Use the resources listed on this page to find relevant information on topics in Geography and environmental science. They will give you access to both primary and secondary sources of academic information.
Use to search across a number of databases covering a range of subject areas. Provides references to journal articles, books, conference papers, patents, research data and other materials.
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Gives reference to journal articles covering all aspects of human impact to the environment across the disciplines of agriculture, education, law, health, and technology.
Google Scholar is the academic version of Google. It allows you to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories.
A multidisciplinary database containing references to journal articles covering all subject areas from 1990 onwards. Browse specific journal issues to keep up-to-date with articles published in journals of interest.
Covers life sciences and biomedical research, including references to journal articles, review articles, conference papers, books and patents.
Agriculture database giving references to publications covering all aspects of agricultural, animal and rural sciences (including economics and development).
Find definitions in dictionaries and other reference works in all subjects.
Gives references to journal articles, books, reviews and selected chapters in subjects including anthropology, economics, political science and sociology.
Archive of journal articles covering most subjects.
Please read the JSTOR terms and conditions of use before accessing JSTOR. You may not download an entire issue of a journal from the JSTOR database or keep multiple electronic or paper copies of any article. You may not alter or distribute any Content, including but not limited to transmission via email to another computer.
Oxford Reference allows you to search across multiple dictionaries and reference titles. We have access to the Premium, Literature and Western Civilization collections.
Contains in-depth, peer-reviewed articles on a wide range of topics. We have access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science.
Access to articles in journals published by Elsevier from 1995 to the present, plus access to older articles in some subject areas. Also gives access to Elsevier e-books we have purchased.
Essentially a vast Library catalogue. Gives references to books, theses, and other published materials in all subjects.
A variety of statistical and data sources of relevance to Geography and environmental science are available. Information regarding further sources of statistical information is available via the Library's 'Finding statistics' guide:
Agcensus contains grid square agricultural census data for England, Scotland and Wales which gives realistic estimates of: what was produced; how much was produced; and where it was produced.
Access to Official UK census datasets. Registration is required to use this resource - connect to the Census Datasets using the link above for more details and a registration form.
Map data of Great Britain. Includes Ordnance Survey, historic, geological and environmental map data and aerial imagery.
A two part registration is required to use Digimap:
1. Connect to Digimap using the link above and complete a registration form
2. Accept the licence agreements associated with each collection
You will need to re-accept the licence terms annually, in August of each year.
Edina's Digimap registration pages give more information and guidance. Please pay particular attention to the Privacy Notice.
International statistics relating to food and agriculture.
Much content is freely available. We do not have a subscription, although individuals can register and download a restricted number of records.
International Historical Statistics is a large collection of statistical data from around the world, covering a wide range of socio-economic topics. The collection includes data on the Americas and Europe, but also hard-to-find data on Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Data and metadata for OECD countries and selected non-member economies in a wide range of areas including GDP, health, employment, trade, income distribution, finance, economic outlook etc.
Please note our access does not include access to the IEA titles also held on this website.
Key economic and social data, both quantitative and qualitative.
If you are on campus you will be able to access most e-journals and e-books, and some databases, without entering a username and password because your IP address identifies you as being at the University of Reading.
For any that require a login, see the Off-campus tab.
When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:
When you are off-campus you will need to login to identify yourself as a member of the University of Reading to gain access to our protected databases, e-books and e-journals.
Your login details
You login in the same way as for Blackboard - via Microsoft. Just enter your University username followed by @student.reading.ac.uk (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk) and your password. If this is the first time you have logged in via this method when off-campus you will be asked to complete a Multi-Factor Authentication. For more information see:
Getting to the login page...
Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.
This playlist of two videos shows you how to prepare for and perform a literature search. The first video introduces literature searches and their role. The second video covers using the search operators AND and OR to create a search statement, and explains the role of wildcards and truncation in constructing a comprehensive search. This information is also available in written guides - see the links below.
Maps can be used in nearly all disciplines to either research or display spatial information. The University Library contains about 70,000 maps and atlases, covering the whole world. They include original and facsimile maps from medieval to modern times, and access to online resources is also available.
To find out how maps can help you, see our presentation on Using maps for your research:
For more information see the following guide:
For digital maps of Great Britain, the best place to start is Digimap. This includes nine datasets, including contemporary Ordnance Survey maps; historical Ordnance Survey maps; geology maps; environmental land cover maps; marine charts and thematic data; aerial imagery; census and socio-economic data; detailed building and land cover data and world maps. Maps can be printed out or data downloaded for use in a geographical information system.
Reading University theses and dissertations
The Library receives a copy of all theses accepted for the degrees of PhD and MPhil by the University. All theses held by the Library can be found on the Enterprise catalogue. Recently submitted theses might also be available to download from the University's Institutional Repository, CentAUR.
Masters theses can usually be consulted in the relevant school or department.
Finding theses from other institutions
There are a number of specialist sources for finding theses produced at other institutions around the world. Many more are becoming available online making it much easier to get the full-text. For more information see our guide to finding theses.
See our guide to finding theses for more information:
Conference papers are published in a variety of ways - they may be published as a book, or as a special issue or supplement to a journal. Some may not be published at all!
If published promptly they can you give you the latest information on research in your field.
See our guide to finding conference papers for details of specialist sources for finding this type of information.
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages: