Start Here \ Best Databases
- Astrophysics Data System - Digital Library portal for researchers in Astronomy and Physics, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
- arXiv Article Preprints - Open e-print archive with over 100000 articles in physics, 10000 in mathematics, and 1000 in computer science.
- Google Scholar - Scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources.
- Web of Knowledge / Web of Science - Multidisciplinary index.
Other Relevant Databases
For an overview of the Cycle of Scientific Communication click here: Scientific Communication.
For an outline of a Comprehensive Science Literature Review click here: Science Literature Review.
For tips on improving database search results click here: Improving Database Search Results.
Suggested databases:
- Academic Search Complete - Multidisciplinary, full-text database.
- Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts, 1969-2000 (520 X A859)
- Dissertations, Proquest Digital - Indexes doctoral dissertations.
- INSPIRE: High Energy Physics Database - A comprehensive database of particle physics literature.
- MathSciNet - Mathematics and statistics literature produced by the American Mathematical Society.
- Physics Abstracts, 1941-2000 (530 X S416)
- Science.gov - Comprehensive access to United States government science information and research results. Federated search results including fulltext research and technical reports from 14 U.S. federal agencies including over 40 databases, almost 2,000 web sites, and 200 millions pages of information. NOTE: WorldWideScience.org provides similar access to foreign agencies.
- SciFinder - Chemsitry literature and the Chemical Abstracts Service databases.
- Scirus - Science-specific Web search engine.
- Scitation - American Institute of Physics - Find physics, engineering, and general science journal articles, conference proceedings, and other special publications from the American Institute of Physics and other scientific societies and technical publishers. Search both Scitation and SPIN databases simultaneously for over 12 milliion articles.
Journals
Search specialized magazines and journals when looking for articles on your research topic. Some of the browsing examples to look at are: Advances in Physics; Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics; Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science; Applied Physics Letters; Astronomy and Astrophysics Review; Journal of Chemical Physics; Physical Review; Reviews of Modern Physics.
To Browse Titles or Journals by Subject, click here: Mansfield Library Journals.
Browse or Search Ejournal Packages (NOTE: Some allow keyword searching of article fulltext):
- American Institute of Physics Publications
- American Physical Society Journals
- Annual Reviews
- ScienceDirect
- SpringerLink
- Wiley
For an explanation of Popular vs. Scholarly (magazines versus research journals) click here: Popular vs. Scholarly.
For an explanation of Peer Review click here: Peer Review in 5 Minutes.
For an overview of placing article alerts click here: Article Alerts.
To evaluate, compare, and rank journals using citation data click on: Journal Citation Reports or Eigenfactor.
Book Catalogs
- The University of Montana Catalog - All time periods: Books, Media, Government Documents, etc.
- Springer Ebooks - Academic ebooks, Fulltext (with pdf), from 2005 - present, in Behavioral Science; Biomedical & Life Sciences; Business & Economics; Earth & Environmental Science; Humanities, Social Sciences & Law; Mathematics and Statistics; and Physics & Astronomy.
- WorldCat - All time periods; Library Union Catalog; Books, Media, Government Documents, etc.
- Google Book Search - Snippet and full-text views of books as they are scanned by the Google Book Project.
For search hints, take a look at: UM Catalog Help.
Main Dewey Decimal call numbers for browsing Physics materials in the Mansfield Library book stacks in the stacks or library catalog: 530-539.
Main Dewey Decimal call numbers for browsing Astronomy materials in the Mansfield Library book stacks or library catalog: 520-529.
For a detailed view of Dewey Decimal call numbers click on: Dewey Decimal Classification Summaries.
Dictionaries, Encyclopedias & Handbooks
- Access Science - Encyclopedia of Science & Technology Online.
- Astronomical Almanac Online
- Astronomical Information Center
- The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia (520.3 A859)
- Atomic Line List
- Concise Dictionary of Physics (530.03 D554)
- Constants and Equations
- Constellations
- Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (541.9 H236)
- Databases & On-line Data in Astronomy (025.0652 D232)
- Dictionary of Astronomy (520.3 I36d)
- Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Physics (530.3 E56)
- Encyclopedia of the Solar System (523.203 E5632)
- Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia
- Facts on File Dictionary of Astronomy (520.3 F142)
- Facts on File Dictionary of Physics (530.03 F1425)
- Famous Physicists
- Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
- Handbook of Nanostructured Materials and Nanotechnology (620.5 N173h)
- History of Astronomy: an Encyclopedia (520.3 H673)
- History of Space Exploration
- Index to Physical, Chemical and Other Property Data
- Information Sources in Physics (530 X I43)
- Materials Information Resource
- Messier Deep-Sky Catalog
- Millenium Star Atlas (523.80222 S61796m)
- NASA Atlas of the Solar System (523.20223 G794)
- NGC 2000.0: ...Catalogue and Index...of Nebulae and Star Clusters (523.80212 D778n)
- NASA / IPAC Extragalactic Database
- NGC Catlog Online, Interactive
- NIST Data Gateway
- Nobel Laureates in Physics
- Physical Reference Data
- The Physics Quick Reference Guide (530 C678p)
- Planetary Data System
- Q is for quantum: an Encyclopedia of Particle Physics (539.7203 G846q)
- Timeline: a Century of Physics
- USA in Space (387.80973 U11)
- The Virtual Physics Center
- Welcome to the Planets
- Wikipedia
Grants and Funding Sources
Web Sites - Search Engines
For hints on how to use search engines effectively, take a look at the following: Finding and Evaluating Web Sites.
Some suggested search engines are:
Web Sites - Meta Sites & Directories
- Astronomy (UCSB)
- Astronomy (Yahoo)
- Astronomy Teaching Materials (Merlot)
- Physics (WWW Virtual Library)
- Physical Sciences (Intute)
- Physics (Yahoo)
- Physics Education (BUBL)
- Physics Teaching Materials (Merlot)
- PhysNet
- Portal to the Universe
- Resources in Astronomy (SLA)
- Resources in Physics (SLA)
- Space Science Education Resource Index (NASA)
Citation Guides
Related Library Guides
Need help? |
Contact Info Barry Brown Science Librarian Head, Access & Collection Services Mansfield Library, The University of Montana 32 Campus Drive. #9936 Missoula, MT 59812-9936 406-243-6811; Office ML 327 Send Email Links: Profile & Guides |






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