Skip to Main Content
The University of Edinburgh home
Show/hide site search
Information Services

GeoSciences

Overview

A warm welcome to the University of Edinburgh Library. This guide aims to help you with information on library resources, services and facilities for your subject. You can explore the different topics using the left-hand navigation

Finding Library Resources - DiscoverEd

 

Use DiscoverEd to find books, ebooks, journals, ejournals and more. Sign into your Library Account using your University Login to manage your loans.

DiscoverEd 

For books in print, please check the book location (both Library and floor) as GeoSciences books may be held in the Main Library (George Square) and/or Murray Library (King's Buildings).  

DiscoverEd Help FAQs

Key Databases

Multidisciplinary databases of peer-reviewed literature and conference proceedings. 

Earth and Planetary Science

Agriculture

More resources for Geosciences

Full database list A-Z

Key Databases for Social Policy


Research and Statistical Data

Digital maps and data

The Digimap service delivers maps and map data of Great Britain. Maps can be viewed, annotated and printed and data can be downloaded for use in GIS or CAD software. Subscribed collections are listed below. Users are required to register and agree the data licence.

 
Aerial Aerial Digimap provides detailed aerial imagery data from Getmapping at various fixed scales. Most data is post-2011 with updates due each year.
agCensus Agricultural Census data for England, Scotland and Wales downloadable or visualised as grid square estimates at 2km, 5km and 10km level of resolution.
Environment Land cover mapping from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH). Range of data covering 1990- 2019.  
Geology Geology Digimap provides onshore and offshore mapping from the British Geological Survey, scales ranging from 1:625,000 to 1:50,000. There is also access to the Lexicon of Named Rock Units, which has details for many of the rocks found on the map.
Global 

Global Digimap's primary content is OpenStreetMap and will also include Natural Earth data. 

Historic Historic Digimap provides Landmark historic Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain from 1843 to 1996. Maps include County Series (1843-1939), post-war National Grid and Town Plans (1840’s – 1930’s).
Lidar Lidar Download allows you to select and download Lidar data for use in GIS/CAD software. Lidar Digital Terrain Model, Lidar Digital Surface Model and point cloud data are available. There is no Lidar Roam.
Marine Marine Digimap provides marine and coastal zone mapping from Oceanwise, the service includes raster marine maps of various scales and detail (derived from Admiralty Charts), which are ideal for back-drop mapping in the UK coastal zone, vector thematic marine data suitable for advanced spatial analysis, and customised mapping.
OS Ordnance Survey Digimap provide contemporary OS Map Data and Ordnance Survey Products.

Society
 

Society Digimap allows you to explore census and other demographic datasets by providing these datasets as layers to visualise along with Ordnance Survey data. 

Verisk  Collection consists of:
UKMap a modern, highly detailed mapping database of Greater London. 
UKBuildings regularly updated to help you understand the age, structure, characteristics and use, of commercial, public and residential buildings across GB.
UKLand a national land information database providing a detailed breakdown of the use of land across the UK.

For Digimap enquiries contact edina@ed.ac.uk

Google

Google Scholar Search

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites

Access eresources using Google Scholar 

Google Scholar may not provide access to full-text, however, by linking to the Library you can access full-text where there is a University subscription. 

  1. Selecting Settings from the top of the Google Scholar Home Page
  2. Selecting Library Links
  3. Search for University of Edinburgh. Select it from the list and Save your settings

You will now see FindIt@Edinburgh links next to items in your Google Scholar results that you can use to access the full-text.

 

 

Google Patent Search

Google Patents is a search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications.

Exams and Revision

woman biting pencil while sitting on chair in front of computer during daytimeThis guide contains key information about the following topics: 

Full guide here

 

Your Academic Support Librarian

Book a meeting
For help with finding library resources for your literature search or referencing

Finding Library Resources

The print collection for GeoSciences are held in the Main Library, George Square or the Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library, King's Buildings. Book location information is shown in DiscoverEd.

 
Main Library 

Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library
Noreen & Kenneth Murray Library

Libraries also provide open-access computing, printing and a range of study spaces

Location and opening hours: Main Library; Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library

Resource Lists

Edit mode is disabled for mapped boxes]

Resources lists at Edinburgh Logo

Resource Lists are online reading lists that can signpost you to key reading materials. Some of your courses may have a Resource List embedded in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) but you can also access them directly. Full details are available on the Resource Lists: Information for Students webpage.

Other disciplinces

Subject Guides from other disciplines can be a useful source of ideas and information. Some focus on a topic such as newspapers as well as others that are more subject specific e.g. economics, law etc. A full list of subject guides is available on the university website. 

Can't find what you need?

Request a book, or other resource

Request an Inter-Library Loan

To request a new journal subscription, or other resource, please send an email using the 'Email Me' link.

Citing and Referencing

​​​​ IAD referencing guidance
Citing and referencing is an important part of good academic practice. Guidance from the Institute of Academic Development (IAD)

Cite Them Right Online.
An online tool to help you to understand referencing for a range of sources. 

 

News - search across multiple sources

International news including Dow Jones and Reuters newswires. Also company profiles, industry and stock market information. No images including. 

Nexis and international news, business and industry information. No images included.

 

Follow the Library

Wordpress blog logo      Facebook logo     Instagram Logo     Twitter logo