Research Guide for Energy: Semester in Dialogue

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Belzberg Library welcomes students in the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue to SFU Vancouver. This guide will help you to use our library to find and evaluate research material for your projects. If you have any further questions about library services, please contact Karen Marotz, Head, Belzberg Library at 778-782-5054 or marotz@sfu.ca.

Research Sources for Energy

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.

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.

1. 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; Fraser- 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:
    • Climatic Changes
    • Energy Conservation
    • Energy Consumption
    • Energy Industries
    • Energy Policy
    • Global Environmental Change
    • Petroleum Reserves
    • Power Resources
    • Product Life Cycle
    • Renewable Energy Sources
    • Transportation - Environmental Aspects

Journal and Newspaper Articles

  • All print and electronic journals subscribed to by the SFU Library are listed in the catalogue. Electronic journals are also listed in the Electronic Journals Database by title, subject and by the association/organization who publishes the journal.
  • 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 photocopies of articles through the "Where Can I Get This?" link. 

    Suggested article databases for Energy:

    • Academic Search Premier - multidisciplinary index to academic and popular journals.
    • Alternative Press Index - alternative and radical media.
    • Applied Science and Technology Index - technical, professional and trade publications including energy resources and research.
    • Business Source Complete - business and economic aspects of energy-related topics.
    • Canadian Newsstream - full text of major Canadian newspapers and Canwest's small market BC papers.
    • Canadian Electronic Library - monograph publications from policy and research institutes, think tanks, advocacy groups, government agencies and university research centres.
    • Canadian Research Index - Canadian government publications.
    • CBCA Complete (Canadian Business and Current Affairs) - covers news, business, and academic sources with a Canadian focus, including resource & environmental management.
    • Environment Complete - environmental aspects of subjects including energy, renewable energy sources and natural resources.
    • Geobase - key human and physical geography database with interdisciplinary coverage for researching environmental and development issues.
    • Web of Science - multidisciplinary source that indexes thousands of social science and humanities journals in addition to science journals. It also includes cited reference searches.

Statistics and Government Sources

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 Energy:

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.