Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

Geography - Selected Resources

Dictionaries

  • The Columbia Gazatteer of the World REF G 103.5 C65 1998
  • A Dictionary of Geography REF G 63 .M39 2004
  • The Dictionary of Human Geography REF GF 4 .D52 1994
  • The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Geography: Places and Peoples of the World REF G 63 .H68 1997
  • Longman Dictionary of Geography: Human and Physical REF G 63 .C56 1985

Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Atlases

Encyclopedias can provide you with good background information on your topic. They usually also provide a list of references for further reading.

  • Encyclopedia of Human Geography REF GF4 .P58 2004
  • Guide to Places of the World REF G 63 .G85 1995
  • Modern Geography: An Encyclopedic Survey REF G63 .M57 1991
  • National Geographic Atlas of the World Atlas G 1021 .N38 2002 (in Atlas area on sixth floor)
  • The World Factbook REF G 122 .U56a and online at: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
  • World Geographical Encyclopedia REF G 63 .E5213 1995, volume 1-5
    Each volume of this source covers a specific continent or part of the world: Africa, The Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceanic and the polar regions. Included are geopolitical summaries, environmental information, socioeconomic data, and historical profiles for each specific country or area covered. Volume 5, Oceanic and the polar regions, provides a review of general geography as well as an index to all five volumes.

Locating Books

Select 'Library Catalog' from the Library Home Page. You can search by subject, keyword, author, or title. Most of the time you will want to do a keyword search. This means searching for the words pertinent to your topic. For example, when looking for books dealing with the effects of geography on cultures you would type in geography and cultures as your keyword search. Be sure to check the availability before going to retrieve the book - it may be checked out. If you need help, please ask at the Reference Desk on the 6th floor.

Research workstations are located on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors to the right of the elevators.

LINK+

Allows you to electronically request books not available in this library, from one of several participating libraries. Materials will be delivered to this library for you to check out. You can check with the Circulation Desk in 2-3 days to see if they have arrived. You can also check your record to see if the items have been received by clicking on 'My Library Account' under 'Library Services' from the Library home page

To access LINK+: Select 'Get Materials Not at this Library' from the Library Home Page. You can also conduct a 'LINK+' search while you are doing a search in the Catalog. Just click on the 'Search LINK+' button at the top of the screen.

You must have your Library PIN (Personal Identification Number) to use this service. This can be obtained from the Circulation Desk on the fourth floor.

Looking for Journal or Magazine Articles...Use Databases

The following databases are available via the web, select 'Database and Article Search' from the Library Home Page. Select the alphabet of the database you need and finally click on the database.

  • Academic Search Elite Indexes over 2,790 journals covering the social sciences, humanities, general science, education, multi-cultural studies, and more. Provides full text for over 1,530 of these titles. For scholarly materials make sure the peer reviewed box is checked. 1984 to present.
  • ScienceDirect Covers science, technology, medicine, business, and social science. Contains some full text.
  • Sociological Abstracts This database contains information from over 2,500 journals and selected books. Covers sociology, anthropology, behavioral science, political science, economics, and related disciplines. Contains some full text. 1963 to present.
  • WilsonWeb Provides abstracts and in some cases full text of articles in the field of sociology as well as other disciplines. When in this database select Omni, Readers Guide, and Social Sciences. For scholarly materials make sure the peer reviewed box is checked. 1982 to present.

Locating Periodicals (journals or magazines) after Using Databases

Locating journals or magazines when full text is not available online:
Some databases such as Academic Search Elite, WilsonWeb, and Sociological Abstracts provide the capability for checking further for full text: use the Find It! logo link. If you see a "Full text is available from" link, click the GO image link to access full text. Otherwise, select the "Check for holdings in Cal Poly Pomona's Library Catalog" option. This will automatically search for the journal title in our library catalog.

If the journal is not available from this library go back to the Find It! screen and select the "Request document from Document Delivery" option. This option will obtain articles not owned by us from another library. The requested items should be available in 2-3 days. For more information, see http://illiad.library.csupomona.edu/illiad/FAQ.html

Career Information

  • Opportunities in Social Science Careers Ref H 62.5 .U5M37 1997

For more resources see the library guide titled 'Career Information Sources', located with the handouts near the reference desk.

Web Sites

Research Guides for Selected Areas in the Social Sciences: Geography
http://www.csupomona.edu/~ecgibson
I created this site to help you with research at Cal Poly Pomona. Has links to relevant databases, discusses how to write a term paper, provide links to site dealing with citing references and more. Try it.

For Geography websites which I have reviewed and evaluated, visit our Internet Reference Site at http://www.csupomona.edu/~library/websites or from the library home page click on 'Websites by Subjects'. Select the A-Z link and click "G" to get to geography.

Specialized Reference Assistance

Appointments for specialized reference assistance are welcomed. Call 909-869-4351 to make an appointment to meet with me.

Research can be rewarding.

Emma C. Gibson
Social Sciences Librarian
(909) 869-4351
ecgibson@csupomona.edu

 

Library Web Team