LibGuides: Geology: Web Resources

There are many excellent open web resources that you may wish to use to supplement the Library's digital and physical resources. These include open-access journals, freely available databases, organizations' websites, and more. Explore the links below to help find and utilize these sources.

Open Access or Government Databases

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Use the USGS publication finder to find maps, reports, and more. USGS also has real-time data and datasets available.
Utah Geological Survey
A division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources which provides scientific information about Utah's geology, resources, and hazards. Search their interactive database of geologic maps and other publications.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
NTRS provides public access to NASA's current and historical technical literature and engineering results. It includes conference proceedings, journal articles, technical reports, oral/visual presentations, and more.
OSTI.gov
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information includes science, technology, and engineering research and development results. It has over 70 years of information with 3 million records.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Open-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles for multiple disciplines
National Technical Reports Library (NTRL)
NTRL contains federally-funded scientific, technical, engineering and business information. Make sure to select "only documents with full text." It includes technical reports, conference proceedings, journal articles, patents, and more.

Search for articles using GeoScienceWorld

GeoScienceWorld is a well-known database for geosciences articles. It's GeoRef "Advanced Search" feature allows users to search using map coordinates. Please note that the SLCC Library does not provide access to GeoScienceWorld content. However, you can use it to find some freely accessible content.

Search GeoScienceWorld

Finding Free Content on GeoScienceWorld

Do your search using the GeoScienceWorld search box.
Locate the filters on the left of the search results list.
- For devices with a vertical view (like a smart phone), select "Modify your search" to open the filters.
Scroll to the very end of the filters until you see "Availability."
Select either "Open Access" or "Free."

Requesting Articles Not Freely Available on GeoScienceWorld

Articles in GeoScienceWorld that are marked with the shopping cart icon will not be freely available.

If you would like the article, follow these steps.

Copy the article's title, and search for it through the main search box on the Library's homepage.
- This will check if the Library has the article available through a different database.
If the article is not found, then request it through inter-library loan (ILL).
- ILL allows you to obtain articles from other libraries.
- Start by creating a free account by choosing "First Time Users."
- Then fill out the request form for the GeoScienceWorld article you'd like to get.

You can also contact the Science, Mathematics and Engineering liaison librarian Amy Scheelke at Amy.Scheelke@slcc.edu.

Additional Websites

UGS GeoSights
Find areas of geologic interest in Utah along with an overview of their geology
Geology and Ecology of National Parks
Part of the USGS, this site has photographic tours of many of the nation's parks. Check out the "Four Corners Region" park tours featuring two of Utah's parks.
Volcano Hazards Program
Valuable information on current volcano activity from the USGS.
National Snow & Ice Data Center
Find research, news, and data sets on topics including soil moisture, snow conditions in the Western U.S., Arctic sea ice, and more.
Science.gov
Content provided by 13 federal agencies on a wide variety of scientific subjects.
Mindat.org
"Built and maintained by a worldwide community of experts, Mindat.org is the world's largest open database of minerals, rocks, meteorites and the localities they come from."
TRAIL
The Technical Report Archive & Image Library (TRAIL) identifies, acquires, catalogs, digitizes and provides unrestricted access to U.S. government agency technical reports that are physically disappearing from libraries.
Alphabetic Mineral Reference
Hosted by Rausser College of Natural Resources, use this A-Z list to find general information about minerals.
Natural History Museum of Utah
Use the Museum's website for general information if you visit it for the Geology Field Trip assignment.

More Places to Search

Google Scholar

Note: Did you know you can link Google Scholar to the Library? Select the icon with the three horizontal lines and then choose "Settings" and "Library links." Type "Salt Lake Community College Libraries" into the search bar, tick the box next to it, and choose "Save." You can look for links from the Google Scholar search results to the Library's resources on the right side of your results list.

ResearchGate
This is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to connect and share papers. Links to ResearchGate PDFs may appear in your Google Scholar results. You must sign up with a free account to use ResearchGate.

Trying to Get Access to a Specific Article?

If you are looking for a specific article and you hit a paywall, please do not pay for access! Try these methods to find what you need

Make an ILL request with ILLiad
ILL Guidelines
Unpaywall
Pro Tip: If you use Google Chrome as your preferred browser, try adding the free Chrome extension Unpaywall. It will show you a green, unlocked icon when there is a legal, full-text version of the article you want available. This extension is not compatible with the Library's databases.

Finally, try asking a librarian. They're whizzes at finding information! You can contact the Science, Mathematics and Engineering liaison librarian Amy Scheelke at Amy.Scheelke@slcc.edu.

Want to hone your research skills?

Contact the Science, Mathematics and Engineering liaison librarian: Amy.Scheelke@slcc.edu.

Schedule a 30-minute library consultation
Meet with Amy in-person or online to chat about your project, research, or questions.