Science electronic resources: by subject
Owing to licensing restrictions, subscribed resources can only be accessed from British Library workstations within our Reading Rooms.
Freely available resources are indicated as such.
Titles are available in all the Library's London Reading Rooms, except where indicated.
If you do not find the resource you are looking for, see the Library's complete listing of electronic resources.
 Online resources |
 CD-ROMs |
Biological and Life Sciences (including food and agriculture)
| Name | Brief Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| AGRICOLA | A bibliographic database of citations to the agricultural literature created by the National Agricultural Library and its cooperators. This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| AGRIS 1975 to present |
An international multi-lingual database covering all aspects of agriculture. | |
| Biological Sciences | "Cluster" search facility, allowing combined access to the following sources: ASFA 1: Biological Sciences and Living Resources; ASFA Aquaculture Abstracts; ASFA Marine Biotechnology Abstracts; Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology Abstracts; Algology Mycology and Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C); Animal Behavior Abstracts; Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B); BioEngineering Abstracts; CSA Neurosciences Abstracts; Calcium and Calcified Tissue Abstracts; Chemoreception Abstracts; Ecology Abstracts; Entomology Abstracts; Genetics Abstracts; Health and Safety Science Abstracts; Human Genome Abstracts; Immunology Abstracts; Industrial and Applied Microbiology Abstracts (Microbiology A); Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Abstracts; Nucleic Acids Abstracts; Oncogenes and Growth Factors Abstracts; Toxicology Abstracts; Virology and AIDS Abstracts. CSA Biological Sciences Helpsheet (Word format, 1.75 MB). |
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| Biology Browser | Provides access to resources such as the Nomenclature Glossary for Zoology and the Zoological Record Thesaurus. Contains links to current biological science news stories, relevant web sites, forthcoming conferences and more.
This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Biomedical and Life Sciences eBook collection - Springer | A collection of over 2,000 eBooks published between 2005 and date, covering a range of biomedical and life science subjects. Content includes monographs, reference works, encyclopedias and handbooks. For help with this resource: see staff at the Science Reference Enquiry desk. |
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| BIOSIS Citation Index | Bibliographic database covering all areas of life science research. Includes journal citations and abstracts from Biological Abstracts with non-journal coverage (conference proceedings, book chapters, meeting reports etc.) from Biological Abstracts Reports, Reviews and Meetings. 1926-present. | |
| CAB Abstracts 1910 to present |
Bibliographic database compiled by CAB International. Covers literature in the fields of agriculture, forestry, human health, nutrition, animal health, and the management and conservation of natural resources. Includes selected full text documents from the CABI Full Text Database. | |
| Encyclopedia of Life Sciences | The most comprehensive reference work published in the biological sciences. | |
| Food Science and Technology Abstracts 1969 to present |
Covers food sciences, food products and food processing, including journal articles, books, conferences, reports, patents and legislation. | |
| Index of Organism Names | The most complete source of organism names available with millions of animal names, both extant and extinct, at all taxonomic ranks, reported in the scientific literature since 1978, together with plant and virus names. | |
| Proquest Illustrata: Natural Sciences 1997 to present |
This database indexes tables, figures, graphs, charts and other illustrations from scholarly research and technical literature. In most cases, the parent abstract is displayed and links to the full-text documents are provided where available. It has broad subject coverage including most areas in the Natural Sciences |
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| Zoological Record 1864 to present |
Comprehensive index to the worldwide zoological and animal science literature. Records cover all aspects of zoology with specific emphasis on systematic and taxonomic information. Sources indexed include journals, books, meeting reports and conference proceedings. 1864-present. | |
Chemistry
| Name | Brief Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| ANALYTICAL ABSTRACTS 1980 to present |
Contains references to articles dealing solely with analytical chemistry from 3000+ journals. | |
| CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS COLLECTIVE INDEXES 12TH (1987-1991) 13TH (1992-1996) 14TH (1997-2001) |
A five-year cumulative index to chemical and chemical engineering literature. It includes journal papers, patents, conference proceedings government reports, dissertations and books. Resource available on a dedicated workstation in the Science Reading Room - floor 3. |
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| CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS on CD (CA on CD) 2002- to date |
A cumulative index to chemical and chemical engineering literature, updated monthly. It includes journal papers, patents, conference proceedings, government eports, dissertations and books. For help with this resource: see staff at the Science Reference Enquiry desk. Resource available on a dedicated workstation in the Science Reading Room - floor 3. |
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| ESIS (European chemical Substances Information System) | This EU database provides information on chemicals, covering subjects such as classification and labeling, IUCLID Chemical Data Sheets, Risk Assessment and EU Producers/Importers lists. This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology | Covers all areas of the chemical industry and allied fields. A useful resource for chemists, biochemists, engineers and anyone needing information on chemistry related topics. | |
| Reaxys | Web-based chemistry database that offers extensive coverage of organic, inorganic and organometallic chemistry information. Based on the combined content of CrossFire Beilstein, CrossFire Gmelin and the Patent Chemistry Databases. | |
| TOXNET | Toxicology Data Network. This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry | Covers the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry including organic and inorganic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, metals and alloys, food chemistry etc. | |
Energy and Environment
| Name | Brief Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Aqualine 1960 to present |
Water sciences and hydrology. | |
| Earth and Environmental Sciences eBook Collection – Springer | A collection of over 1,200 eBooks published between 2005 and date covering a range of earth and environmental science subjects. Content includes monographs, reference works, encyclopedias and handbooks. For help with this resource: see staff at the Science Reference Enquiry desk. |
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| Ecology Abstracts 2005 to present |
Part of Biological Sciences. Focuses on how organisms of all kinds - microbes, plants, and animals - interact with their environments and with other organisms. Includes relevant papers on evolutionary biology, economics, and systems analysis as they relate to ecosystems or the environment. | |
| ENERGY CITATIONS | Contains bibliographic records for energy and energy-related scientific and technical information from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies. The Database provides access to DOE publicly available citations from 1948 to the present, with continued growth through regular updates. This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management (ESPM) | Offers access to the international literature in the environmental sciences. Provides abstracts and citations drawn from scientific journals, conference proceedings, reports, monographs and government publications. Updated monthly. | |
| GreenFile 1984 to present |
Offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for approximately 295,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,600 records. This resource is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Pollution Abstracts 1981 to present |
Provides information on scientific research and government policies in a single resource. Topics of growing concern are extensively covered from the standpoints of atmosphere, emissions, mathematical models, effects on people and animals, and environmental action in response to global pollution issues. Material from conference proceedings and hard-to-find documents has been summarized along with information from primary journals in the field. | |
Engineering and Technology
| Name | Brief Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Compendex (Available through Engineering Village) |
Compendex is a comprehensive interdisciplinary engineering database, covering the entire spectrum of engineering, with abstracts from over 5,000 journals, conference papers and proceedings, and technical reports. | |
| ENGINEERING VILLAGE (EV2) 1884 to present |
Includes the the Compendex and INSPEC and NTIS databases covering all aspects of engineering plus applied physics, computing, data processing, nuclear technology industry standards and engineering management. | |
| ICONDA 1976 to present |
The CIB International Construction Database covering all forms of building construction, architecture and planning. | |
| IEEE Xplore | IEEE Xplore, published by the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, provide US industry validated and globally respected technical standards in the areas of telecommunications, transport safety, instrumentation, nanotechnology, computer networking and engineering and electrical power generation. | |
| Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology | Covers all areas of the chemical industry and allied fields. A useful resource for chemists, biochemists, engineers and anyone needing information on chemistry related topics. | |
| METADEX 1966 to present |
A comprehensive source for information on metals and alloys: their properties, manufacturing, applications, and development. | |
| NTIS (Available through Engineering Village) 1983 to present |
National Technical Information Service. Containing over 2.0 million bibliographic records, the NTIS Database can be used for accessing the latest research sponsored by the United States and select foreign governments. | |
| Polymer Library (RAPRA) 1972 to present |
References with abstracts to commercial and technical literature on the rubber, plastics and adhesives industries. | |
| Risk Abstracts 1990 to present |
Published in association with the Institute for Risk Research at the University of Waterloo. A comprehensive source for interdisciplinary perpectives on identification and alleviation of risk arising from industrial, technological, environmental and other sources, with an emphasis on assessment and management of risk. Includes risk-related concerns from public and environmental health, social issues and psychological aspects. | |
| Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry | Covers the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry including organic and inorganic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, metals and alloys, food chemistry etc. | |
Geology and Geography
| Name | Brief Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Geobase 1980 to present |
Multidisciplinary database containing bibliographic information and abstracts in the fields of development studies, the earth sciences, ecology, geomechanics, human geography, and oceanography. The database provides current coverage of over 1,800 journals and archive coverage of several thousand additional titles. | |
| GEOREF 1785 to present |
Covers worldwide technical literature on geology and geophysics. | |