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ENVS 196-2 Reporting and Writing about Environmental Science

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ENVS 196-2: Reporting and Writing about Environmental Science
Spring Quarter 2011

Research Guide

Getting Started

1109 Off Campus Access- To access the library research databases referenced in this guide from off campus, you will need to login to OCA.

 

Background Info | Recommended Databases | CRUZCAT | Citation Guide

Helpful Links

Reminder: Organize your research results

Keep track of your successful keyword searches and descriptive words you encounter, and make note of the names of authors/scholars that come up related to your topic. This strategy will help decrease the number of duplicative searches you run.

Background Information

Use the resources listed below to get an overview of your topic. Encyclopedias, bibliographies, and evaluated web pages are a good starting point for any research project.

  • Write down key dates, facts, statistics provided, look for a bibliography and make use of it.
  • Look up (in Cruzcat) the titles of journals and books referenced in the encyclopedias, bibliographies or web pages and see if we own them at UCSC.

Gale Virtual Reference Library - Topical collection of encyclopedia essays. More authoritative than Wikipedia, but not always as current.

CQ Researcher  - Research reports on current, sometimes controversial topics

OpenCRS: Congressional Research Reports.  [Easy to read, concise reports prepared at the request of members of Congress]

Recommended Databases

Type of source
Where to look for them?
Where is the full text?

Journal Articles

  • Peer-Reviewed, scholarly, and authoritative sources

Magazine Articles

  • Written for a general audience, some authoritative depending on source

 

Complete list of library databases (type environmental to narrow down the list)
  • May include a PDF or HTML link to the article
  • Or use UC-eLinks 976 to find it elsewhere or to request it from another UC library.

Citations/references found in a bibliography (from syllabus, etc.)
Citation Linker

Useful when you have a citation and NO UC-eLinks button is available
  • Select appropriate source TYPE (article, book, etc.)
  • Enter the full citation
  • Find out if it's available at UCSC
  • Or request a copy from another library
     

Cruzcat - find books

Helpful when you need more in-depth information than found in journal articles or encyclopedia essays.

  • Start with a keyword search in cruzcat. 
  • Use the keywords you gathered through searching in encyclopedias, journal articles, and web pages.
  • Make note of the subjects cruzcat uses to describe your topic; link from the subject headings
  • Use the modify or limit/sort button to focus your search
  • Email successful searches to yourself - put the keywords you used in the subject line to remind yourself of how you found the item.

 

Citation Guide

See the Purdue OWL: Online Writing Lab, APA formatting or MLA formatting for guidance on citation formats  you can use to track sources in your paper.  Formats covered include:

  • Journal Articles
  • Electronic sources (webpages, online journals not in pdf form)
  • In-text citations (used in standard research papers)

Need Help or advice? 

Lucia Orlando, office hours at S&E Library Reference desk Tuesdays 11-1 or email luciao@ucsc.edu to set up an appointment

 

 

Subject, discipline, topic: 
Environmental Studies
Lucia Orlando