Natural disasters ATOC 185 / EPSC 185

On this page

• Where to Find Background Information
• Where to Find References to Journal Articles
• Search Tips
• How to Locate Journal Articles or Books
• Selected Internet Sites
• Writing and Referencing Your Paper

Where to Find Background Information

If you are not sure what your topic is all about, look it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia. These reference books are available online or located in print on the main level of the Schulich Library in room 217.

Where to Find References to Journal Articles

Recommended databases:

• Web of Science - multidisciplinary, includes who has cited an article
• Scopus - multidisciplinary, includes who has cited an article

Other databases to try:

• GeoRef - comprehensive geoscience database, produced by the American Geological Institute. Includes reports, maps, theses, conference presentations.
• Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management Database - covers environmental sciences (4000 sources of information)
• Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts - covers over 600 important international publications, including proceedings, reviews and annuals
• GEOBASE - covers physical and human geography, geology and ecology
• American Meteorological Society Journals Online - covers journals published by the American Meteorological Society
• GeoScienceWorld - full text database of the journals published by leading geoscience societies

Search Tips

How to Locate Journal Articles or Books

Look for the Find It @ button when searching databases.  Click on this button to link to our catalogue.

Search the McGill Library Catalogue to find journals or books, whether in print or electronic format.

• For Journals: Choose "Journal Title begins with..." and enter the title of the journal in which the article is published.  
• For Books: Choose "Title begins with..." and enter the title of the book you are interested in.

How to Obtain Materials Not Available at McGill

McGill students and staff may order articles and books that are not available at McGill using COLOMBO.  Please do not wait until it is too late for us to help you with COLOMBO.

Selected Internet Sites

• Dartmouth Flood Observatory
• CAMEL: Climate, Adaptation, Mitigation, e-Learning
• Earthquake Hazards Program (U.S. Geological Survey)
• El Nino Theme Page (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923
• How Volcanoes Work (San Diego State University)
• Hurricanes (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster December 2004: a selected guide to information (University at Buffalo Libraries)
• Landslide Hazards Program (U.S. Geological Survey)
• NASA’s Hurricane Resource Page
• National Geophysical Data Center (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• Natural Disaster and Extreme Weather Searchable Information Center (ebrary)

Writing and Referencing Your Paper

Writing tools & style guides

• Citing Sources in APA (Purdue University), example of an author-date style
• The Chicago Manual of Style, example of an author-date style
• Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide
• Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue University)
• Routes of Writing (McGill University)

EndNote citation software

• You can download EndNote citation management software for free. With this software you can get references directly from many databases, such as Web of Science.
• EndNote Web is now available at McGill University. To access EndNote Web you need to create a personal account. You may sign up for an account with your McGill email address.
• There are library workshops given on how to use this software effectively.