Finding Information in the Atmospheric Sciences

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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Databases • Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts • Oceanic Abstracts • Aerospace Database • Web of Science • INSPEC • GEOREF • NTIS

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. Search Web of Science • Full Search • Select “Science Citation Index” and coverage • General search • Cited reference search • Search results

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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?

17. 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

18. Search NTIS • Advanced search • General index • Search history leads to search builder • Search results

19. Other Gray Lit Databases • GrayLit Network • DOE Information Bridge • NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) • Air Force Master Catalog

20. 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

21. Finding Dissertations: Databases • Proquest Digital Dissertations, 1861- • Current Research @ UW-Madison • Index to Theses…..Great Britain and Ireland • CRL’s Foreign Doctoral Dissertations Database

22. 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