Thursday, March 20, 2008

Good Stuff? - A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy

"Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from, if antibacterial soap is good for your family, or how to recycle an old computer? If you've had these or other questions about the environmental and social impacts of the products you buy and use, Good Stuff is for you. It contains many of the tips, facts, and links you'll need to start making more informed purchases that benefit your health and the environment."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Google Advanced Search Changes

Have you made use of the advanced search in Google? It provides more options to narrow your search and the page has recently changed to make it even easier to input your terms and select from a range of tools to refine your search further. Click on the link above to access the new format.

Australasian Digital Theses Program

This is a great site for locating new research produced at Australian universities. It provides full text digitised PhD and Masters by Research theses covering the years 1998 to present, with some earlier titles also scanned.

Newstext

Looking for full text newspaper articles from the last 10 years? Newstext provides access to over 150 News Corporation newspapers worldwide, including the Courier Mail, Sunday Mail and The Australian. NB There is a username and password to log on.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

EcoLabelling.org

"This recently launched site has already compiled data on more than 260 of the world's estimated 410 green labelling schemes, with the overall goal of taking the mystery out of the bewildering herd of green labels by studying the foundations of all types of eco-labels aimed at both consumers and corporations."

Looking specifically for electronic documents on the EPA library catalogue?

Try this trick. In the 'Boolean Search' option, type your keyword and add 'and http' to narrow your search to any records that contain a web link.

Example: sustainability and http

Friday, March 7, 2008

Abbreviations.com

Browse acronyms and abbreviations by category. Select 'International' to access the 214 Australian entries.

The Centre for Natural Burial

"A modern natural burial is an environmentally sustainable alternative to existing funeral practices where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally and be recycled into new life." This interesting site compares conventional funerals and natural burial options.

Here is just one excerpt from the extensive Media Archive: "Nearly a million gallons of embalming fluid is buried across North America each year...exposure to formaldehyde has led to a higher incidence of leukemia and cancers of the brain and colon among funeral directors."

Sapling.info

This architectural, planning and landscape information gateway features reviewed links to topics including sustainabiity, regneration, heritage and urban design.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Koedoe

Published by the South African National Parks (SANParks) in the interest of conservation globally, "Koedoe aims to provide information and insight into the areas of conservation and science within protected areas across Africa. The journal publishes papers on a wide range of themes and from a wide range of ecosystems, with a focus on protected areas of all kinds." Koedoe have recently announced that the journal will now be published online in an open journal format which means all articles will be available to download for free!

Scitopia

"Scitopia.org searches the entire electronic libraries of the leading [American]voices in major science and technology disciplines and provides relevant results, without the noise of other Internet search engines. More than three million documents, including peer-reviewed journal content and technical conference papers, spanning 150 years of science and technology can be searched through the site."