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Home > Searching > Research Guides By Subject > Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Updated: March 7, 2006
Facts and Background Information
Selected print and electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc.
Books
Locate items in the library catalog and other libraries.
Articles
Use indexes to search for articles in journals, proceedings, etc.
Websites
Recommended academic, professional, and learned societies sites, and more.
Contact a Librarian

Below are a few major, frequently used sources for the study of urban and environmental policy and planning. Interdisciplinary indexes such as Expanded Academic ASAP, Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Index also cover urban and environmental policy and planning. These can be found in the research guides to General Social Sciences and to General Science.

See also the research guide to Government Information and to Law. Please consult with a reference librarian for help with many sources in your topic. Internet resources require a Tufts I.D. number for off-campus access (authorized users statement).

 

Facts and Background Information     [back to top]

Subject specific reference materials can help you to gain broad-based knowledge of your field, through vocabulary, factual information, additional references, and bibliographies. Some suggested print sources:

Encyclopedia of Urban Planning

Cities of the United States

Encyclopedia of environmental science

Statistical Abstracts

Doing a subject search in the catalog allows you to retrieve specific types of sources. For example:

City Planning -- Dictionaries

Environmental policy -- Encyclopedias

In addition, the following resources provide valuable environment information:

EIS. Digests of Environmental Impact Statements 1985- (How to search)
In print - Tisch Reference TD194.6.E18 (1977-)

Environment Reporter. Print.

BNA Environment Library on CD
Available at Tisch Reference CD Workstations. Guide located at Tisch reference desk, KF3775.A6B63.

ReOpt
Available at Tisch Reference CD Workstations. Guide located at Tisch reference desk TD1050.C66 R461996. Contains information on remediation technologies that could potentially be used for DOE waste-site cleanup. Also contains auxiliary information about hazardous contaminants and the federal regulations that govern their disposal.

Toxics Release Inventory
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain covered industry groups as well as federal facilities.

Legal reference works may be found on the research guide to Law.

Find Books     [back to top]

You can search for books about urban and environmental policy and planning in the library catalog in several ways:

Keyword Searching
Type in words that describe your topic, for example:

Environment and Urban

Subject searching
If you know the Library of Congress subject heading used to describe your area of research, you can search for a particular subject. Some examples are:

Pollution

Urban Transportation

Environment Policy

City Planning

Books on cities and urban issues can be found under the call number range HT51-395; books on the environmental sciences can be found under the call number range GE1-350. The range of topics covered by the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning is extraordinarily broad. For help in browsing the collection, consult with one of the reference librarians.

Find books in other libraries

To locate books in other Boston Library Consortium libraries and request to borrow them, use the Boston Library Consortium Catalogs. To locate books in many libraries throughout the world, use WorldCat.

Find Articles     [back to top]

For more information on searching article indexes, see our Database Searching Tips (also available in PDF).

General Indexes

American Factfinder (How to search)
Access to 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses, the American Community Survey, and the 1997 Economic Census.

Expanded Academic ASAP How To Use
Articles from more than 1,500 scholarly, trade, and general-interest publications, including national news and commentary. Coverage is from 1980 to current and is updated daily. Some full text is available.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
The IBSS has more than two million references to articles and books going back to 1951 in the social sciences. It is produced by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LexisNexis How To Use
Includes articles from major American newspapers and regional papers, statistics, company financial information, country and state profiles, and medical information. Major source for federal case law and statutes, the U.S. Code, law reviews, and state legal research.

Polling the Nations (How to search)
Polling the Nations is a comprehensive collection of public opinion material from the United States and abroad. It contains the full text of some 400,000 questions and responses on 4,500 topics.

Statistical Universe 1973- How To Use
Statistical information from the U.S. government, including the Statistical Abstract of the United States and other sources. Online version of American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, and Index to International Statistics.

Web of Science Proceedings 1991- How To Use
Multidisciplinary coverage of the world's conference literature in the Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities.

WorldCat How To Use
WorldCat is a catalog of materials held by libraries worldwide, including books, periodicals, sound recordings, musical scores, videos, manuscripts, and maps.

Environment and Science

Columbia Earthscape (How to search)
A dynamic resource on the global environment, comprising four major segments: RESEARCH, including papers/conferences, journals, books, and datasets; EDUCATION, with examples of class room models, syllabi and teaching issues; LINKS & RESOURCES by disciplines (geology, ecology, meteorology), activities (field works, GIS, remote sensing), habitats (ocean, forests, rivers), issues (climate change, ecosystems); and EARTH AFFAIRS MAGAZINE.

Environmental Complete
Contains information pertaining to the environment from over 400 environmental periodicals; abstracts from authors are included from 1997 forward. Online version of the CD-ROM Environmental Periodicals Bibliography.

Environmental Universe How To Use
LexisNexis Environmental Universe contains both the online, full version of Environmental Abstracts, information on hazardous waste, legal materials on the environment and environmental news.

Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management. Latest 5 years How To Use

GEOBASE 1980- How To Use
More than 500,000 records covering the worldwide literature on geology, geography, and ecology.

GeoRef 1785- (How to search)
Bibliographic reference to articles, books, and maps.

Science Citation Index 1945- How To Use
Provides author, subject and citation access to journal articles and book reviews in the sciences.

Urban Planning and Policy

Access UN (How to search)
Web index to United Nations Documents, most current 2 years.

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAONet) (How to search)
Provides searchable access to the full-text of working papers and conference proceedings from 45 leading research centers in the field of international policy and scholarship.

Index to Current Urban Documents 1972-2000. Print.

PAIS International 1972- How To Use
Database of articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs. Abstracts available from 1985 on.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) 1957-2000
Print index covers books, periodical articles, government publications, reports of public and private agencies relating to public policy, international relations, etc.

Policy Research Online File (How to search)
Provides access to major think tanks, research organizations, and university research programs. Contains information on a complete range of policy issues, both domestic and international. Identifies research from 1990 to the present. Updated weekly.

SIRS Researcher 1988 -
Indexes articles found in over 1,200 newspapers, magazines and government publications from 1988 to the present in the fields of economics, political science, history and social issues.

Social Sciences Citation Index 1956- How To Use
Provides author, subject and citation access to journal articles and book reviews in the social sciences.

Sociological Abstracts 1963- (How to search)
Online index.

Sociological Abstracts 1953-
Print Index from more than 1,900 journals covering all facets of sociology and related disciplines including, criminology, demography, law and penology, race relations, social psychology, and urban studies.

Electronic journals

All periodicals held by Tufts are listed in the catalog. Holdings in all formats are unified in one record, and most entries for journals held in digital format contain a hyperlink to the source; searches in the catalog enable one to follow these links directly. A supplementary list of electronic journals is on the Tisch homepage under Electronic Journals. For an example of a catalog search for a journal, set the catalog’s Type of Search to "Journal Title," and type in Annual Review of Energy and the Environment.

Many urban or environmental journals held in digital format are parts of Project Muse or JSTOR. Others can be found in Science Direct or Wiley Interscience. Although these databases include search engines for the journals they contain, the indexes and abstracts listed above are the most comprehensive and authoritative sources for the literature of the discipline.

Websites     [back to top]

Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Department Homepage

Tufts Center for Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

International Relations Resources
Ginn Library, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution functions as an independent analyst and critic, committed to publishing its findings for the information of the public focusing on public policy issues.

Environment Policy and Planning

CIESIN Global Change
CIESIN (Consortium for International Earth Sciences Information Network) is a non-governmental organization providing information to help scientists, decision-makers, and the public better understand our changing world. CIESIN specializes in global and regional network development, science data management, decision support, and training, education and technical consultation services. Includes full-text versions of environmental treaties and papers, policy information, thematic guides, educational information, and datasets.

EnviroLink
Includes a virtual environmental library, current news stories and links to government agencies.

Environmental Protection Agency
Includes information about the agency, access to the EPA National Online Library System, and text of recent environmental regulations (with a searchable index).

Linkages
Provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, publishers of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Electronic clearinghouse for information on past and upcoming international meetings related to environment and development.

National Council for Science and Environment (NCSE)
This organization is supported by over 500 academic, scientific, environmental, and business organizations, and by federal, state and local government, working closely with communities that create and use environmental knowledge to make and shape environmental decisions. This site provides links to the National Library for the Environment and Congressional Research Service Reports.

Rand ®
An independent, nonprofit think tank that researches, analyzes and develops policy in urban and social policy, science and technology and environmental policy.

Stateline.org
This site is supported and operated by the Pew Center on the States and provides links to public policy issues in social policy, land use, and environment by state. It also provides legislative and news information for all 50 states as well as the ability to compare state-related data.

Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE)
An interdisciplinary, education and research institute which facilitates and coordinates environmental programs at Tufts University. TIE focuses its activities on environmental research, technology, policy development, and education to improve environmental quality as it relates to human health.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

Urban Policy and Planning

Almanac of Policy Issues
This independent organization provides comprehensive background information and links on major U.S. public policy issues.

Cyburbia: The Urban Planning Portal
Website for urban planners and others interested in cities and the built environment. It contains a selective directory of internet resources relevant to planning and urbanism.

HUD User: Policy Development and Research Information Service

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
This non-profit educational institution focuses on the teaching and study of land policy, including economics of land use. Includes education, research, and fellowship program information, as well as the newsletter Landlines and other publications.

Moving Ideas: The Electronic Policy Action Network
Provides policy reports, articles and other original publications and links to public policy issues such as urban issues, science and technology and energy and the environment.

United Nations Economic and Social Development

Urban Land Institute
A non-profit education and research institute dedicated to providing responsible leadership and education in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment. A source of information on urban planning, growth, and development.

World Policy Institute
This institute, located at the New School University in New York City, provides information on policy research and advocacy and links to the World Policy Journal, research projects and policy websites.

Government

Government Information and Documents - A Research Guide

United States Geological Service (USGS)
U.S. government agency that provides scientific and policy information on earth science and natural resources.

Contact a Librarian     [back to top]

Edward C. Oberholtzer. Contact for questions about library collections.
Regina Raboin. Contact for reference questions and instruction requests.

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