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Geographical sciences resources and support

Your Subject Librarian

Your Subject Librarian

Megan Cox

Other Geographical Sciences Library staff can answer your more general library queries.

Recommend other items

Geographical sciences resources are available in these branch libraries

The core collection of geographical resources is located in the Geography Library but several other libraries in the system contain much of relevance:

  • Earth Sciences - in the Wills Library
  • Biology, ecology, etc - in the Biological Sciences Library
  • Mathematics and computing - in the Queen's Library
  • Disease studies - in the Medical and Social Medicine Libraries
  • Human geography material including planning, housing, & urban geography - in the Arts and Social Sciences Library

Bristol Naturalists Society Library

Can be used by staff and postgraduate students of the University. For details of holdings and access, please contact Barbara Costello.

Geological maps

Held in the Department of Earth Sciences. Contact Andrew Hook for further details.

New books

  • A list of new books is distributed to academic staff and postgraduates at the beginning of each month.

Course based materials

A wide range of materials to support courses are available in the Library (ask at the Issue Desk):

  • Recommended textbooks: in the Short Loan Collection (SLC) and, often, standard loan copies in the general collection (details are on the catalogue).
  • Examination papers: sets of past examination papers (bound in years) are kept at the Issue Desk and are for use in the library only. Online copies are also available via Blackboard.

  • Photocopied articles: these are not on the catalogue, and are referred to on reading lists only. Ask for them at the Issue Desk. They are confined to the Library.

  • Student handbooks, dissertation guides, etc. Please ask at the Issue Desk for these.

Thesis collection

Further details of PhD, MSc and DSc theses of staff and students of the Department, are available in the thesis collection in the Geographial Sciences Library.

Special collections

The Eyles Collection of early geological books, journals and maps

Located in Special Collections at the Arts and Social Sciences Library. Formerly part of the library of Dr. V.A. and Mrs. J.M. Eyles, the collection was bequeathed to the University in 1986.

How to find books, journals, and more

Inter-Library Loans and ILL vouchers

The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service can be used to obtain Items not held in print in the University's branch libraries or available online. There is a charge for this service, though it may be possible to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher to pay for this:

  • Geographical Sciences academic staff can obtain inter-library loan vouchers from the General Office in the department.
  • Geographical Sciences research postgraduates may be able can obtain inter-library loan vouchers from the General Office in the department.
  • Geographical Sciences undergraduates should contact their project supervisor or Geography Library staff for further information about obtaining items through the Inter-library loans Service.

Information for academic staff and researchers

  • Our Research support pages cover finding information, managing information, and exploiting your research, together with sources of further help and advice.
  • Each academic department in the university has its own library representative, whose duties are detailed in these guidelines. The Library Representative for Geographical Sciences is Dr Maria Fannin.
  • Book purchase recommendations can be made to the Subject Librarian or the Library Representative.
  • New journal / database subscription requests can be made to the Subject Librarian or the Library Representative, though you will need to suggest how we might fund a new subscription.
  • New academic staff are welcome to contact the Subject Librarian to arrange a session on how the Library can help you.

Databases

Internet links

Information gateways

  • Internet Geographer - an excellent 'teach yourself' tutorial on Internet information skills for geographers
  • Eldis - gateway to development information
  • Go-Geo! - allows for the identification and retrieval of details about geo-spatial datasets and related resources that exist within UK tertiary education and beyond.
  • Intute: Science, Engineering & Technology - provides access to the very best web resources for the physical sciences, engineering, computing, geography, mathematics and environmental science.
  • Intute: Social Sciences - provides access to the very best Web resources for the social sciences, including human geography
  • GEES Subject Centre - supports teaching and learning in the given subject areas

Specific sites

This section includes only a few suggestions from the many sites available.

Note: see also links from other related subject resources sites, such as Engineering, Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences.

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Mailing lists

Quick reference tools

General Geographical Sciences dictionaries, directories and encyclopaedias.

The following reference works in the Geography Library constitute a selection of useful reference tools (further details and further reference works can be found on the online catalogue):

Item Reference number
CIA World Factbook (via MetaLib)
The companion encyclopedia of geography : the environment and humankind U2.N3 COM
Dictionary of concepts in human geography U2.N LAR
Dictionary of concepts in physical geography U2.F1 HUB
Dictionary of earth sciences U2.F1 DIC
Dictionary of geography U2.B1 MAY
Dictionary of geopolitics U2.R DIC
Dictionary of globalization U2.R3 JON
The Dictionary of human geography U2.N DIC
Dictionnaire de la géographie U2.B1 DIC
Encyclopedic dictionary of physical geography U2.F1 ENC
Encyclopedia of atmospheric sciences and astrogeology U2.H ENC
Encyclopedia of geochemistry and environmental science U2.F ENC
Encyclopedia of geomorphology U2.F1 ENC
Encyclopedia of human geography U2.N ENC
Encyclopedia of soil science U2.J ENC
The environment dictionary U2.N3 KEM
The Facts on File dictionary of human geography U2.N GOO
Feminist glossary of human geography U2.N FEM
A glossary of geographical terms U2 BRI
Glossary of meteorology U2.H GLO
Macmillan dictionary of the environment U2.N3 ALL
MacGraw-Hill dictionary of geology and mineralogy U2.F MAC
Modern dictionary of geography U2 SMA
The Penguin dictionary of human geography U2 GOO
The Penguin dictionary of physical geography U2 WHI

Gazetteers and atlases

Item Location/ reference number
The Columbia Lippincott gazetteer of the world, with 1961 supplement U5 COL
Gazetteer of England U5.231 MAS
The international geographic encyclopedia and atlas U5 INT
The Ordnance Survey gazetteer of Great Britain in the Arts and Social Sciences Library at DA640 ORD
Philip's Atlas of the world U5 PHI
Times atlas of the world: comprehensive edition in the Arts and Social Sciences Library at Folio G1019 TIM
Times comprehensive atlas of the world, millennium edition U5 TIM

Reviews and bibliographies

Reading review articles can be a good way of familiarising yourself with a topic quickly.

The following resources contain regular useful review articles and can be found in the Geography Library at location Serial PRO:

  • Progress in Human Geography
  • Progress in Physical Geography

Information skills training for undergraduates

  • A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Information skills training for postgraduates

  • A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Self-learning resources

  • Video tutorials - topics include the Library Catalogue, understanding references on reading lists, using the MetaLib resource gateway, off-campus access to eResources, etc.
  • Finding and using information pages - covering key aspects of information skills, including researching a topic, effective use of Google, evaluating your search results, avoiding plagiarism, etc. Also includes a Jargon-buster page.
  • Library guides - downloadable guides to each branch library, our main search tools, special library services, etc.
  • External resources for developing your information skills - including online tutorials and downloadable guides.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Referencing guidance

Referencing

  • General referencing guidance
    includes Why reference? What is included in a reference? Referencing styles, How to reference, Links to useful sites on referencing, and brief details of EndNote and EndNote Web referencing software (see the EndNote referencing software section below for more details).

Journal title abbreviations

Literature references are often written with abbreviated terms. Probably the most troublesome are abbreviated journal titles which can make finding a journal difficult.

To find journal title abbreviations you could try:

If you are unable to find a title you are looking for please ask a member of the Library staff.

Other resources

For general information, please visit the journal abbreviations page.

 

Please note: these should not be used in the references that you write, unless they are stipulated by the body or journal that you are submitting your work to.

Writing for the subject, and how to avoid plagiarism

EndNote referencing software

EndNote is the University of Bristol's recommended bibliographical management software, which can be used to collect, store, organise and manage references, and to output them as reference lists or bibliographies. A particularly useful function is 'Cite While You Write', enabling you to format Word documents, producing bibliographies and adding references within the text.