• INTRODUCTION
• FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• SELECTED PRINT REFERENCE SOURCES
• FIND BOOKS IN LAVERY LIBRARY AND BEYOND
• FIND ARTICLES AND MORE
• FIND WEBSITES

INTRODUCTION

This subject guide covers comprehensive resources related to topics in Physics and Astronomy. Other related subject guides include: Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology.

FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Reference Books are located on the Main Level of Lavery Library.

Reference books provide background information to help you understand your topic, narrow your topic, or prepare an outline of your topic. They also help define terms related to your topic, provide assistance in the selection of subject terms for your database searches, and contain factual information, such as, statistics, biographies, and maps.

SELECTED PRINT REFERENCES SOURCES:

Encyclopedias
QB14 .A875 2002 REF
Astronomy Encyclopedia

QC793.2 .B85 2003 REF
Building Blocks of Matter: A Supplement to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics

Q123 .E497 2002 REF
Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology

Q121 .V65 1999 REF
The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society

QB14 .F575 2004 REF
The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy

QC5 .M15 1996 REF
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics

Q121 .M3 2002 REF
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology

Dictionaries
QB14 .I53 1997 REF
Dictionary of Astronomy

QC5 .D538 2004 REF
Dictionary of Physics

QC772 .F33 2003 REF
The Facts On File Dictionary of Atomic and Nuclear Physics

Q123 .M15 2003 REF
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms

QC5 .P46 2000 REF
The Penguin Dictionary of Physics

Handbooks and Guides
QC173 .A827 1996 REF
Atomic, Molecular, & Optical Physics Handbook

QD65 .H3 REF
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

QB601 .B36 2000 REF
The Cambridge Planetary Handbook

QC61 .C65 1996 REF
The Physics Quick Reference Guide

Atlases
QB44 .M5425 1998 REF
Atlas of the Universe

QB44.2 .M66 2003 REF
Firefly Atlas of the Universe

G1000.2 .S8 2000 REF
Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion

Histories and Biographies
Q141 .D5 REF
Dictionary of Scientific Biography

Q125 .H6298 2002 REF
History of Modern Science and Mathematics

Q125 .B945 2004 REF
The History of Science and Technology

Q125 .R335 2000 REF
Reader's Guide to the History of Science

Chronologies
Q125 .C482 2002 REF
Chronology of Science

Directories
Q141 .A474 2003 REF
American Men & Women of Science

Writing and Style Manuals
Z253 .U69 2003 REF
The Chicago Manual of Style

LB2369 .L47 2005 REF
The Essential Guide: Research Writing Across the Disciplines

FIND BOOKS IN LAVERY LIBRARY AND BEYOND
The key to the library's extensive book collection is the Library Catalog. It may be searched by Author, Title, Subject, or Keyword. Subject headings are established by the Library of Congress. If you have any trouble selecting a Subject heading for your topic, try a Keyword search or check the listings in the Library of Congress Subject Headings red books (Z 695 .L69 2001 REF) in the Reference area near the main floor computers.

Subject Headings which may be useful to you for Physics are:

Astronomy
Dynamics [narrower topics include Thermodynamics]
Electronics
Mechanics Analytic
Nonlinear Theories
Optics
Physics [narrower topics include Astrophysics, Biophysics, Nuclear Physics]
Solids
Statics
[name of topic, such as Electricity, Lasers, Quantum Theory, or Sound]

If you would like to browse in the Physics section of the library, the main call numbers for Physics are:

QB, QC's

Circulating books are all located on the Upper Level.

Link to the Library Catalog from the library's home page http://library.sjfc.edu

Find books in Other Libraries by selecting Library Catalog from the library's home page, then select Other Library Catalogs.

Search the world for books by selecting WorldCat from the databases listed under Research Databases. From the library's home page, select Research Tools, select Research Databases, then select WorldCat from the alphabetized list.

To order a book from another library use the online Interlibrary Loan form, accessible from the library's home page http://library.sjfc.edu.

FIND ARTICLES AND MORE
Lavery Library subscribes to an extensive collection of Research Databases that may be used to search for articles on your topic in periodicals, newspapers, and book chapters. Periodicals include both scholarly journals and popular magazines. When researching for courses in your major, it is usually recommended that you use scholarly articles, also referred to as peer reviewed or refereed articles. Databases will often allow you to limit your search to scholarly articles.

If the article cited on the database that you are using does not appear in full-text on the database, check Periodical Holdings to determine if the periodical is either full-text on another database or available in hard copy in the library's collection. From the library's home page, select Research Tools, then select Research Databases.

Research Databases are listed both alphabetically and by subject on the library's home page. When starting research in Physics, the following databases are recommended:

Access Science
Expanded Academic Index
ProQuest Research Library
WilsonSelectPlus

Link to Subject Listing of databases available for Sciences & Mathematics.

FIND WEBSITES
When using websites for research it is very important to evaluate their authority and content. Use the following checklist to evaluate sites before using them as references.

Evaluating Web Sites Checklist

Your liaison librarian has provided a list of quality websites for Physics. They are available on the library's home page under Selected Websites.

To search for additional websites, start with Google - http://www.google.com.

Prepared by Courtney Seymour, March 2005