/tech research from DOD, DOE, EPA, NASA, NOAA…

Covers astronomy, atmospheric science, biotechnology, computers, energy, engineering, etc.

Included are: reports on contracts/grants, tech memos, tech reports, dissertations, etc.

Pre-1983, consult Government Reports and Announcements Index in print

Search NTIS

Advanced search General index Search history leads to search builder Search results

Other Gray Lit Databases

GrayLit Network DOE Information Bridge NASA Online Directives Information Sys

tem (NODIS) Air Force Master Catalog

Finding Dissertations on Campus

Schwerdtfeger Library holds masters theses and doctoral dissertations for AOS

Memorial Library is the depository for all Ph.D. dissertations; not all masters theses are deposited in libraries

Search MadCat for location Contact a library for interlibrary loan, to see if it was

published in report form, or to purchase Some dissertations published as journal articles,

reports if funded by government contract

Finding Dissertations: Databases

Proquest Digital Dissertations, 1861- Current Research @ UW-Madison Index to Theses…..Great Britain and Ireland CRL’s Foreign Doctoral Dissertations Databa

se

Recap

Determine search criteria or what it is you’re searching for

Select database(s) to be searched Check MadCat for availability and

location Questions? Check with a librarian http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/library/e-resources.htm