Students, researchers, and professionals in natural resources frequently need to consult research and professional literature in their discipline.. This often involves Searching the Scientific Literature and the social sciences literature to find desired information. This research guide provides basic advice for effectively and efficiently conducting a literature search and lists appropriate print and internet research tools--library catalogs, indexes and reference resources--that can be utilized in identifying needed information.

Research tools for identifying literature include:

• Library Catalogs. Library catalogs are generally used to locate monographic (book) materials. These may be either "primary" publications--conference proceedings, technical reports, theses, and dissertations;--or "secondary" publications--scholarly or popular textbooks, treatises, handbooks, and other types of compacted publications derived from the "primary" literature. See OWL 2: HSU and Other Library Catalogs and Biological Searching in Library Catalogs for guidance in searching the HSU Library Catalog and Other Libraries.

• Indexes. Indexes provide subject, taxonomic, geographic, and author access to "primary" research literature, i.e., journals, monographic series, technical reports, conference papers, and government documents. See NRPI Indexes for available indexes.

• Current Awareness Sources. Alerting services allow one to keep current about new literature and developments through regular, periodic email notices. See Current Awareness in the Sciences for services available through the HSU Library or for free on the Internet.

• Reference Resources. Reference resources--dictionaries, directories, handbooks, statisictical compilations--serve a variety of purposes. They can to used to find factual information; or can be used as part of a literature search strategy to provide background information on a topic and to identify important publications in the discipline. Many can be used as starting points which lead to original research appearing in the "primary" literature. The following guides list reference resources (both print and Internet) in areas of interest to NRPI:
  • Public Land Management Reference Resources
  • Planning Reference Resources
  • Environmental/Natural Resources Law
  • Environmental Impact Assessment Reports
  • Interpretation Reference Resources
  • Natural Resources Agency Government Documents and Reports
  • Recreation Reference Resources
  • Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Information Resources
  • Northwestern California/Klamath Bioregion Demographic, Social and Economic Statistics
  • Northwestern California/Klamath Bioregion Environment Information Sources

As the initial step in conducting a literature search a "search strategy" should be developed which clarifies the type and amount of information desired and logically organizes your search. Searching the Scientific Literature discusses the two basic approaches for searching the scientific literature--subject searching and citation searching.