Research in the Physics Library

Looking for physics information? This research guide to the Physics Library will help you get to know the resources that can be helpful to you as a physics student.

Getting Started (encyclopedias and dictionaries)...

Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Physics (QC 5 .M15 1996 in the Reference Section) has broad, easy-to-understand introductions to topics in physics.

McGraw-Hill's Encyclopedia of Physics(QC 5 .M425 1993 in the Reference Section) has more detail. Many of these articles are also online in Access Science (available through www.ALADIN.wrlc.org).

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of Physics (QC 5 .M424 1997 in the Reference Section)

or McGraw Hill's Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (Q 123 .M34 1994 in the reference section) will give you definitions of words or terms.

Learning More (how to find books)...

For more information on a well-established theory, find a book. Try a keyword search in the WRLC Libraries catalog or browse the shelves. Here are some call numbers that might be useful:

QB 1-991 - Astronomy

QC 1-75 - General Physics (look here for basic physics textbooks)

QC 120-169 - Mechanics
QC 170-197 - Atomic Physics

QC 221-246 - Acoustics & Sound
QC 251-339 - Heat & Thermodynamics
QC 350-467 - Optics & Spectroscopy
QC 501-766 - Electricity & Magnetism

QC 770-798 - Nuclear and Particle Physics

Getting Specific (periodicals and e-prints)...

Read journal articles or e-prints to find current information about specific topics.

INSPEC (available through www.ALADIN.wrlc.org) is an online database with citations and abstracts to thousands of journal articles in physics, engineering and information technology.

Search article titles, subjects, and dates using keywords in Basic Search
Search authors, dates, or specific journal titles with Advanced Search
Links to full text for some journals

Or you could try: Applied Science and Technology (Scientific and Technical Publications citations) or IEEE Xplore (conference proceedings, standards, and journals from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). Both are available through www.ALADIN.wrlc.org.

When you have a citation, check the WRLC Libraries catalog or e-journal title finder for library holdings.

www.arXiv.org is the biggest source of e-prints. Formerly known as "preprints", these are full-text papers that physicists have posted to the server themselves. They could be dissertations, conference proceedings, or papers that will later be printed in journals.

Search for subjects, keywords, titles, or authors
When searching, think about synonyms for keywords, and keep in mind that authors may publish under slightly different names (eg. John Smith or J. Smith)
Take a look at the Help page and search hints - searching this can be tricky.

For more, see UMD's Virtual Technical Reports Center (www.lib.umd.edu/ENGIN/TechReports/Virtual-TechReports.html) for links to different technical reports online.

Finding the Facts (quick reference tools)...

The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (Q 199 .C51, in the Reference Section) has data and tables with information about the properties of substances, the dimensions and orbital data of planets, fundamental physical constants, and other physical data.

NIST's Physical Reference Data (http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/contents.html) has lots of physics data, including a database of the fundamental physical constants (and correlation coefficients).

The AIP Physics Desk Reference (QC 61 .P49 2003, in the Reference Section) is a physicist's memory aid. Good for remembering a formula, or refreshing your memory on a subject.

Keeping up (News and developments in Physics)...

Come in to the library and browse our newest journals, or take a look at some of these:

Annual Reviews (Available through www.ALADIN.wrlc.org) will give you an overview of the last year's developments in certain physics topics.

Some online databases, such as INSPEC (Available through www.ALADIN.wrlc.org) and www.arXiv.org, have "Current Awareness Services" - it's free to sign up, and you'll get e-mails when new papers arrive in your area of interest.

www.physicsweb.org has physics news, job postings, and links to different resources.

www.physlink.com has physics news, job postings, links, and discussion forums.

www.nasa.gov has lots of information about NASA projects and Astrophysics in general.

Check out library.gsfc.nasa.gov for NASA's publicly available databases.

www.physics.nist.gov lets you know what's going on in the Physics Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology - lots of info and reference material.

Getting help (contact us).

If you need a hand finding things, or want to learn more about research in the Physics Library, call 202-319-5167.

URL: http://libraries.cua.edu/physcoll/physicsguide.htm

Send questions and comments

MODIFIED: January-10-2008