LibGuides: Physical Sciences: Websites

Helpful Links

Library Home Page
Get Help from a Librarian
Need help? Ask a librarian.
Get an Article from Another Library
Request an article from another library.
Get Books, Media, Etc. from Another Library
Request materials from beyond LCSC.

Professional Associations

American Society for Engineering Education
Nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.
American Society of Civil Engineers
Represents more than 140,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. The site features the ASCE library of publications and tables of contents for ASCE journals.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ASME is a nonprofit professional organization that helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real-world challenges by enabling collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through IEEE's highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.
National Society of Professional Engineers

General Information

ProCon.org
Pro-Con.org is an online resource for research on controversial issues. The stated mission of the website is “Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format.”

Websites

American Elements
Information on the chemical elements, including properties, safety data, and applications. Provided by American Elements, a commercial chemical firm.
Atlas of Our Changing Environment
Uses a combination of ground photographs, current and historical satellite images, and narrative based on extensive scientific evidence to illustrate how humans have altered their surroundings and continue to make observable and measurable changes to the global environment.
more...less...
The words and pictures within the publications also serve as a vivid reminder that this planet is our only current home, and that sound policy decisions and positive actions by societies and individuals are needed to sustain the Earth and the well-being of its inhabitants.
Climate Change: The Discovery of Global Warming
A hypertext history of how scientists came to (partly) understand what people are doing to cause climate change. Provided by Spencer Weart, Director, Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics.
Digital Atlas of Idaho
Information about Idaho's natural history.
Earth Revealed
A video instructional series on geology for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 26 half-hour video programs and coordinated books. Due to licensing agreements, online viewing of the videos for this resource is restricted to network connections in the United States and Canada. Provided by Annenberg Media.
Exploratorium
Webcasts, video clips, and podcasts from the San Francisco Eploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art, and Human Perception. Select from the categories : Everyday Science, History of Science, Popular Culture, Popular Science, and Science in Action.
Interactive Periodic Table of Elements
Idaho National Laboratory has enlisted its experts, researchers and writers to produce an online interactive Periodic Table that offers pop-up information on every single known element. The feature is a testament to the scientific research done at the lab, but also ties into INL’s education and outreach mission, which stretches across Idaho to the most remote and rural places.
KnowledgeDoor
Offers an interactive periodic table, as well as single-click access to "multitudinous physical, electronic, and thermodynamic properties for all elements". (from CHOICE, 2/2013)
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
A key objective of GISS research is prediction of atmospheric and climate changes in the 21st century. The research combines analysis of comprehensive global datasets, derived mainly from spacecraft observations, with global models of atmospheric, land surface, and oceanic processes. Website sections include News, Research, Data & Images, Publications, Software Tools, and Education.
NOAA Paleoclimatology Program
Provides a central location for paleoclimate data, research, and education.
Periodic Table of Videos
Short videos on each of the chemical elements on the Periodic Table. Provided by the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
State Energy Data
price and expenditure data.
Teachers' Domain: Digital Media for the Classroom and Professional Development
Provided by WGBH, the PBS station in Boston. Most materials are for science subjects. User needs to register (free).
United Nations Climate Change Portal
"A summary page organizing and providing current, authoritative information on climate change." (from CHOICE 3/2013)
more...less...
The subject headings on the left-hand side provide access to basic information about each topic. "The Publications section provides links to full-text reports, convention documents, and training materials." (from CHOICE 3/2012)

Government Websites

Data.gov
Information and access to data generated and held by the Federal Government.
more...less...
Data.gov provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets.
GovSpeak: A Guide to U.S. Government Acronyms and Abbreviations
This guide lists acronyms and abbreviations commonly used by the United States federal government. Each acronym is defined and links to the home page (or best alternative) of the identified department, agency, office, program or publication.

While Appendix A of the U.S. Government Manual provided the foundation of GovSpeak, this expanded list includes hundreds of acronyms not included in that publication; most have been discovered by manual reviews of department websites. Links are checked and updated monthly.
(from the guide)
more...less...
Please note: as of June 2011, GovSpeak no longer includes military acronyms. Please see instead the DoD Dictionary of Military Terms.
I-Docs
An online collection of paper and digital resources selectively chosen from published Idaho Government Documents.
National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)
NHGIS retrieves an disseminates statistical and geographic information system (GIS) boundary data for the United States. It covers US history from 1790 to the present.
(from CHOICE, August 2012)

The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides, free of charge, aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2010.
(from the site)
Science.gov
A gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. government agencies (see full list), including research and development results.
Congress.gov
An easy-to-search source for legislative information, provided by the Library of Congress.
USA.gov
A search engine for government Web pages, with an emphasis on the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Another good source of statistics.
more...less...
The "first-ever" government web site to provide the public with easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources. This site offers a powerful search engine that searches every word of every U.S. government document in a quarter of a second or less. USA.gov also features a topical index, online transactions, links to state and local government, options to contact your government, and other tools so you don't have to know the name of the government agency to get the information you want anytime you want it.
USGS National Geological Lexicon Database: Geolex
"A free index to publications on named geologic rock units in North America, replaces the print publication, Lexicon of North American Geology." (from CHOICE 3/2013)
more...less...
"Users can search by unit name, geologic age, citation, or author. Geolex results contain information on a unit's age, location, extent (areal distribution), type locality (where it was first located and described), and history." (from CHOICE 3/2013)
USGS National Geologic Map Database
A free index to maps and geospatial data of the US published from the 1780s to the present. Over 90,000 maps and reports are available. (from the site)
USGS Volcano Hazards Program
Monitors active and potentially active volcanoes, assesses their hazards, responds to volcanic crises, and conducts research on how volcanoes work to fulfill a Congressional mandate (P.L. 93-288) that the USGS issue "timely warnings" of potential volcanic hazards to responsible emergency-management authorities and to the populace affected.