Vancouver: Wilding Vancouver: 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 research material for this topic. If you have any further questions about library services, please contact Jorge Cárdenas, Head, Belzberg Library at 778.782.5054 or jorgec@sfu.ca.

Research Sources for Vancouver: Wilding Vancouver

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.

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 - some suggestions are "urban ecology" or "urban wilderness". Once you have found some good results with your keyword searches, use the subjects on those items to focus your search.
  • The main SUBJECT heading for information about Vancouver is:
    • Vancouver (B.C.)
      • Note the list of SUBHEADINGS for more specific aspects of the city.
  • Try the following SUBJECT headings for general topics related to urban ecology and use the SUBHEADING British Columbia Vancouver to focus on this area:
    • City and Town Life
    • City Planning - Environmental Aspects
    • Community Development, Urban
    • Human Ecology
    • Public Spaces
    • Restoration Ecology
    • Sustainable Architecture
    • Sustainable Development
    • Urban Agriculture
    • Urban Ecology Sociology
    • Urban Renewal
  • 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. Try journals that have the tags: environment and society and urban studies.
  • Connect to Journal Articles and Databases to find articles in academic journals, trade magazines, reports and newspapers. 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. Browse by subject area to identify useful databases for your topic

    Suggested article databases for Wilding Vancouver:

    • Academic Search Premier - multidisciplinary index to academic and popular journals.
    • Alternative Press Index - alternative and radical media.
    • Canadian Newsstream - fulltext 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.
    • KnowBC - Interactive version of the encyclopedia about BC.
    • ENVIROnetBASE - e-books in the Environmental Sciences
    • Environment Complete - database with a particular focus on environmental issues
    • Geobase - key human and physical geography database with interdisciplinary coverage of urban topics.
    • Sociological Abstracts - sociological aspects of community development and urban studies; includes cited references.
    • Web of Science - citation index - particularly useful for finding out who else cited an article that you have found relevant.

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 World Wide Web Research guide for additional help in finding and evaluating web sites.

Subject websites:

Local resources:

  • Biking around Vancouver: City of Vancouver bike routes map; Translink biking maps.
  • Car free Vancouver Day - it's all in the title.
  • CityFarmBoy - promotes urban agriculture, farming and gardening as a viable and environmentally positive way to enhance landscapes and lifestyles.
  • EcoUrbia - portal for initiatives/programs organized by sustainability-driven organizations in the Vancouver area.
  • Edible Garden Project - information and volunteering opportunities for people interested in growing vegetables in their gardens.
  • Greening the Inner City - a network of local businesses and organizations that support sustainability.
  • Heritage Vancouver - a non-profit society dedicated to the conservation of Vancouver's built, cultural and natural heritage.
  • Smart Growth BC - non-governmental organization devoted to fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible land use and development.
  • The Urban Treefrog - living Green in the concrete jungle.
  • Think City - non-profit association working to help citizens realize the issues facing their communities and develop collective solutions.
  • Vancouver Bibliography (U.B.C.) - a comprehensive listing of all materials on the subject of Vancouver from 1790-2001. Lists over 20,000 items in many formats including books, manuscripts, maps, films, articles, microforms and others.
  • Vancouver Parks, Recreation and Culture - information on the Vancouver parks administered by the city.
  • Vancouver Community Agriculture Network - dedicated to helping groups starting and managing urban gardens.
  • Vancouver Public Library - check out their guide to environmental sustainability.
  • Vancouver Public Space Network - advocacy group concerned with all aspects of public space, including creative (re)-greening of the public environment and public access to the decision-making process around public space. See their tools page for links and bibliographies.

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.