Major Resources
- GeoRef Available via Elsevier/Engineering Village. Produced by the American Geological Institute, GeoRef is a comprehensive geoscience database containing over 3.2 million bibliographic records from more than 3,500 journals and other sources including: books, maps, government reports, conference papers, and theses and dissertations. Among the subjects covered in GeoRef are: environmental and engineering geology, hydrology, economic geology, geophysics, petrology, paleontology, marine geology and oceanography, and mineralogy. Coverage for the geology of North America is from 1669 to the present, and coverage dates back to 1933 for the rest of the world.
- Scopus Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature – scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Delivering a comprehensive overview of the world’s research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine social sciences and arts and humanities, Scopus features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research. From researchers pursuing scientific breakthroughs to academic institutions and government agencies evaluating research, Scopus is the abstract and indexing database of choice.
- Compendex (Engineering Village) Access to GEOBASE, GeoRef,and Compendex (Engineering village). This resource is an abstracting and indexing database, comprising coverage of >28M records of highly curated, globally published, scientific content, focused primarily on applied engineering research, literature and technical information.
- SciFinder-n SciFinder-n is a resource from the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). It is the most comprehensive discovery tool of chemical and bibliographic information covering scientific journals, patents, conference proceedings, and technical reports. Chemical literature (CAS) coverage is from 1907 to present. Biomedical literature (MEDLINE) is from 1950 to present. SciFinder-n requires users to create individual accounts for access.
- Science Direct Science Direct provides access to over 2500 scientific scholarly journals in the areas of biochemistry, biological sciences, business and management science, chemistry, clinical medicine, earth sciences, economics, engineering and technology, environmental science, materials science, mathematics and computer science, microbiology and immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and toxicology, physics, social sciences and more. Many articles are in full-text.
- EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier General database via EBSCO that covers a wide range of research resources, including core subjects such as applied science, art, education, humanities, law, social science, business, and technology. A good place to start research.
- Dimensions Dimensions is the most comprehensive research grants database which links grants to millions of resulting publications, clinical trials and patents.
- Google Scholar Search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all subjects. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Organizations
Professional Organizations
- The Geological Society of America
- American Geological Institute
- American Geophysical Union
- United States Geological Survey
- British Geological Survey
- International Union of Geological Sciences
- International Mineralogical Association
- Mineralogical Society of America
- International Association of Hydrogeologists
- Seismological Society of America
- Society of Petroleum Engineers
Regional Societies
AI Research Discovery Tools
- ResearchRabbit A citation-based literature mapping tool, Research Rabbit allows intuitive exploration of related research based on seed papers. It helps in building a network of papers, authors, and topics, offering a visual map of relevant literature. Best Use Case: Building a network of connected research and expanding your literature based on a few starting papers.
- Elicit An AI-driven tool that automates parts of the research workflow, particularly literature reviews. Elicit helps you find and summarize relevant papers based on specific research questions, presenting key insights in an easy-to-use format. Best Use Case: Streamlining literature reviews and organizing research insights, especially for answering specific research questions.
- Inciteful A tool that enhances literature discovery by creating a visual map of research papers, showing connections based on citations and co-authorship. Inciteful allows researchers to track down relevant literature efficiently. Best Use Case: Discovering new research and understanding the connections between papers in a specific field.
- Semantic Scholar A free AI-powered research tool from the Allen Institute for AI, Semantic Scholar enhances scientific literature searches and features the Semantic Reader, which makes articles more accessible by providing contextualized content. Best Use Case: Comprehensive literature searches and reading research articles with contextualized insights.
- Open Knowledge Maps It creates a visual overview of research topics, clustering related literature in a subject area. By drawing from resources like PubMed and BASE, it allows users to explore and understand large bodies of information visually. Best Use Case: Navigating and visually exploring the key areas of a research topic.
- Connected Papers A unique visual tool that shows the connections between research papers, helping users explore how papers are related based on citations. It’s excellent for identifying foundational or derivative works. Best Use Case: Exploring related work and identifying influential papers within a particular research area.
- LitMaps Tracks newly published literature related to a paper or topic, helping researchers stay up-to-date in rapidly advancing fields. Best Use Case: Tracking new research that cites or connects to a key seed paper.
- Keenious Analyzes written text to suggest relevant literature, making it easy to find research that aligns with your existing writing or project. Best Use Case: Complementing existing written research by discovering related literature.
- SciSpace Offers an AI-powered research assistant that helps users interact with scientific PDFs, summarizing key points and generating accurate citations. Best Use Case: Conducting literature reviews, summarizing PDFs, and generating citations efficiently.
AI research discovery tools are useful for exploratory searches and visualizing topic connections, while academic resources like Scopus are better suited for in-depth research requiring comprehensive data and rigorous peer-reviewed articles.
Laptop/Device Checkout
Students can checkout laptops and other devices from the Center for Equitable Digital Access (Library North 2nd Floor) and the Student Genius Center (Library North 1st Floor)
Open Access Agreements (publish at no cost)
ACM Publications (until Dec. 2025)
ACS Publications (until Dec. 2025)
Cambridge University Press (until Dec. 2025)
Elsevier (until Dec. 2027)
IOPScience (until Dec. 2025)
Oxford University Press (until Dec. 2028)
STEM Research Guides
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Research guide for chemistry
Useful Links
- Free software
- EndNote LOGIN
- Writing Center
- University Learning Center
- Interlibrary Loan Services
- Renew Books
- Book paging
- Does the library have textbooks?
- Connecting from home (VPN)
- Course Reserves
- Streaming videos
- INNOVATION CENTER
- Makerspaces
- Exhibits in the Library
- GRADUATE STUDIES CENTER (PLN-121)
- Student funding, research, conference opportunities
- CAREER CENTER
- Student Technology Services
- Student Support Resources
- ALUMNI MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
- Intramural Funding Opportunities
(Faculty - e.g., free poster, OA fund, travel grants, etc.) - Visitor parking (daily parking permit or ParkMobile app).
STEM Librarian
Study Space Reservation
- Study space reservation rooms (Pollak Library North and South)
- Study space reservation for smart group study rooms (PLN-111, 112, 113; PLN-211, 212, 213, 214; PLN-311, 312)
- Study space reservation for larger rooms (PLN-140, PLS-360, PLN-130).
- Study space reservation for the Innovation/Makerspace (PLN-215)
Other areas of interest:
CSUF Startup Incubator