Theses & Dissertations
Dissertations are the product of the academic research done to obtain a Ph.D. Degree. A thesis is the equivalent product to obtain a Master's Degree. Check with your instructor to see if these are acceptable sources for your research.
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Open Access Theses & Dissertations (OATD) This link opens in a new window
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Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window
Why Use Articles?
Articles provide focused discussions on specific topics. Because they are published more quickly and more frequently than books you will usually find the most recent works on a topic in the forms of articles.
Scholarly articles will always have citations to the author's sources in the form of footnotes, end notes, or a bibliography (or a combination of these). Peer reviewed articles are scholarly articles that were reviewed by experts in a field before being selected for publication.
Finding Full Text
Some of our databases include full text, but for others you have to follow links to another source to find digital copies of the articles.
If you find a citation in a database that does not include the full text, look for a button that says "Get it at UC". That button will help you determine if we have that item, either online or in print, at UCSB. If you do not find it, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.
Search Tips
When keyword searching, use key words that best describe your topic. The objective is to get a small group of relevant records. What words or phrases best describe your topic?
Try: AND, OR, NOT
- AND -- volcano AND eruption
- This search will retrieve records that have both words.
- OR -- (magma OR lava) and volcano
- This search will retrieve records that have either the word "magma" or the word "lava", and also have the word volcano
- NOT-- (earthquake and predicition) NOT volcano
- This search will retrieve records that have both the words "earthquake" and "prediction", but will omit any that have the word "volcano"
- "ash cloud"
asterisks: to find variations...
- volcan* = volcano, volcanoes, volcanic, volcanism.
- pal*eontology retrieves paleontology or palaeontology.
parentheses: for searches like this:
- "volcanic eruption" AND (lava OR ash OR gas)
- How it works: the database will give you anything that has BOTH "volcanic eruption" AND ALSO one of the the words in the parentheses.
question marks: for different spellings as well as singular and plural versions of a word
- gr?y = grey and gray
Most Recommended Databases
Find Articles, Citations, Reviews, and more in these Indexes and Databases:
NOTE: Databases require a UCSBnet ID and password to access when off campus.
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GeoRef This link opens in a new windowThe best database for geology and Earth science
North American geology: 1785 to present
World geology: 1933-present
Includes citations to articles, maps, theses and dissertations, government publications, books, and reports
Much more complete coverage of the topic than Web of Science -
GeoScienceWorld (GSW)
Includes journals published by scholarly societies in the geosciences. Our access includes all journal titles, plus the book series from the Geological Society of America. GSW also includes 4.5 million records from the GeoRef database, allowing for additional discovery of information in the field.
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Web of Science This link opens in a new window(1945+)
Science Citation Index online -- great database for citation searching.
Note: You should also search in GeoRef. It has a much broader coverage of geological and Earth sciences. -
Earthquake Engineering Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThe epicenter for research on earthquakes
You should also search GeoRef when researching in this area
Other Useful Databases
NOTE: Databases require a UCSBnet ID and password to access when off campus.
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Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides basic articles (popular and some scholarly) on all subjects including geological research.
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Compendex (via Engineering Village) This link opens in a new windowEngineering database, covers remote sensing applications.
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Environmental Science Index This link opens in a new windowCovers technical and scientific literature on water-related topics.
UCSB E-Journals
If you are looking for a specific journal online, try our e-journals list. Links to our subscriptions for major collections that include geological journals are also included below.
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Journal SearchSearch our journals list to see if we have the journal you need.
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USGS Publications Warehouse This link opens in a new window