Last revised: October 2007

Physics

Scope: This guide was created to help students and faculty find information in the field of Physics. No attempt has been made to present an exhaustive list of reference materials on the subject. For further assistance, please access Physics subject specialist Nedelina Tchangalova's professional webpage or e-mail her at nedelina(@)umd.edu.

Finding Books

To locate books at the library you'll need to use the UM Catalog. Choosing the best search method depends on how much you know about the books you're searching for.

When looking for a known book search by:

• author or
• title

• keyword or
• subject

This search box will open the UM Catalog and launch your search in a new window.

To narrow your results, use the catalog's advanced search and limit your search by:

• publication year
• location
• adding additional keywords

A word/s anywhere search will locate terms and phrases that appear in the title, subject headings, or notes of a catalog record. Examples of some common terms and phrases used to locate books on physics include:

return to top

Books dealing with similar subjects are likely to be grouped together on the shelves. Thus, another way to locate books on a particular topic is to browse by call number. You can browse:

• physically -- by going to the stacks and shelf-reading
• virtually -- by doing a call number search in the online catalog using the first few digits of a call number (i.e., QC20 for books on mathematical physics)

If the UM libraries don't have a specific title you are looking for, then suggest a book for purchase by filling out the electronic form at www.lib.umd.edu/CLMD/Faculty/bookrequest.html.

return to top

If you cannot find what you're looking for in the UM Catalog, you can search for resources beyond those held in our libraries. You can use a link when you find the material in other catalogs. The best tool for locating books and journals beyond holdings of the University of Maryland and its consortium libraries is WorldCat. WorldCat contains records for materials found in research libraries worldwide.

You may also use the Interlibrary Loan page to place ILL requests for items not owned by UM. Materials requested through interlibrary loan take approximately two weeks to arrive.

return to top

Reference Works

• Basu, Dipak. Dictionary of pure and applied physics. Boca Raton, Fla. : CRC Press, c2001.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .D485 2001


• Daintith, John. A dictionary of physics. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .C56 2005


• Daintith, John and Richard Rennie. The facts on file dictionary of physics. New York : Facts On File, c2005.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .F34 2005


• Isaacs, Alan. A dictionary of physics. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .D496 2000


• Lerner, Rita G. and George L. Trigg. Encyclopedia of Physics. Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2005.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .E545 2005


• Moore, John H. and Nicholas D. Spencer. Encyclopedia of chemical physics and physical chemistry. Philadelphia : Institute of Physics Pub., c2001.
  Location: Chemistry Reference
  Call number: QD451 .E539 2001


• Rosen, Joe. Encyclopedia of physics. New York : Facts on File, 2004.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5 .R596 2004

return to top

• Alenitsyn, Alexander G., Eugene I. Butikov, and Alexander S. Kondratyev. Concise handbook of mathematics and physics. Boca Raton, Fla. : CRC Press ; Moscow : Nauka Publishers, c1997.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC61 .A4813 1997


• Benenson, Walter. Handbook of physics. New York : Springer, c2002.
  Location: EPSL Stacks
  Call Number: QC61 .H33 2002


• Coghill, A. and Lorrin R. Garson The ACS style guide : effective communication of scientific information.. Washington, DC : American Chemical Society ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.
  Location: Chemistry Reference
  Call Number: QD8.5 .A25 2006


• Cohen, E. Richard, David R. Lide, and George L. Trigg. AIP physics desk reference. New York : Springer, c2003.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call Number: QC61 .P49 2003


• Cohen, E. Richard. The physics quick reference guide. Woodbury, N.Y. : American Institute of Physics, c1996.
  Location: EPSL Reference, EPSL Stacks
  Call number: QC61 .C65 1996


• Diagram Group. The Facts on File physics handbook. New York : Facts on File, c2000.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC61 .F33 2000


• Drake, Gordon W.F. Atomic, molecular & optical physics handbook. Woodbury, N.Y. : AIP Press, c1996.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC173 .A827 1996


• Grigoriev, Igor S. and Evgenii Z. Meilikhov.Handbook of physical quantities. Boca Raton : CRC Press, c1997.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC61 .H36 1997


• Nordling, Carl, Jonny Österman. Physics handbook for science and engineering. Lund, Sweden : Studentlitteratur, c1996.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC61 .N67 1996


• Poole, Charles P., Jr. The physics handbook : fundamentals and key equations. New York : John Wiley, c1998.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC61 .P65 1998

return to top

• American Institute of Physics. Directory of physics, astronomy & geophysics staff. College Park, MD. : American Institute of Physics, c1997.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC47.N75 D57 1997


• David Stern. Guide to information sources in the physical sciences. Englewood, Colo. : Libraries Unlimited, 2000.
  Location: EPSL Reference
  Call number: QC5.35 .S74 2000

return to top

• Search for journal articles and books
• Access databases and e-journals from on and off campus
• Search an individual database OR search several simultaneously
• Search databases and the UM Libraries’ catalog simultaneously
• Find full-text articles
• E-mail or save article citations

Note: Off-campus access to databases is restricted to current UM students, faculty and staff. When seeking off-campus access through Research Port you will need the barcode from your new ID card and your last name. You can also establish a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your home computer for complete access to Research Port and other UM library resources.

Core Databases

Compendex
Compendex offers a wide range of information resources in the applied science and engineering fields.

INSPEC
INSPEC covers the subjects computing, electronics, and physics, with related coverage of materials science, oceanography, nuclear engineering, geophysics, and biomedical engineering.

INSPEC Archive
INSPEC Archive covers the subjects computing, electronics, and physics, with related coverage of materials science, oceanography, nuclear engineering, geophysics, and biomedical engineering from 1868-1968.

NTIS
NTIS covers U.S. government-sponsored research and reports from federal agencies. Indexes and abstracts technical research reports, journal articles, data files, computer programs and audio-visual products.

PROLA
PROLA (Physical Review Online Archive) indexes all APS journal material published from 1893 to present.

Science Citation Index
Science Citation Index is a multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the sciences. It indexes more than 5,700 major journals across 164 scientific disciplines. Virtually the only index for finding what papers have cited other papers.

Scitation
Scitation searches more than 100 journals from AIP, APS, ASCE, ASME, SPIE, and a host of other prestigious science and engineering journals.

Solid State Abstracts
Solid State Abstracts provides access to the current research on theory, production, and practical applications of solid state materials and devices, including high- and low-temperature superconductivity technology.

return to top

Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier provides abstracts and indexing for over 7,000 journals. Full text of articles for over 4,000 scholarly publications, including more than 3,100 peer-reviewed publications.

Digital Dissertations
This database is the an authoritative source for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 graduate schools and universities. Full text is available from 1997 to the present.

Ingenta
Ingenta gives access to more than 20,000 publications from the ingenta database. Some full text is available; faculty may be able to purchase some articles for fax or online delivery.

JSTOR
JSTOR is an electronic archive of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It includes complete runs of journals with full-text of all articles published prior to the most current five years.

LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic is a full-text database that offers a wide range of news, political, legal, business, and reference information in full-text format. Primary source of newspaper articles, including those from the Washington Post and the New York Times. Federal code, regulations, and case law, plus state codes and case law are also included.

MasterFILE Premier
MasterFILE Premier provides abstracts and indexing for 2,650 general periodicals. Full text of articles for nearly 2,000 periodicals, and 5,000 full text Magill Book Reviews.

netLibrary
netLibrary is a collection of E-texts covering topics specifically chosen by Maryland Academic Libraries. It includes computer science, business, international relations, education, environmental science, psychology, and civil rights law and history collections.

ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect provides abstracts and indexing for more than 1800 science journals. Full text of more than 800 journals is available. Some articles are in languages other than English.

US Patent Database
The U.S. Patent Database provides full-text patents, images of patents, and published patent applications from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web database.

return to top

Periodicals

The level of scholarship is different in various publications. Information on how to distinguish scholarly journals from trade publications and popular magazines can be found at http://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/journals.html.

Physics E-Journals

This is a list of physics journals with electronic access. It was created to help students and faculty find information in the field of Physics. The goal is to eventually make this an exhaustive list of electronic physics journals.

  A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

return to top

Internet Resources

American Physical Society(APS)
http://www.aps.org/resources/
Physics Related Resources on the Internet (APS)

Intute: Science, Engineering, & Technology
http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/physics/
The Intute Physics Gateway provides free access to high quality resources on the Internet.

Lasers, Optics and Photonics
http://optics.org/
Lasers, Optics and Photonics Resources and News

Online Particle Physics Information
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/library/pdg/hepinfo.html
Online resources that are of value to the particle physics community.

Physics Central
http://www.physicscentral.com/
Learn how your world works

Physics Web
http://physicsweb.org/
Physics news, jobs and resources

PhysLINK
http://www.physlink.com/
Physics and Astronomy online

PhysNet
http://physnet.uni-oldenburg.de/PhysNet/
The worldwide physics departments and documents network

PSRC Physical Sciences Resource Center
http://physnet.uni-oldenburg.de/PhysNet/
American Association of Physics Teachers

return to top

American Association for Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)
http://www.aapm.org/

American Institute of Physics (AIP)
http://www.aip.org/

American Physical Society (APS)
http://www.aps.org/

European Physical Society
http://www.eps.org/

Institute of Physics (IoP)
http://www.ioppublishing.com/

International Association of Mathematical Physics (IAMP)
http://www.iamp.org/

International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
http://www.ictp.it/

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)
http://www.iupap.org/

Scholarly Societies List
http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/physics_soc.html

return to top