Green Research

Where to Look, and How to Find It!

Paula Feid and Andy Rutkowski

From the NYU Sustainability Task Force to the new Environmental Studies Program within the College of Arts and Science, NYU is developing innovative practices and initiatives focused on sustainability and the environment. The NYU Libraries are eager to help students and faculty plug into the many resources available to them in these increasingly important fields of inquiry.

In addition to Bobst Library’s impressive collection of print material on environmental studies, policy, and sustainable development, a growing collection of online resources is available. This article outlines some of the Library’s new resources and provides some strategies for searching through our “green” collections.

Using BobCat and Library of Congress Subject Headings

Unlike a Google search, which uses a free-form natural language search, library catalog and database searches use designated subject headings or descriptors, also known as “controlled vocabulary”. A great way to quickly get an overview of a particular topic and its official descriptors is to use the Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) search within the BobCat online catalog. This comprehensive thesaurus enables browsing through general subject areas and more specific subcategories.

A search for "environmental justice" in the Library of Congress Subject Heading search within the BobCat online catalog.

Some results from the "environmental justice" LCSH search.

For example, if you entered “environment” as a subject heading, you’d discover that there are no books associated with this heading, but the LCSH search would advise you to see “ecology”, where you’d find 458 titles. Similarly, “green buildings” is not a subject heading; instead, use “sustainable architecture”.

Just a few of the other related Library of Congress subject headings include:

Climatic change
Energy conservation
Green products
Green marketing
Green technology
Nature — effect of human beings on
Political ecology
Pollution
Recycling (waste, etc.)
Renewable energy sources

The subject headings are also an effective tool for searching through other databases and resources because the terms are so broadly accepted.

New Databases

Recently, Bobst Library acquired several databases that specifically focus on the environment.

Columbia Earthscape is a portal to a wide range of earth and environmental science information resources.

Columbia Earthscape,¹ developed by Columbia University, is a portal to a wide range of resources and information on earth and environmental science. Its unique features include a multimedia collection of lectures by leading university researchers and NASA scientists, 25 full-text journals, image banks, and streaming videos (such as animations and excerpts from “NOVA” and “Frontline” specials). It also provides syllabi and lesson plans with illustrated lectures for students to use in their own learning or adapt for student teaching.

LexisNexis Academic, which gives access to extensive news coverage, also provides access to a separate environmental database via its homepage. LexisNexis Environmental includes direct access to full-text articles on energy, pollution, land use, biodiversity, sustainable development, and waste management from a diverse selection of sources ranging from familiar journals and trade magazines to harder-to-locate environmental codes and case laws.

E-Books and Other Useful Databases

The NYU Libraries subscribe to ebrary, an expanding compilation of digital books with an excellent selection of recent titles on the environment. It is easy to navigate, fully searchable, and provides InfoTools for highlighting sections, saving citations, and more.

A reliable database with a public policy approach to environmental studies is PAIS, or Public Affairs Information Service. One of PAIS’s particular strengths is a comprehensive thesaurus containing descriptors that narrow and/or expand on a particular subject area. This also helps the user identify the “correct” search term for their needs; for example, someone searching on “sustainable development” would be prompted to try “economic development: environmental aspects”.

Another great thesaurus is the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS).² Not only is this a multilingual thesaurus, providing references in the six official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), but it’s also a good place to find search terms for any of the databases or resources associated with the UN, such as the Environmental Programme, Development Programme, and the Food and Agricultural Organization.

NYU’s Virtual Business Library’s “Marketing” page³ includes Mintel Reports and MarketResearch.com, which provide extensive reports detailing how the “green” movement is impacting the marketplace. These reports give statistical data on new products and trends and offer interesting psychological profiles of consumers and how they interact with this newly emerging market.

More Green at the Libraries

The NYU Libraries also promote awareness about environmental issues through exhibits and guides that highlight helpful reference materials and other resources. A new research guide created by the Coles Science Center⁴ provides a great starting point for anyone developing a “Green Grant”⁵ project proposal in conjunction with NYU’s Sustainability Task Force or studying environmental sciences at NYU.

ebrary, a compilation of easily searchable digital books.

The Real Estate Library has developed a “Green Buildings” research guide⁶ that provides an overview of relevant journals, books, and websites on the topic. The “Sustainability at NYU” exhibit, located at the Business and Government Documents Center on the sixth floor of Bobst Library, offers free New York City Bicycling Maps and Green Maps.

We hope this brief introduction to some “green” resources provides a good overview of some of the many research materials provided by the NYU Libraries. As always, if you have questions, comments, or recommendations for resources that you would like to see, let us know by sending an email to paula.feid@nyu.edu.

Footnotes

Author Biographies

Paula Feid is the Undergraduate Librarian at NYU’s Bobst Library.

Andy Rutkowski is the Reference Associate for Business and Government Documents at NYU’s Bobst Library.