Environment, Resources and Sustainability: Get started

This guide will help students and faculty in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability navigate the library to meet their learning and research needs by:

• showcase relevant databases to find articles for your subject
• provide links to Reference materials, ebooks, additional resources
• provide examples for citing different types of information
• identify tools that support academic goals and objectives

There are five additional tabs to provide assistance with navigation:

Find articles lists databases for specific topics, such as:

• climate change, sustainability
• governance of aquatic systems, coastal regions
• ecological restoration and rehabilitation
• animal populations and landscape genetics
• agricultural biotechnology
• global environmental politics and food security
• water resource management, governance, policy
• environmental politics, democratic theories, security
• social dimensions of invasive biology
• agroecology, agroforestry, soil ecosystems
• enchantment, ontological and behavioural change
• ecological processes and patterns in long-term human settlements

A brief overview of databases on:

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

Find books has information on:

• how to search the library catalogue
• how can I find my books?
• library catalogue search function
• placing holds and recalls
• if an item is not in the catalogue
• on-campus book return bins locations
• new books
• core texts for the discipline
• eReference materials
• eBooks and eBook collections

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 centers 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

Access to the electronic resources requires your WatIAM credentials. The system will prompt you to login If you encounter any difficulties with gaining access, please contact a library staff member directly through the  Ask us chat and email service. 

Omni, the library catalogue

Omni, the library catalogue is a dynamic platform that provides more functionality, well designed options, clear navigation signs and detailed descriptors. Eighteen additional university library catalogues are included to provide a full spectrum of items available. Enhanced interlibrary loan service contributes to provide a more rewarding experience as you browse and search for information.

Current examples of research topics:

• Adaptive and collaborative governance in coastal and marine systems
• Aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology
• Biogeography and forest ecology
• Coastal conservation and social-ecological systems
• Cumulative effects assessment
• Community-based/participatory research
• Ecological restoration, resilience and conservation
• Ecology and policy of parks and protected areas
• Energy governance and policy
• Environmental assessment law and process reform
• Environmental monitoring
• Environmental politics and non-rational drivers of behaviour
• First Nations, adaptive capacity, resilience and climate change
• Gender and environmental governance
• Global and agricultural governance
• Global change ecology
• Historical ecology
• Human dimensions of environmental change
• Identity, spirituality and ritual in water decisions
• Landscape genetics
• Local and sustainable agriculture in Arctic Indigenous communities
• Maker culture and consumer society
• Managing complex social-ecological systems in peri-urban and remote First Nations communities
• Pollination and invasive species ecology
• Re-conceptualizing conservation, parks and invasive species for the Anthropocene
• Social dimensions of biodiversity conservation and climate change
• Social innovation and complex social-ecological systems
• Social movements, environmental/climate justice, just transition
• Social-psychological dimensions of water decisions
• Soil health, biochar, carbon sequestration
• Sustainability assessment principles and applications
• Sustainable agriculture and climate change resilience
• Sustainable energy strategies
• Urban political ecology and green economic development
• Water and environmental governance
• Water resources management
• Water scarcity, drought and efficiency mechanisms
• Wildlife ecology and management