Forestry

This is a general guide for the undergraduate and graduate courses in OSU's Forestry program. You'll find suggestions for locating books, articles, topical overviews, research tools, and factual information. If further assistance is needed, please contact the subject librarian for Forestry to arrange an appointment: Bonnie Avery, ph 737-7602, Bonnie.Avery@oregonstate.edu

 

 
Quicklinks
 Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery | Off-Campus Access to Databases and E-Journals


  
Table of Contents
Using the Library
Indexes and Abstracts
Electronic Journals
Forestry Encyclopedias and Handbooks
US Forest Service Report Series
Canadian Report Series
Statistical Sources
Maps and Data
Internet Resources in Forestry
Class Handouts

 

Using the Library

To find forestry-related books, articles, reports, or other kinds of information, the best place to begin searching is The Valley Library's Electronic Reference Center. If you are uncertain where or how to begin, just ask one of the librarian staff at the Reference Desk. In this Reference area you will also access the OSU Libraries' Online Catalog; online databases ("indexes and abstracts") below); and printed reference works (handbooks, encyclopedians, etc.). Much of the forestry material in the library is shelved in the "SD" call number area, but since forestry is multidisciplinary, you will find forestry material housed in other areas as well including, HD (economics), QH (biology), QK (botany), TS (forest products).

Indexes and Abstracts

These and other related databases are available online through the Library's Home Page on the WWW. Earlier years are available in print format. Check titles in OSU Libraries' Online Catalog for call numbers and location.

  • AGRICOLA (via EbscoHost) (Coverage: 1970 - Date) A major forestry database including world literature relating to agriculture and forestry, including most of the work of the U.S. Forest Serivice. A lot, however, is non-English, so beware. The early printed version of this database is the Bibliography of Agriculture (Ref: Z 5073 .U53)
  • Academic Search Premier (via EbscoHost) (Coverage: [1985] - Date) An easy-to-use index to articles in both popular magazines and scholarly journals in all subject areas. Many articles are available in full-text or as PDF files within the database. Reasonably good coverage of forestry topics for *lower division* undergraduate research papers.
  • Biological Abstracts/Biological Abstracts RRM/BIOSIS. (Coverage: 1990-present) The world's major indexing service for biological information in research journals. Contains information on all aspects of biology, including biochemistry, endocrinology, genetics, microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, and physiology. Due to the way this index is designed, subject terms should be searched in article titles and abstract fields and not limited to the descriptor fields. Has thorough systematic indexing.
    Valley Reference   QH1 .B5 1926-1990.
  • Biological and Agricultural Index (Z5073 .A2, Coverage: 1916 - 1990) An easy-to-use subject index to journal articles in English for many areas of forestry. Good for retrospective searches only.
  • Forest Science Database (CAB Direct) (Coverage: 1939 - present) Produced by CAB International, this database covers all areas of forestry research literature, and includes literature references in many foreign languages as well as English. The Forest Science Database contains citations to journal articles, government publications, monographs, and conference proceedings, most with abstracts. Subject headings are listed in the CABI Thesaurus which is accessible when you are connected to this database. CAB has not made a point of collecting extension publications unless they are research based, however this is changing. Still for this information, prefer Agricola
  • TreeSearch: USDA Forest Service Research Publications (Coverage: [1998] - present) Treesearch is provided free by the U.S. Forest Service. It contains peer reviewed, published research findings of the U.S. Forest Service. Includes not only agency publications, but also articles from journals, conference proceedings, and books whose authors are employed by the Forest Service. Includes many retrospective titles earlier than 2004 and will become a more comprehensive resource over time.

University of Minnesota Forestry Bibliographies

Electronic Journals

If you would like to browse forestry related journals in electronic form, these links will take you to lists of journals by subject. Time coverage varies and currently more is in paper than electronically. For a more comprehensive search on a narrower topic, be sure to use the Indexes and Abstracts first.

Forestry Encyclopedias and Handbooks

  • Forestry Handbook Published 1984. A 1335 page resource of tables, figures and explainations for the working forester. Ref: SD 373 .F58
  • Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington by J.F. Franklin and C.T. Dyrness, 1973 [reprint 1988]. A thorough treatment of forest and range ecology for our region of the U.S. Ref: QK 182 .F7 19
  • Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material USDA Agric. Handbook no.72, 1987. An extensive handbook of information about the physical and mechanical aspects of wood and wood products. Ref: S 21 .A42 no.72
  • Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History Contains a variety of articles from forest entomology to hardwood floor, and from Smokey the Bear to the Pacific Coast lumber industry. Be sure to use the index in the second volume. Ref. SD 143 .E53 2 volumes, 1983.

U.S. Forest Service Report Series

The Library has most of the report series issued by the U.S Forest Service, but they are a little tricky to access. See the separate Library "Subject Research Guide" entitled U.S. Forest Service Series which gives the library call numbers for all of these reports. Most Individual reports are not found in the OSU Libraries' Online Catalog, but only the names of the report series (e.g., PNW Research Reports). You must use a tool such as AGRICOLA to identify individual titles and report numbers.

Canadian Report Series

The library has many of the reports produced by Canadian forestry agencies. If you know the series titles, many of these are now available via the web:

Statistical Sources

Also check forestry web sites for forest economic , statistical sites, and databases, such as FAO's FAOSTAT Forestry: (http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/forestry/fonprog2.htm)

  • Statistical Yearbook of the Western Lumber Industry/Western Wood Products Association This publication is thin so look carefully on the shelf. A digest of statistical information on the forest industry for 12 western states. Ref: HD 9754 .W48
  • Production, Prices, Employment, and Trade in Northwest Forest Industries This quarterly publication is part of the PNW-Resource Bulletinseries of the Forest Service. You must dig through the other bulletins in the series to find these gems. SD 144 .A13 A38
  • Random Lengths Yearbook of Forest Products Summarizes monthly and annual price averages of more than 180 key items of lumber, plywood, veneer, etc. Ref: HD 9752 .R3
  • Yearbook of Forest Products An FAO compendium of statistics on world forestry. Usually 3-4 years behind with its data. Ref: SD 131 .F62

Maps and Data

The Library has an extensive Map Collection on the 3rd floor. There are thousands of topographic maps useful for forestry studies. The Map Collection also includes some vegetation and forest maps and atlases. Most maps are cataloged in the OSU Libraries' Online Catalog. Assistance identifying these maps is available from the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor. Once you have a call number, assistance locating maps is available from Archives/Maps Help Desk on the 3rd floor.

The Forest Service provides a Geospatial Clearinghouse for the public at: http://fsgeodata.fs.fed.us/

Internet Resources in Forestry

Return to the Alphabetical or Subject index of the Subject Research Guides.