Library Guides: EES 325: Remote Sensing of Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments: Background Info

Background Information

It is important to have some general knowledge of your topic before delving further into your research! It will situate your research and provide a context for doing more specific or refined searching.

In addition to these resources, see the section "Finding Review articles", which describes a type of scholarly article that can help provide background information.

As you read papers and work on your presentation, the resources you find on this page can:

help create a good introduction to a paper, in the place where you lay out the big context of the more specific points to follow
help you understand technical terminology you encounter in reading papers and books
point to other useful resources as you get further into your topic

Encyclopedias and other reference materials

Elsevier encyclopedias
Click on the URL then click on the magnifying glass at the top (to the right of the text "journals and books". A box will open where you can search by your topic. Then, on the left, you can restrict by "Article type". There, select Encyclopedia.
ScienceDirect Topics
Topic pages are designed to help you get up to speed with new topics in your field of research or area of study. The extracts provided on ScienceDirect Topics are written by subject matter experts and are drawn from foundational and reference materials.

Treatise on Geochemistry
Encyclopedic resource providing coverage of a wide range of areas, for example, the cust, mantle and core; the atmosphere; oceans, grounwater, sediments,biogeochemistry, planets, and much more.
Access Science
Online encyclopedia and dictionary for the sciences. Includes biographies, images and animations, and videos.

Encyclopedia of Volcanoes
"Written by nearly 100 world experts in volcanology."

eLS

Formerly Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, this resource from Wiley contains over 5000 peer-reviewed articles. Access through 2024.
Oxford Reference Online
Oxford Reference includes dictionaries, including authoritative dictionaries for many languages, encyclopedias, and companions, featuring more in-depth but still brief entries, e.g. Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization.

Search tips for common resources

Google Advanced Search
Get precise with your Google searches! Some useful constraints are domain type (like .gov for government websites) and exact words or phrases.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia can be a valuable source of background information and a stepping stone to discovering academic resources. Often, Wikipedia has useful links listed at the bottom of an article. You will have to independently confirm the information you find in Wikipedia.

Books as a source of background information

Books can be a great source of background information. You can look up books, whether print or electronic, in ASA, Lehigh's online catalog.

LTS Homepage and Library Single Search
The home page for Library & Technology Services (LTS), where you can use the Library Single Search to discover books, ebooks, articles, and more.

Dissertations and theses as a source of background information, literature reviews, and bibliography

Dissertations or theses can be a source of background information, literature reviews, and bibliography. Also: a good dissertations or theses can provide models.

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ Lehigh University

Complete copies of Lehigh dissertations and masters theses.

Finding Theses and Dissertations
by Ilhan Citak Last Updated Dec 3, 2025 1201 views this year

EES 325: Remote Sensing of Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

Background Information

Encyclopedias and other reference materials

Search tips for common resources

Books as a source of background information

Dissertations and theses as a source of background information, literature reviews, and bibliography

Library and Technology Services

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