GeoRef

AVAILABILITY

	Available via the Virgo databases, OCLC FirstSearch, and
	on Dialog as file #89.  

COVERAGE

	Covers about 2 million records about geology and the earth
	sciences corresponding to entries in the printed "Bibliography
	and Index of Geology" from 1785 to the present (probably the
	record holder for longest span of materials covered in any
	database!).  Coverage from 1785 to the present for North 
	America only; world coverage begins with entires for 1933.
	Approximately 4,500 serials, theses and dissertations, 
	government documents, and technical reports are indexed.
	The database is updated bi-monthly.

WHEN TO USE THIS DATABASE

	Use this database to locate citations to journal articles and
	other materials in geology and earth sciences.  It would be
	uniquely useful for locating materials on these subjects 
	published in North America prior to 1900 or so and very useful
	for any geologic or earth science topic regardless of year.
	Again note that international coverage begins with 1933.

SEARCH TIPS

	The FirstSearch version of the database offers all the standard
	search fields (e.g. author, title, subject, keyword) along with
	the ability to search by geographic coordinates (i.e. latitude
	and longitude).  You may also search by specific journal title.
	Add a + at the end of a word to search for both the word and
	its plurals (s and es only).  Some entries have abstracts, others
	have only a list of descriptors.

	To start a basic search, type words describing your topic in the
	"Search For" field and click on the "Start Search" button. 

        You can click on the "WordList" button to find terms unique to the
	database by using the wordlist.  Also you can find valid search 
	labels in the online help for the database. 

        The database supports boolean AND, OR, and NOT, as well as proximity
        searching with NEAR and WITH.  AND is the default.  Use of ( ) is 
	allowed. You may restrict searches to particular fields.  

	Clicking on the "Libraries with Item" button will give a list of those
        libraries which own at least some of the journal in which a retrieved
        record is found.  Note that UVA has the symbol VA@.  You will need
	to check the title in Virgo to determine the specific holdings we
	own.

        You can E-mail results of a search to yourself.


Fred O'Bryant
Revised
November 11, 1998