LIBRARY

Explore by area

Related links

Physics resources and support

Your Subject Librarian

Debra.Avent-Gibson

Other Physics Library staff can answer your more general library queries.

Recommend other items

Physics resources are available in these branch libraries

Most physics resources are found in the Physics Library. However, other related resources can be found in the following branches:

  • physical chemistry, polymers - in the Chemistry Library
  • geophysics - in the Wills Library
  • medical physics - in the Medical Library
  • mathematics, electronics, computing and materials science - in the Queen's Building Library

New books

  • New books are displayed on the New Book Display in the Physics Library for two weeks, during which time they may be reserved using the Library Catalogue but not borrowed.

Course based materials

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

  • Recommended textbooks: in the Short Loan Collection (SLC) and, often, standard loan copies in the open collection (details are on the catalogue).
  • Examination papers: sets of past examination papers (bound in years) are kept in the Short Loan Collection (SLC) (details are on the catalogue).
  • Lecture notes and other handouts, from some lecturers, in the Short Loan Collection (SLC): these are not listed on the catalogue. Please ask at the Issue Desk in the Physics Library for details.

Thesis collection

Physics PhD, MSc and DSc theses of staff and students of the Physics Department, from 1950 to date, are available in the thesis collection in the Physics Library.

Special collections

The Physics Library contains a special collection of rare books. The Exley collection of mathematics and physics books was formed by two Bristol teachers, Thomas Exley (1775-1855) and his son John Thompson Exley (1815-99). The Physics Library holds the collection of physics books. Contact the Subject Librarian for further information.

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:

  • School of Physics staff and research postgraduates should ask for Inter-library loan vouchers at the Issue Desk in the Physics Library.
  • Physics undergraduates should check with their project supervisor or Physics Library staff before requesting an inter-library loan.

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 Physics is Dr David Newbold.
  • 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

Databases for physics (via MetaLib)
This link takes you to the list of databases and other information resources, with a cross-search option. Click on the Info icon to display the full details.

Internet links

Societies and organisations

Subject gateways

  • Intute: Physics - a searchable gateway to physical science resources on the Internet.
  • Scirus and SciCentral - gateways to science resources on the Internet
  • nanotechweb.org (IOP) global portal for nanoscience and nanotechnology online resources
  • arXiv.org e-print archive for Physics, Maths and Computer Science. UK mirror site

University of Bristol, Physics Department

Learning resources

  • Particle physics in the UK - for everyone who wants to know more about particle physics.
  • The Higher Education Academy Physical Sciences Subject Centre - provides support to teachers of the physical sciences in UK higher education, including chemistry, physics and astronomy. This has taken over from the CTI.
  • Physical sciences discussion lists - available through JISCmail. Join these to help keep in touch with a subject.
  • PhysicsWeb (UK) - news, book reviews, jobs, etc.
  • Physics around the world (PAW) - part of PhysicsWeb - an index to online physics resources.
  • Physics: an annotated list of key resources on the Internet (US) - by Laurel Kristick.
  • Physics.org (IOP) Q&A web-based database of refereed resources.
  • PhysLINK (US) - news, book reviews, jobs, etc.
  • NIST - information, including physical reference data, from the Physics Laboratory of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  • Einstein text - an online English text version of Einstein's 'Relativity: the Special and General Theory', 1920 (translation by R.W.Lawson) - full text, appendices, bibliography plus links to biographical and translator's notes, portrait AND the facility for users to search for words within the document.
  • Einstein Archives Online - provides online access to Einstein's scientific and non-scientific manuscripts held by the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The archive contains approx. 3000 digitised images.
  • Landolt-Börnstein - a high-quality chemistry, physics and technology data collection. We only have online access to the earlier volumes - access to the newer ones is very expensive, though you may be able to buy individual extracts yourself. Some of these early volumes are also available in print in the Chemistry and Physics Libraries (check the catalogue).
  • CRC handbook of chemistry and physics online. The Chemistry databases page includes some advice about its use.
  • Gradschool Shopper - online source for researching graduate programs in the physical sciences, engineering and related fields and is a partner to the print publication 'Graduate Programs in Physics, Astronomy, and Related Fields'.
  • Research Fields in Physics - provides details of the research being undertaken at university physics departments in the UK and Ireland
  • Physics equation sheet - Data sheet for physics' students from the Higher Education Academy
  • UK GRAD programme

Quick reference tools

General physics dictionaries and databooks

  • Quick reference dictionaries and data books and handbooks for physics can be found in the Physics Library.
  • CRC handbook of chemistry and physics online - a searchable online version of the popular databook. Access is by network (IP) address authentication, so if you are off campus you will need to investigate off campus access.

Other physics quick reference tools

Item Classmark
Comprehensive polymer science in the Chemistry Library at F6(03)R COM
Encyclopedia of advanced materials in the Queen's Library at Ref. TA402 ENC
Encyclopedia of materials science and technology in the Queen's Library at Ref. TA402 ENC

Reviews and bibliographies

Reading review articles is a good way of familiarising yourself with a topic quickly. In many databases you can search for review articles, e.g. by refining search results in Web of Science by Document type.

The following bibliographies and reviews can be found in the Physics Library:

Item Location/ reference number
Advances in physics 113 a-b
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Reviews of modern physics 123 b-c
Reports on progress in physics 98 a-b
Progress of theoretical physics 122 b-e
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Reviews of scientific instruments 4 a-c
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Advances in polymer science 136 d-e
Annual review of astronomy & astrophysics 95.00 ANN
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Annual review of materials science 81.00 ANN
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Annual review of nuclear and particle science 20.00 ANN
also available online via our eJournals catalogue
Solid state physics 60.00 SOL

Information skills training for undergraduates

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

  • There is no single way of writing references. The two most common styles are the Harvard system and the Numeric system, details of which can be found in the guides mentioned below. You will need to use the style specified by your department or by the body or journal to which you are submitting your work. For physics the numeric system is most widely used.
  • 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.

In physics the journal title abbreviations used by Physics Abstracts are often used. You can look up the abbreviations used in the INSPEC list of journals and other serials sources, which is kept in the Librarian's Office.

 

Unofficial abbreviations

Sometimes very short unofficial abbreviations are employed in physics reference books or journals. Here are some examples that you may encounter:

  • JCP - Journal of of Chemical Physics
  • JOSA - Journal of the Optical Society of America
  • PRL - Physical Review Letters

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.