GeoRef Help

To find articles in GeoRef, try one of these searches:

KW=(santa cruz) and TI=tectonic and DE=california
(You have to change the pull-down box on the right to DE)

DE stands for Descriptor - it's like a subject heading - and adding "California" will keep you from retrieving results about Santa Cruz County Arizona or Santa Cruz Argentina.

There are many possible searches, depending on how broad or narrow you want your search to be.
You'll get more results using a bigger geographic area, such as "Santa Cruz County" rather than "Watsonville".

For even more results, add another search term using "or":
KW=(santa cruz) and TI=(tectonic or fault*) and DE=california

For fewer results,
DE=watsonville california

In the short citation display, there is a section on the right labeled Descriptors. You can see ALL the descriptors for an article by clicking on "View Record" at the bottom of the citation. You can look for other descriptors that are narrower and more specific to your topic, such as "cross sections " or "liquefaction", then go back and use them in a new search.

Remember to use truncation to retrieve plurals, e.g. fault* to get fault and faults.

When you get the results of your search, there may be a tab at the bottom right corner of the green area saying "More".
If you click there, you MAY see a tab that says "Maps". These may either be maps, or articles that include significant maps.
You can also change the pull-down menu to "Publication Type" and enter "Map" , e.g.
KW=(santa cruz) and DE=california and PT=map

GeoRef searches usually retrieve many publications from the USGS, which we have here at UCSC.
Note that only publications from the last several years are typically available online.

These series are in the vertical files outside the Map Room on the lower level of the S&E Library.

CTJ / October 2005