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- Welcome & Reference Resources
- Get Books and Theses
- Get Articles
- Get Related Resources & Organizations
- Citing Sources
Welcome & Reference Resources
Welcome
The purpose of this guide is to recommend print and electronic resources for conducting research in Environmental Studies at Laurentian University. Click on the links on the left to see a variety of research resources that are available.
I am available to assist you in your research throughout the academic year. Please e-mail me to set up a date and time.
Library Instruction
To learn more about the library and its resources and how you can exploit them to your advantage, register in the Research Skills Tutorial on D2L. There are several sections in the tutorial with a short quiz at the end of each; at the end you will receive a Certificate of Completion. Many professors require you to take this tutorial--and once you finish it, you can save your certificate to reprint as often as necessary.
In the fall, the library hosts live Orientation tours as well as Zotero classes which you can sign up for at the library's entrance, and even after the formal schedule is finished, we are very happy to put on special classes at the request of at least 5 students. If you would like to arrange a special class, or you think your course would benefit from some in-class library instruction, please ask your professor to contact the librarian responsible for your faculty to set up some sessions.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia of Environment and Society. 2007. Online & Print.
Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. 2009. Print.
Encyclopedia of Global Change. 2002. Online & Print.
Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. 2002. Online.
Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change. 2012. Online.
Encyclopedia of World Environmental History. 2004. Print.
Topic: Environmental Science. AccessScience. Online
Liaison Librarian
Alain Lamothe
Email: alamothe@laurentian.ca
Phone: (705) 675-1151 x3304
Office: JND Library, room 30-253
Style manual
Making sense : a student's guide to research and writing. 5th ed. 2012. Print.
Created for students in Geography and Environmental Sciences. Recommended for writing essays and reports, as well as the documentation of sources.
More Help
In the library: The Library User Assistance Desk to your immediate left as you enter the library is a good place to start.
By email: Email the librarian responsible for your faculty for a reply during regular working hours.
By telephone: 705-675-4803, or toll free at 1-800-661-1058, ext. 2
By chat: With our "Ask the Library" service. For more information, see About Ask a Librarian.
For Distance Education students: Telephone: 1-800-661-1058, ext. 2 or email: bibdesmaraislib@laurentian.ca
Get Books and Theses
Why Use Books
- Books are extremely valuable resources when doing in-depth research on a topic! Authors have hundreds of pages to give detailed explanations and background information surrounding the various facets of your research interest.
- Using this kind of in-depth information will make it easier to form a research question or thesis statement (or even spark your inspiration).
- The bibliographies found in books are extensive, and will point you to other resources to add to your own resource list.
- Remember: scholars write journal articles under the assumption that you already have a relatively thorough understanding of the topic – this means that you will likely not find the foundational information needed for your topic in the beginning stages of your research process. In this sense, books become indispensable.
Searching the Catalogue
The catalogue is your primary tool for finding books in the J.N. Desmarais Library. You can also use the catalogue to find other materials, including government publications and journals (the journals themselves--not individual articles).
You can search the catalogue by:
- Keyword
- Title
- Author
- Subject
- Journal Title
When you know the book you are searching for, pick Title or Author; when you are searching for a topic, start with Keyword unless you know the exact Subject heading describing your topic.
More on searching the Catalogue is available in Module 5 of the Research Skills Tutorial in D2L.
WorldCat
With nearly 200 million records representing titles held by nearly 75,000 libraries you will find almost any book ever published in the English language in WorldCat.
Search Tips: Once you log-in, click on the Help Button: 
After your search, when you see a title that interests you, click on it and within the record you will see an image for "Get it @ Laurentian" :
When you click on that, you will be led to a menu which allows you to check for availability in Laurentian’s catalogue or order the item through ILL - Interlibrary Loan.
Note: While a free version of WorldCat is available online, we recommend that you use the university's subscription version of WorldCat because it offers the "Get it @ Laurentian" feature and more powerful search functionality.
E-Books
E-books are located in two different places:
- Some may be located by using the library’s catalogue and selecting "Electronic" item form. These records will have[electronic resource] in the title.
- E-books can also be located by searching in e-book collections. Searching in these collections is the same as searching in a database.
Theses
In addition to books, you may wish to search for book-length Master's theses or Ph.D dissertations.
Best bet: Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest).
If you are also looking for recent theses or dissertations produced by Laurentian graduates, check out our Research Repository - LUZONE. Note that since 2013, before graduation all Masters and Doctoral candidates MUST deposit their theses or dissertations in this repository.
Get Articles
Articles: Quick Tips
The databases to the right provide references to many scholarly journal articles and papers.
- Start off with keyword searches expressing your topic. Keyword searching crosses all fields.
- Use Search Operators such as "OR" and "AND" to expand or reduce your results.
- Review those items that look relevant, then, exploit the details within those entries to help lead you to other relevant articles.
- Pay attention to the subject headings (often called "descriptors") to see how the database describes your topic and use them to find related articles.
- Find other papers written by the same author; these will typically be on similar subjects.
- Follow citation trails: other articles that have cited this article will probably be on a related subject and will include citations to other articles of interest.
- For more Secrets of Searching a Database, review that section in How to Research Like a Librarian.
Peer Review
Peer Review is the evaluation of creative work by scholars in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality of the work in that field. In the case of peer reviewed journals, which are usually academic, peer review generally refers to the evaluation of the articles in them prior to publication.
The definition of peer review is covered in Module 1 of the Library Research Skills Tutorial.
To learn more, check out this definition of peer review. To ascertain whether a journal is peer reviewed, consult Ulrichsweb.
Getting Articles @ Laurentian
In any database, when you see an article that interests you, click on it and, unless the article is available within the database itself, within the record you will see an image that says "Get it @ Laurentian":
When you click on that, you will arrive at a menu which will lead to an electronic copy of the article you want, or, if not available electronically, to Laurentian's catalogue which will allow you to check if the article is available in print in the library, and if not, to a final link which allows you to order the item through Interlibrary loan.
Health and the Environment
Get Related Resources & Organizations
Multidisciplinary Resources
Quantitative Resources on Canada
Research Groups & Resources
Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS)
"Covers all aspects of northern Canada, including the earth sciences, the life sciences, engineering and technology, renewable and non-renewable resources, co-management, politics and government, economic and social conditions, land use, indigenous peoples, archaeology, history, art and literature."
Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain
Information on the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain as well as its archives, donated to the University of Waterloo Library in 1995.
Consortium on Regional Climatology and Adaptation to Climate Change (OURANOS)
Brings together 400 scientists and professionals from different disciplines who examine two principal themes: climate sciences and impacts & adaptation.
CRC for Water Sensitive Cities (Australia). Research group on issues of urban water management in Australia and abroad.
Great Lakes Environmental Assessment and Mapping (GLEAM) Project
Integrates spatial information for environmental management decisions in the Great Lakes. Published by the University of Michigan.
Network in Canadian History & Environment (NICHE)
"Brings together historians, geographers, and other researchers who study nature and humans in Canada's past. We offer a forum for the field, support collaboration among scholars, and ensure that this research is shared with policymakers, scientists, and the Canadian public."
"Brings together historians, geographers, and other researchers who study nature and humans in Canada's past. We offer a forum for the field, support collaboration among scholars, and ensure that this research is shared with policymakers, scientists, and the Canadian public."
International Organizations
The Encyclopedia of Earth.
Supported by the Environmental Information Coalition and the National Council for Science and the Environment.
Living Planet Report.
Published by the World Wildlife Fund.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Reports and technical papers on various international aspects of climate change.
Other Related Resources
African Periodical Literature Database
Annotated Bibliography of Canadian Demography
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest)
FRANCIS (International Humanities and Social Studies)
Cambridge Suite (alternative access)
Oxford Suite (alternative access)
Science Direct (alternative access)
Wiley Online Journals (alternative access)
Citing Sources
Why Cite?
We cite sources to acknowledge the work of others, as well as to avoid academic dishonesty or plagiarism.
The University of Toronto has made available a comprehensive set of guidelines on How NOT to Plagiarize, which deserves to be read by every student
Citation Management Tools
On August 15, 2015, Laurentian University ended its subscription to RefWorks. If you already have a RefWorks account, you should still be able to access it in order to export your citations.
To learn about alternative citation management tools, including free ones, please consult the Managing Citations research guide.
Citation Styles in Laurentian's Environmental Studies Program
At Laurentian, professors will specify the citation style to be used. In Environmental Studies, it is normally APA. To learn more about the APA and other citation styles, consult Laurentian's guide to citation styles.
Style Manual
Making sense : a student's guide to research and writing. 5th ed. 2012. Print.
Created for students in Geography and Environmental Sciences. Recommended for writing essays and reports, as well as the documentation of sources.