Belzberg Library welcomes students in the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue to SFU Vancouver. This guide will help you to use our library to find research material for this topic.

Research Sources for Semester in the City

Library research involves selecting your topic, identifying the best sources and appropriate research tools, accessing the items found and evaluating your results. Start Your Research Here is a brief guide that will help you with this process.

Start your hunt for information "at home" by visiting the SFU Library home page. This gathers all the best research tools, guides and research help in one place. Try our Library Search engine from the home page to quickly find books, articles and information on the library website in one search.

Books, articles and web sites on your course reading list or course outline can also provide a good starting point, particularly if the items include bibliographies, references or links to related material.

Books, Ebooks, Films, Music, Sound, Slides

Search the catalogue to find all books, reports and media materials in the SFU Library at all three campuses (Belzberg - Vancouver; Bennett - Burnaby; Surrey - SFU Surrey).

• Searching by KEYWORD is generally the best way to start. Once you have found some good results with your keyword searches, use the subjects on those items to focus your search.
• Try the following SUBJECT headings:
  • City Planning - Environmental Aspects
  • Community development, Urban
  • Conservation of natural resources
  • Environmental impact analysis
  • Environmental policy
  • Environmental protection
  • Environmental responsibility
  • Human Ecology
  • Nature -- effect of human beings on
  • Political Ecology
  • Public Spaces
  • Refuse And Refuse Disposal
  • Regional Planning
  • Salvage Waste Etc
  • Sustainable Agriculture
  • Sustainable Development
  • Urban Beautification
  • Urban Ecology Sociology
  • Urban Renewal
  • Urban Policy
  • Waste minimization
• The main SUBJECT heading for information about Vancouver is:
  • Vancouver (B.C.) (Note the list of SUBHEADINGS for more specific aspects of the city.)

• If the item is not available at Belzberg Library, or is out on loan, please request it!
• For a step-by-step interactive guide to searching the SFU catalogue, see the SFU Library Catalogue Search Guide.

Journal and Newspaper Articles

• All print and electronic journals subscribed to by the SFU Library are listed in the catalogue. 
• Connect to Journal Articles and Databases to find articles in academic journals, trade magazines, reports and newspapers, as well as financial and statistical data. Many indexes provide online access to the full text of the articles or allow you to directly request copies of articles through the "Where Can I Get This?" link. Browse by subject area to identify useful databases for your topic.

  Suggested article databases for Semester in the City

  • Academic Search Premier - multidisciplinary index to academic and popular journals.
  • Alternative Press Index - alternative and radical media journals
  • Business Source Complete - index to business journals, industry magazines, and industry & market reports
  • Canadian Newsstream - full-text of major Canadian newspapers and small market BC papers.
  • Canadian Electronic Library - Public policy documents from Canadian institutes, think-tanks and research groups
  • Canadian Research Index - Canadian government publications.
  • CBCA Complete (Canadian Business and Current Affairs) - covers news, business, and academic sources with a Canadian focus.
  • ELDIS Gateway to Development Information - subject-focused guides, statistics, and resources on development policy, practice and research including environmental issues.
  • ENVIROnetBASE - e-books in the Environmental Sciences
  • Environment Complete - major database on environmental topics
  • GEOBASE - key human and physical geography database with interdisciplinary coverage of urban topics.
  • GreenFILE - research database focusing on the relationship between human beings and the environment
  • Sociological Abstracts - sociological aspects of community development and urban studies; includes cited references.
  • Web of Science -multi-disciplinaryy source and citation index - particularly useful for finding out who else cited an article that you have found relevant.

• Try the same subject terms as suggested for books, or check the thesaurus or list of subject terms within the database. For help with searching databases, check Finding Journal Articles and/or Moving From Citation to Article.
• For books and articles not online or at SFU, request an Interlibrary Loan.

Statistics and Government Sources

• BC Stats Publications - The A-Z index (located on the upper left corner) provides access to BC Statistics by subject.
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) - provides tools and research on sustainable community planning and housing
• City of Vancouver - provides information and links to city projects and initiatives, including the Greenest City 2020 initiative and neighbourhood and community garden walking tours, found in Calendar of events.
• City of Vancouver Areas of the City Web Pages - information about Vancouver's local neighbourhoods, including profiles, partnership programs, projects and community events.
• Environment Canada - Federal Ministry of Environment; check the Nature and Sustainable development pages.
• European Environment Agency - European Union source of environmental data including a section on the urban environment.
• Government of British Columbia (B.C. Government) - access point to all Government of British Columbia organizations and services including the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development responsible for local government.
• Metro Vancouver - Community planning and development information, including an overview of Metro Vancouver's Sustainable Region Initiative
• Statistics Canada: Statistics by Subject - The main source for Canadian statistical information, including statistics on the environment. Check the Community Profiles for city and community-level statistics.

Selected Internet Sources

In addition to the library catalogue and databases, you will find a lot of good information on the web. Governments, research institutes, non-profit organizations, industry and other associations and companies all have web sites - many with publications freely available. Use a web search engine such as Google, Google Scholar or Ask.com to find additional information, including the web sites of interest groups and other organizations. Check the Library's Internet Research guide for additional help in finding and evaluating web sites.

Useful sites for Semester in the City

• A number of cities worldwide have initiatives similar to Vancouver's Greenest City: Hamburg, London, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Sydney - among many others.
• Center for Ecoliteracy - provides education for sustainable living, including food, culture, health and the environment
• Cyburbia: The Planning Community -  a social networking site for urban planners and others interested in cities and the built environment.
• Encyclopedia of Earth - a resource from Earth Portal, a comprehensive resource for science-based information about the environment.
• The Global Development Research Center (GDRC) - a non-profit organization that carries out initiatives in education and research in the areas of environmental sustainability, urbanization and community development. For resources that intersect these themes, go to the Urban Environmental Management Programmes page
• Green City Index - produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by technology corporation Siemens, this index assesses and compares cities worldwide in terms of their environmental performance.
• Grist - nonprofit online magazine for environmental news and commentary.
• The Natural Step Canada - non-profit organization focused on research on sustainability issues, including sustainability best practice toolkits.
• Nature in the City - example of a project in San Francisco to reconnect people with nature.
• NewCity Institute - promotes best practices research and implementation focused on cities, sustainability and citizen participation, and includes links to local projects.
• Sustainable Communities Online - links citizens to resources and to one another to create sustainable communities.
• SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development - teaching and research unit that aims to integrate economic, social and environmental objectives in community development.
• Upcycle magazine - projects and products centered around the idea of upcycling (converting waste.old products into new materials).

Research guides for related subjects

• Subject Research guides are produced by SFU liaison librarians to point you to the best external sources as well as providing information about publications available in the library. Try these guides for further suggestions.

Ask Us!

• If you would like any further assistance or information about the library or your research, don't hesitate to Ask a Librarian in person, by phone, email or interactive reference.