Astronomy
Find Theses & Dissertations
- ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst This link opens in a new windowA repository for the research and scholarly output of members of the UMass Amherst community.
- Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new windowUS and Canadian dissertations and theses from 1861 to present. Mostly full-text 1997 to present.
- Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD) This link opens in a new windowIndexes of over 3.5 million graduate-level electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) that are freely available online.
- Theses Canada This link opens in a new windowFull-text Canadian theses and dissertations in the Library and Archives Canada collection
Find Data
Looking for data? Try the resources below. Looking to Manage your data? Try this related Library Guide for Data Management
- DataBib: AstronomyData repositories that deal with Astronomy in some way. From DataBib, a searchable catalog/registry/directory/bibliography of research data repositories.
- dmoz - Astronomy Data ArchivesA comprehensive list of links to astronomy resources, curated by the dmoz community.
CRS reports for overviews and policy information
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the non-partisan public policy research arm of the United States Congress.
CRS experts prepare reports to assist members of Congress throughout the legislative process providing background information and data on public policy issues.
How to cite a CRS report APA 7th edition:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of report in sentence case and italics (CRS Report No. xxxxxxx). Retrieved from Congressional Research Service website: URL
Example:
Erwin, M. C. (2011). Intelligence issues for Congress (CRS Report No. RL33539). Retrieved from Congressional Research Service website: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL33539.pdf
New York Times
Each UMass patron has a free subscription to the New York Times online.
To sign up and access, follow these instructions:
Reaching your target audience
To create a compelling story, you might want to investigate these three types of sources:
- Popular Magazines to get a view into what the public is reading; use the database Academic Search Premier
- Newspaper articles - Start with the NY Times - see this guide https://guides.library.umass.edu/nytimes then other options https://guides.library.umass.edu/sb.php?subject_id=128867
- Peer-reviewed scholarly research articles
- Government information for statistics and legislation; CRS reports are particularly helpful.
Database Search Tools
Target your database search by combining these tools with your strategic keywords.
Using quotes "_____" keeps words together as a phrase. Example: "Climate Change"
Using parentheses (_____) collects like terms. Example: (Sea or Ocean or Coast)
Using an asterisk * at end of a word returns all the various word endings. Example: Flood* for Flood, Flooded, Flooding
Find Articles
Research article databases:
- Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Digital LibrarySearch abstracts for research in Astronomy and Physics. The ADS covers three bibliographic databases that search more than 10.9 million records in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Physics, and arXiv e-prints.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowUse to access many UMass online journal subscriptions.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowIndex to articles from peer-reviewed journals in all disciplines.Search by cited reference, topic, author, and more. Arts and Humanities covers 1975-present; Social Sciences 1900-present; and Science 1900-present.
- Engineering Village This link opens in a new windowComprehensive access to engineering journal articles, conference papers, and web sites, 1884-present.
Find Books
- Discovery Search This link opens in a new windowThe Five College Catalog is included in Discovery Search, and will lead you to books (both print and eBooks).
Books in the libraries at UMass (and at many academic libraries in the United States and in several other countries) are organized by the standards set up by the Library of Congress. This system helps libraries classify and organize the books on their shelves. It's not always intuitive, but there are guides to help you learn how to decipher the system.
Most of the materials in Astronomy are in the QB call number area. See below for specific topics. And of course, try searching the catalog!
QB 1-991 Astronomy
QB 1-139 General
QB 140-237 Practical & Spherical Astronomy
QB 275-343 Geodesy
QB 349-421 Theoretical Astronomy & Celestial Mechanics
QB 455-456 Astrogeology
QB 460-466 Astrophysics
QB 468-480 Non-optical Methods of Astronomy
QB 495-903 Descriptive Astronomy
QB 980-991 Cosmogony, Cosmology
Find Technical Reports
- NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)References to Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR), journal articles, conference reports, 1958 -present.
- TRAIL This link opens in a new windowU.S. government technical reports issued primarily prior to 1975.
Find Patents
Find Patents information on this Library Guide for Patent Research.
