Geography & Environmental Management: Get Started

This guide lists library services and resources relevant to the studies and research of students and faculty in the Department of Geography & Environmental Management.

Find articles lists databases for specific topics, such as:

• climate change
• arctic mountains and glaciers
• agriculture
• aviation
• geographic information systems (GIS)
• hydrology
• remote sensing imagery
• soil health, wetlands

A brief overview of databases on:

• how to navigate
• what databases contain
• some of the functions and benefits

Find books has information on:

• direct link to search the library catalogue
• how can I get my books during COVID-19?
• how can I find my books?
• library catalogue search function
• placing holds and recalls
• not in the catalogue?
• should we order a copy?
• on-campus book return bins locations
• new books
• core texts for the discipline
• eReference material
• eBooks and eBook collections
• questions? Contact me

More resources:

• library guides
  • essential
  • subject specific
  • topic specific
  • for advanced library users
• unique collections
  • data; statistics
  • films
  • Geospatial Centre
  • Special Collections & Archives (SC&A)
    • Digital library
    • Special Collections / Rare books
• publications of selected centres and institutes
  • Heritage Resources Centre
  • Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3)
  • Southwestern Ontario Research Data Centre (SWORDC)
  • Water Institute
  • Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation (WICI)
  • Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation (WISIR)
  • Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE)

The Research toolkit provides an overview of the research process and tips to help with:

• academic writing, essays and research papers
• help with references, citing your work
• bibliometric tools
• more than technical skills, soft skills
• time management tips
• the research process
• saving your search strategy
• setting up alerts
• publishing your work?
• need funding?

Library services for Winter 2022     

Access to the electronic resources requires your WatIAM credentials. You can login before you start your search from the library's homepage using the 'Get access from anywhere' link, located in the left navigation, or when the system prompts you to enter your credentials. If, for any reason, you encounter any difficulties with gaining access, please contact me directly or library staff through our Ask us service to resolve the issue.  

The 2021 Environmental Sustainability Report, prepared by the President's Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability

Dig into this freely available textbook: 
Digging into Canadian Soils: An introduction to soil science

NEW and TRIAL DATABASES

The Europa World Plus is a new addition to our databases webpage.

• Europa World Plus 
  • Covers political, historical, and economic information on countries, regions, and organizations.
  • Coverage: current

For a limited time we have access to the following database as a trial

• SciFinder-n until January 31, 2022

Omni: your library catalogue

The library catalogue, Omni, is a dynamic platform that provides more functionality, more options, and additional academic library catalogues to browse and search for information. The redesign makes navigation more intuitive, detailed descriptions provide more context, all of which makes for a more rewarding experience. Searching in the advanced search option is recommended for optimum results.

Current examples of research topics:

• Agent based modelling
• Agriculture and climate change
• Aviation education, safety, management systems
• Biogeochemical cycles in systems 
• Canadian Arctic and changes in the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere
• Climate change impacts on tourism and recreation
• Climate control
• Climate rescue data
• Climate modelling
• Climate variability and change
• Drought management
• Environmental change and local economic development
• Environmental modelling and visualization
• Geographic information systems
• Geospatial technology development
• Glacier hydrology and ice dynamics
• Global coal trade
• Global warming
• Greenhouse gas reduction
• Hydrology and hydrogeology of coastal, maritime, and boreal peatlands
• Ice sheets and valley glaciers
• Land use, land management, and the carbon cycle
• Modeling and simulation on climate variables such as ice growth and heat transfer
• Natural resources management
• Peatland restoration
• Protected areas and biodiversity conservation
• Remote sensing of the cryosphere
• Remote sensing of glaciers and sea ice, oceans (oil spills)
• River ecology and restoration
• Road maintenance and safety
• Satellite remote sensing and urban mapping
• Soil as influenced by hydrologic and climatic conditions
• Spatial data analysis
• Sustainable transportation
• Tropical coral and climate change
• Weather and society
• Wetland ecosystems investigations of ecology, hydrology, biogeochemical, and soil properties