Resources - ENVR 417 - Community-Engaged Research in Environmental Studies

Previous research projects

Often, earlier Bates students have been interested in similar topics.

Community Engaged Research Reports

SCARAB: Digital Commons @ Bates This link opens in a new window
You can find honors theses (from 2012 onward) and some other capstone projects here.

Theses at Bates
Search within the complete list of honors theses at Bates, including pre-2012 theses, as well as some non-honors theses.

Technical reports

Technical reports are released prior to journal article publication and are frequently more detailed. Federal agencies frequently produce technical reports. The first step is to identify relevant agencies, and then explore their publications via their websites.

Or, try some of the resources listed below.

Google Site Search - site:gov
Searches all website domains that end in .gov, which allows you to search across most federal, state, and local government sites.
National Technical Reports Library
Index to technical reports produced by government agencies.
Find Technical Reports: Research Guide
From the Colorado School of Mines.
Congressional Research Service Reports
Non-partisan research from the Library of Congress.

News sources

Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Newspapers, broadcast transcripts, wire service reports and international news sources. Includes New York Times. Publication dates: 1977 to current
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Full-text news, law, and business-related research. Publication dates: Varies by titles; 1980s to the present. L/N lexis nexis nexus lexus lexisnexis

Books

Outdoor Education by Stephen T. Schroth
Published: 2023
Climate Adaptability of Buildings by Mitja Kosir
Published: 2019
Teaching and Learning in Urban Agricultural Community Contexts by Isha DeCoito (Editor); Amie Patchen (Editor); Neil Knobloch (Editor); Levon Esters (Editor)
Published: 2021
Climate Action Planning: A Guide to Creating Low-Carbon, Resilient Communities by Michael R. Boswell; Adrienne I. Greve; Tammy L. Seale
Published: 2019
Adapting Cities to Sea Level Rise by Stefan Al; Edgar Westerhof (Foreword by)
Published: 2018

Maps and data for land cover, land use, property, etc.

MRLC Viewer
Land cover data, 2001-2019.
Maine Office of GIS Catalog
Wide variety of GIS data for Maine.
Modeled Historical Land Use and Land Cover for the Conterminous United States: 1938-1992
TIFF files of estimated historical land use, described in related article
NatureServe Terrestrial Ecological Systems
Data on the status and location of species and ecosystems.
Lewiston Parcel Viewer
Shows current ownership of tracts of land.
LANDFIRE
Geo-spatial layers on vegetation, fuel, and disturbance.
National Hydrography Dataset
Can be downloaded from the National Map.

Methods

Research Methods for Social Sciences
Guide to resources on learning research methods, including interviews, focus groups, and so on.

The Survey Kit: How to Design Survey Studies by Arlene Fink
Location: HN29 .S724 2003
Focus Groups by Richard A. Krueger; Mary Anne Casey
Location: H61.28 .K78 2000
GIS Research Methods by Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg; Steven J. Steinberg
Location: Online.
Published: 2015

Historic maps of Lewiston

Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970 (Maine Only) This link opens in a new window
Detailed large-scale building and land-use maps of 148 Maine towns and cities.
Combined with other sources such as city directories, photographs, small-scale maps, census records, genealogies, and statistical data, the Sanborn maps provide an unparalleled picture of life in American towns and cities. The maps provide a wealth of information, such as building outline, size and shape, windows and doors, street and sidewalk widths, boundaries, and property numbers. Plans often include details on construction materials and building use; and also depict pipelines, railroads, wells, water mains, dumps, and other features likely to affect the property's vulnerability to earthquake, fire, and flood.

Library of Congress Sanborn Map Collection
These are in full color. Some are available for Lewiston.
USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer
Click on a location to see available topographic maps.
Atlas and History of Androscoggin County
Land ownership maps,1873; see Special Collections about access. Also available online in Ancestry.
Lewiston History Research Guide
Primary and secondary sources for studying Lewiston.

Laws, codes, ordinances, regulations and policies

Most local ordinances can be found on the website for that city's government.

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Legal materials.

Georgetown Law Library Research Guides
Nicely organized guides to various fields in law.

Code libraries

Articles in Environmental Studies

Scopus This link opens in a new window
Sciences and social sciences journal article citations. Searchable by author affiliation and citation count.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
Education journal articles and reports. Publication dates: 1966 to present.
Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) This link opens in a new window
Aquatic sciences journal articles, trade magazines and technical reports. Publication dates: 1971-present
Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
Environmental policy and studies.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Sociology journal articles. Publication dates: 1895-present soc index
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Accessible information on human impact on the environment.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Content from academic publishers, professional societies, universities, and other web sites.
From academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.

Organize your research

Google Docs Template
Organize and share your research using a copy or this read only Google Doc worksheet.
Zotero
Manage, share, and format your citation information in either Google Docs or MS Word.

Social Science Librarian

Christine Murray

Contact:

Ladd Library 132
(207) 786-6268
cmurray2@bates.edu

I am usually at the Research Desk Mon. 10-1, Tues. 6-9, and Thurs. 1-4

Subjects: African Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Chinese, Economics, Environmental Studies, History, Japanese, Languages and Literatures, Legal Studies, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, U. S. History

Science Librarian

Pete Schlax

Contact:

Ladd Library 133
(207) 786-8328
pschlax2@bates.edu

I am usually at the Research Desk Mon. 1-4, Wed. 6-9, and Thurs. 10-1

Subjects: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Digital and Computational Studies, Earth and Climate Sciences, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics