Astronomy

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 Library
Search 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 window
Use to access many UMass online journal subscriptions.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

You can access Google Scholar with UMLinks buttons from outside the UMass Amherst IP range ("off campus") by two methods:

1. Access Google Scholar through the Library web site by using this link.
2. Go to generic Google Scholar.
a. Click on "Settings."
b. Click on Library links.
c. Type in "University of Massachusetts" or "UMass Amherst" (or a few other variations).
d. Check "University of Massachusetts Amherst - UMass Check for Full Text" and Save.
e. You will be asked to authenticate somewhere along the way to full text.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Index 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.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Engineering Village This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive access to engineering journal articles, conference papers, and web sites, 1884-present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Find Books

Discovery Search This link opens in a new window
The Five College Catalog is included in Discovery Search, and will lead you to books (both print and eBooks).
Free to use for anyone to find records. Some results, and detailed information such as PDFs and full text links, are available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

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 window
U.S. government technical reports issued primarily prior to 1975.
Content is freely available for use by all.

Find Patents

Find Patents information on this Library Guide for Patent Research.

Astronomy

Find Theses & Dissertations

Find Data

CRS reports for overviews and policy information

New York Times