Resources in the Atmospheric Sciences

Schwerdtfeger Library, Space Science and Engineering Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

 

The Library Catalog - MadCat

To find books, government reports, journal titles and their locations on campus: use MadCat.  You may view your library record, view course reserves, e-mail or print search results, place interlibrary loan requests.  You will not find journal articles or the contents of books (specific chapters) listed in MadCat -- find them in an appropriate database, then search for their titles in MadCat.

Most of the books and reports from the Schwerdtfeger Library's collection can be found in MadCat, though not all. If you are looking for a specific title and are unable to find it in MadCat, contact the Library and we will check our holdings for you. Also, periodicals held by the Schwerdtfeger Library are not in MadCat.

For additional help, consult these guides:

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Finding Journal Articles

The UW-Madison Libraries have licensed many databases for your use. Those containing literature related to the atmospheric sciences are selectively listed below. Once you find specific articles you'd like to read, search for the journal titles in MadCat to determine which libraries on campus have them.

Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts, July 1974 - to date (updated monthly).
Coverage: The MGA database covers meteorology, climatology, physical oceanography, hydrology, glaciology, remote sensing, atmospheric chemistry and physics. The database indexes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, technical reports. You'll find WMO reports, NOAA reports, chapters from books, conference proceedings, etc. Includes abstracts.
Access: Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.) **Consult the print version of Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts when searching pre-1974.

Web of Science, 1982 - to date (updated weekly)
Coverage: The Web of Science is a combination of three databases -- you should select Science Citation Index Expanded.  It indexes peer-reviewed journal literature -- you will not find government reports, dissertations, etc., only peer-reviewed journal literature. It is known for its meticulous indexing.  Use Science Citation Index to do cited reference searching -- to find out who cited a particular author or paper, how many times it was cited, and link to complete list of the cited references.  You can also do general subject or author searching. Includes abstracts.
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.) **Consult Science Citation Index in print when searching pre-1981.

NTIS Bibliographic Index, 1983 - to date (updated quarterly)
**Under "Change" database, check to make sure that NTIS is selected.
Coverage: The National Technical Information Service contains descriptions of U.S. government-sponsored, science and technology research from agencies such as DOD, DOE, DOT, EPA, and NASA. It covers work in the fields of astronomy, atmospheric science, biotechnology, computers, energy, engineering, environment, etc.  You'll find reports on contracts and grants, technical memoranda, technical reports, dissertations, etc. Use the "search builder" and "indexes." Includes abstracts.
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)
**Consult Government Reports Announcements and Index in print when searching pre-1983.

INSPEC, 1969 - to date (updated monthly)
**Under "Change" database, check to make sure that INSPEC is selected.
Coverage: INSPEC (Information Services for the Physics and Engineering Communities) covers the fields of physics, electrical engineering, electronics, telecommunications, computers, control technology and information technology. You'll find journal articles, conference papers, significant books, technical reports and dissertations. Includes abstracts. Use the "search builder" and "indexes."
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)
**Consult Computer and Control Abstracts, Science Abstracts Series A:  Physics Abstracts and Science Abstracts Series B: Electrical and Electronics Abstracts in print when searching pre-1969.

GEOREF, 1785 - to date (updated bimonthly)
**Under "Change" database, check to make sure that GEOREF is selected.
Coverage: GEOREF, produced by the American Geological Institute, indexes the earth sciences literature of the world. In it, you'll find journal articles, conference papers, maps, reports, guidebooks, theses and some monographs.  Includes some abstracts.  Use the "search builder" and "indexes."
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)

OCEANIC ABSTRACTS, 1984 – to date (updated monthly)
Coverage:  Oceanic Abstracts is the premier database for marine resources, abstracting nearly 500 journals. This database covers marine biology and physical oceanography, fisheries, aquaculture, non-living resources, meteorology and geology, plus environmental, technological, and legislative topics. Major areas of subject coverage include biological oceanography, ecology, physical and chemical oceanography, marine geology, geophysics, geochemistry, marine pollution, nonliving marine resources, navigation and communications, maritime law, desalination, ships, shipping, marine biology.
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)

For additional help, consult these guides:

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Electronic Journals

Electronic Journals - Atmospheric and Space Science
A list of full-text, electronic journals to which the campus libraries have provided licensed access. Includes link to entire campus e-journal list.

Current Contents
A weekly compilation of the tables-of-contents of journals in meteorology and related fields. Links to full-text articles are provided where licensing allows.  Available only to the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the Space Science and Engineering Center.

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Finding Government Documents

NTIS Bibliographic Index, 1983 - to date (updated quarterly)
**Under "Change" database, check to make sure that NTIS is selected.
Coverage: The National Technical Information Service contains descriptions of U.S. government-sponsored, science and technology research from agencies such as DOD, DOE, DOT, EPA, and NASA. It covers work in the fields of astronomy, atmospheric science, biotechnology, computers, energy, engineering, environment, etc.  You'll find reports on contracts and grants, technical memoranda, technical reports, dissertations, etc. Use the "search builder" and "indexes." Includes abstracts.
Access:  Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)
**Consult Government Reports Announcements and Index in print when searching pre-1983.

GrayLIT Network: a science portal of technical reports, 1960 - to date (updates vary)
Coverage: "The GrayLIT Network makes the gray literature of U.S. Federal Agencies easily accessible over the Internet. It taps into the search engines of distributed gray literature collections, enabling the user to find information without first having to know the sponsoring agency. The U.S. Interagency Gray Literature Working Group, "Gray Information Functional Plan," 18 January 1995, defines gray literature as "foreign or domestic open source material that usually is available through specialized channels and may not enter normal channels or systems of publication, distribution, bibliographic control, or acquisition by booksellers or subscription agents." Developed by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), in collaboration with Department of Defense (DOE), Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the GrayLIT Network is a portal for technical report information generated through federally funded research and development projects. Many of the documents are available in full-text PDF files."
Access: Open to everyone.

DOE Information Bridge, 1996 - to date (updated daily)
Coverage: "The DOE Information Bridge provides access to Department of Energy research and development reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics. It includes the full-text and bibliographic records of Department of Energy-sponsored report literature, more than 30,000 reports."
Access: Open to everyone.

NODIS: NASA Online Directives Information System
Access: Open to everyone.

NASA CASI Technical Report Server, 1915 - date (updated weekly)
Coverage: "The CASI TRS (Center for Information Technical Report Server) database contains more than 2.2 million citations and abstracts for publicly available documents, journal articles, and conference proceedings. It is part of the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS), which provides recent full-text reports produced by the NASA centers. It also includes a selected portion of the information from the NASA RECONplus system, which covers the Scientific and Technical Reports (STAR file series), the Open Literature file series of journal articles and conference papers, as well as citations from the NACA collection."
Access: Open to everyone.

Air Force Master Catalog
Access: Open to everyone.

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Finding Dissertations

The following databases are good places to start when searching for dissertations. Once you find the information for the dissertation you need, contact the library staff, who can help you to obtain a paper or, in some instances, an electronic copy of the work.

Proquest Digital Dissertations, 1861 - to date
Coverage: Proquest Digital Dissertations includes doctoral dissertations in all subject areas completed at U.S. accredited institutions. Some masters theses and foreign language dissertations are also included. Citations for dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Citations for master's theses from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. Most dissertations from 1997 forward include 24-page previews. Full text (PDF files) of UW-Madison dissertations from 1997 forward are available to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff free of charge. Orders for complete dissertations may be placed online, but check MadCat first to see if they are owned on campus. Free interlibrary loan may also be a possibility.
Access: Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)

Current Research, 1892 - to date
Coverage: Current Research indexes all dissertations completed at UW-Madison that are in the ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. Dissertations produced after 1996 have 24-page previews, and one can download the full text of those dissertations. Masters theses are not included.
Access: Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)

Index to Theses with Abstracts Accepted for Higher Degrees by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland, 1970 - to date (updated bimonthly)
Coverage: This is the primary index to dissertations submitted a for higher degree in United Kingdom and Irish universities. Abstracts are included.
Access: Licensed access for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff (from libraries, labs, offices, etc.)

CRL Foreign Doctoral Dissertations, (no longer updated)
Coverage: This database contains records for over 20,000 doctoral dissertations in the Center for Research Libraries collection, from institutions in countries other than the United States and Canada. Records consist of basic bibliographic information (author, title, institution, country, etc.); no abstracts are included.
Access: Access is open to everyone.

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Reference Resources - Print and Electronic

Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology
One of the largest collected reference works on the vocabulary of science. Edited by: Christopher Morris. San Diego: Academic Press, 1992. Q123 A33 1992

All That JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources, Current (updates vary)
All That JAS is a categorized registry of 123 Web resources that list or provide access to the full title of journal abbreviations or other types of abbreviated publication titles (example: conference proceedings titles). Selected online public access catalogs that offer abbreviated title searching have also been included. In addition, All That JAS includes select lists and directories that provide access to the unabbreviated titles of serial publications. This resource was developed by the Iowa State University Library and is open to everyone.

American Meteorological Society journal abbreviations can be found in Appendix D of their Author's Guide. Appendix D is a list of commonly cited journals and the accepted abbreviation form for each title. A more complete listing of journal abbreviations is available in the Chemical Abstracts Core Journals which serves as the standard reference for AMS publications for any journal not listed in appendix . A complete guide to reference formats is provided in the AMS Guidelines for Preparing References.

Curricula 2000 in the Atmospheric, Oceanic, Hydrologic, and Related Sciences: Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada.
A joint publication of the American Meteorological Society and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
Indices include: alphabetical index of universities and colleges, by degree offered, by state and by UCAR membership.  University/college listings include information on degree and course offerings, faculty research interests, titles of theses and dissertations completed, types of financial support available, titles and amounts of research grants and contracts in effect.

Copyright Law and Graduate Research by Kenneth Crews
"Although this guide focuses on doctoral dissertations, its principles extend as well to master's theses and many other works. Much of this work also examines the fundamentals of copyright; the information presented here ought to be useful for seasoned researchers needing a succinct overview or refresher as they prepare new works from journal articles to multimedia projects."

Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment
This reference work, written by the Atmosphere, Climate & Environment Information Programme of Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), contains encyclopedic entries on a range of atmospheric issues including air quality, acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion.

Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. Edited by Stephen H. Schneider. New York, Oxford University Press, 1996. 2 volumes. QC/854/E523/1996/REF

Glossary of Meteorology.  Edited by Ralph E. Huschke.  Boston, American Meteorological Society, 1959  QC/854/G55/1959/REF.
"The Glossary purports to define every important meteorological term likely to be found in the literature today..."  It is currently under revision and is scheduled for release in 2000.

International Meteorological Vocabulary. 2nd edition. Geneva, World Meteorological Organization, 1992. WMO No.182/REF

Resources for Authors Publishing in AMS Journals, American Meteorological Society
Includes: Journal editors' homepages, AMS Guidelines for Preparing References, Authors' Guide, Copyright policy and forms, Sample letter asking permission to use figures, tables, etc.

Science Next Wave
Career Resources for Scientists --  NextWave, the weekly on-line publication devoted to scientific training and career development, provides global news, profiles of emerging careers, and advice from experts and role models drawn from your international scientific community.
Includes Science Magazine.

SciTech Reference Plus (computer file)
Complete bibliographic information on scitech books and serials, biographical data on science professionals, and corporate profiles of research and business facilities.
Access: Only available on computers in campus libraries.

Weather America:  A Thirty-Year Summary of Statistical Weather Data & Rankings. Edited by David Garoogian.  2nd edition. Lakeville, CT, Grey House Publishing, 2001. QC/983/W385/2000/REF.
Includes: National weather stations, cooperative weather stations, major storm events, weather rankings, maps, state climate descriptions, weather stations descriptions, weather information resources.

Wisconsin Weather - Madison-Area Focus
Wisconsin Weather is a compilation of academic and government meteorological and climatological sites related to weather events in Wisconsin, particularly the Madison area. The topics include: current conditions, forecasts, severe weather, radar and satellite images, climate summaries, and tropical information. It also lists statewide and worldwide resources.

WWW Virtual Library - Meteorology
Extensive sources of data, weather reports, maps and images are for educational, research, and other NON-COMMERCIAL use only.

WWW Virtual Library - Oceanography
Again, information categorized by subject, including agencies listed by geographical location, conferences, societies, electronic publications, and related resources.

WWW Virtual Library - Remote Sensing
Resources in remotes sensing, including organizations, societies, conferences, data, GIS, publications, and other sources related to remote sensing.

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