The GeoRef database, established by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) in 1966, provides access to the most comprehensive geoscience literature of the world. GeoRef contains millions of references to geoscience maps, serial, and non-serial literature. The database includes references to all publications of the U.S. Geological Survey. Master's theses and doctoral dissertations from US and Canadian universities are also covered. Coverage for North American resources starts in 1669, whereas worldwide coverage starts in 1933.
Tips:
Use Advanced Search to search by subject, etc.
Try the Thesaurus to identify appropriate search terms
Look at the top of the screen and note Recent Searches. Use this feature to combine your previous searches in new ways.
Create a My Research account to save searches from session to session.
Search the Catalog
Enter your search terms to search the catalog.
Tips:
After running a search, use the Sort by dropdown box to switch between Library & Relevance and Relevance.
WorldCat will find articles, books, media, and more. Use the Format limiters after running a search to view specific format types.
Web of Knowledge
Tips:
Use Search History to view previous searches and combine them in new ways.
Register for an account to save searches from session to session.
Search types are browse or keyword. Try using both.
Try searching both title and subject indexes.
When viewing a record, click Holdings to see if Beloit College has the item. If so, note the SuDoc number to find the document. It will probably be located on the upper level, though mirofiche is located on the lower level.
General Search Tips
To locate full text for articles from a citation database, use the blue FindIt@Beloit button.
Look for ways to sort search results by relevance.
After running a search, use limiters to reduce a large result set. You may also be able to refine by searching within results.
When you find a useful resource, look for subject headingsin its database or catalog record. Often, these are hyperlinked and will lead to other similar resources.
Think of synonyms for your search terms to make sure you're finding all relevant material on your topic. Look for thesauruses or subject guides to help you discover synonyms and broader or narrower terms.
Use truncation characters to find variations of a search term. Many databases use * as the truncation character.
For example: sediment* will return results for sediment, sediments, sedimentology, etc.
Use Boolean operators to combine search terms (e.g. AND, OR, NOT).
