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Geology Resource Guide

Finding Information

Finding background information

Reference books, such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias and handbooks are a useful starting point when beginning your research. The Reference collection in the Auchmuty Library is located on level 3.

Dictionaries provide definitions, and help you to understand the terminology.

R551 LAPI 2003	Collins dictionary of geology.
R550.3 MCGR 2003	McGraw-Hill dictionary of geology and mineralogy.
Online resource	SpringerLink Reference Works - a wide range of dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks

Encyclopaedias give a general overview of a topic, and may also provide a list of books and journal articles for further reading.

RQ551.203 RITC 2001	Encyclopedia of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Online resource	The Earth Sciences Encyclopedia online - from SpingerLink

Handbooks, etc.

Online resource	ENVIROnetBASE
Online resource	Online books

Finding books, audiovisual, etc.

Printed material for geology is mainly located in the Auchmuty Library on the Callaghan campus.

Browsing the shelves may be useful in certain circumstances, but to ensure that you have your topic covered, you should use the Library catalogue, NEWCAT, to search for items. If you have a reading list, then search by author or title.

To find books and audiovisual material on a particular topic, use the Subject or Keyword search options in NEWCAT.

Often the Keyword search is the easiest way to find suitable titles. Type in keywords related to your topic and the catalogue will search for your terms in the title, author, notes and subject heading fields. The words should be separated by and, e.g.

geology and environment

When you find a useful book, check the subject headings that have been given to it. This will help you with further searching.

Note that the Library catalogue uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings, which uses American spelling and terminology. Use the most specific subject heading, e.g.

silicate materials
coal geology
faults geology
geological time

Subheadings help you find specific information more quickly, e.g.

geology australia
geology field work
geology maps
geology stratigraphic paleozoic

Specialised sources of information

Physical data tables

R503 JERR	Dictionary of scientific units. 1992
549.1083/1B	Tables for microscopic identification of ore minerals. 1971
530.0202 TUMA	Handbook of physical calculations. 1983