Find Articles in Databases & Journals
Use databases to search multiple online journals at the same time. Find articles about a specific topic by using keywords, subject headings, authors, and more.
- More: Geography Related Databases
- More: Databases by Subject
- More: Journal & Article Locator
Find Background Information
Reference sources, online or in print, include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and directories and are great starting points for background information about a specific topic.
- The Dictionary of Human Geography
- The Dictionary of Physical Geography
- The Encyclopedia of Earth
- Encyclopedia of Geography
- Geography of the World
- GIS Dictionary (Esri)
- International Encyclopedia of Human Geography
- The World Factbook (CIA)
Browse Useful Websites
Websites can provide statistics, data, articles, documents, and other information about a specific field of study.
- American Geographical Society
- Association of American Geographers
- Illinois Geographical Society
- National Geographic Society
Develop Research Skills
Geography Research Guides
Research guides provide suggestions for finding and using information about a specific subject.
Class Guides
Class guides are created by librarians to provide guides to helpful sources for a particular class.
Use Additional Library Resources
Geography Related Libraries and Library Services
Learn About Other Resources on Campus
Learn about geography resources, research, and services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
About the Geography Collection
The Geography Collection in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library supports the instructional and research programs in the Department of Geography & Geographic Information Science and the faculty and students in other departments with programs that include particular aspects of geography. Geography research intersects with many other disciplines and the library’s collections reflect this. Geographers may be interested in browsing additional collections and resources in anthropology, cartography, computer science, demography, geology, history, and sociology depending upon their research. Books concentrating on geography, discovery and exploration, and climate have been collected by the University Library since its inception, but were not brought together until 1911 when the Natural History Library was formed. The geography collections were moved to the Map Library in 1956 to form the Map & Geography Library (now the Map Library) in Room 418 of the Main Library. The library’s geography collection and services transferred to the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL) in the the summer of 2011. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) materials are located in both SSHEL and the Map Library. For more information about the geography collection, see the Geography Collections Statement: 2005.
Please direct all comments or requests for information to Jessica Hagman, 217-333-3005.