Conference proceedings are valuable primary sources of information. Papers presented at conferences, congresses, and symposia provide access to original research before the search results are published in journal literature; these papers frequently provide the first or only place where a specific research result is presented. Bibliographic control of such information is provided by two types of sources, those which provide notification of the holding of meetings, and indexes which identify conference papers and proceedings. Conference proceedings may be published as monographs, reports, preprints, journal issues, etc. and are sometimes published years after the meeting; proceedings are published for approximately two-thirds of all conferences, and some are published only in abstract form. The following sources provide access to information on meetings and to the published conference literature.

Search Conference Name as Author

If you know the name of the conference, select Browse, type the conference name, and select Author.

Example: Search "Symposium on Mathematical Biology" as Author; you will retrieve a record for volumes 1-10, a note indicating that the 13th symposium- are cataloged as monographs, and a cross reference to an earlier title: Some Mathematical Problems in Biology.

Search by Subject

In EUCLID all conferences, meetings, and symposia are cataloged with the term CONGRESS following the subject term. If you know the subject of the conference, search the subject term followed by the word CONGRESS.

Example: Search "Salt marshes--Congresses" as subject. The search will retrieve Salt Marsh Conference (1958 : Marine Institute, Sapelo Island, Ga.)

Example: Select KEYWORD and search "(marsh or reef) and congresses" as subject. This search will retrieve 11 records including Salt Marsh Conference (1958 : Marine Institute, Sapelo Island, Ga.).

Search by Keyword

If you do not know the exact name of a conference or the relevant Library of Congress subject headings, try KEYWORDS. A keyword search looks for records that contain the terms entered.

Example: Select KEYWORD, type forest and ecolog and congresses, select SEARCH EVERYTHING. 73 records are retrieved. This is a broad search, and some records may not be relevant. Look at a few of the records, and you will find that Forest ecology--Congresses is a subject heading.

Click on Forest ecology--Congresses in any record, and you will retrieve a smaller set of records with that subject heading. A more effective search might be KEYWORD: Forest ecology Congresses as subject headings. This search will retrieve Forest ecology United States Congresses. Forest ecology Tropics Congresses, etc.

Search by Title

Example:If you know the exact title, Select BROWSE, type Computational Methods in Genome Research; select TITLE.

Both GENERAL and HEALTH own the proceedings of this international symposium.

Search for conference proceedings published as U.S. Government Documents.

Example: Select KEYWORD, type forests and ecology and congresses, select SEARCH EVERYTHING. 73 records are retrieved. Click on LIMIT SEARCH. Under Search Limits, choose Itemtype: GOVDOC, click on SEARCH EVERYTHING again. 2 records are currently retrieved.

The following databases and others provide access to conference papers and proceedings

 ACM Portal to Computing Literature

BIOSIS Previews (1985-1989) (1989 --)

GeoRef

History of Science, Technology & Medicine

INSPEC

PapersFirst

provides access to individual papers presented at conferences worldwide, PapersFirst is a major new research aid, covering every congress, symposium, exposition, workshop, and meeting added to The British Library Document Supply Centre's vast proceedings collection since October 1993.

 

ProceedingsFirst

provides tables of contents of papers presented at conferences worldwide. Each ProceedingsFirst record contains a list of the papers presented at each conference. Like its companion, PapersFirst, ProceedingsFirst provides access to The British Library Document Supply Centre's vast collection of conference proceedings. 1993 to the present; updated monthly.

 

Zoological Record

provides access and abstracts for over 6,500 international journals, reviews, annuals, books and proceedings, covering every aspect of biology. 1978 to the present.

To identify other databases that provide access to conference proceedings, try our Database Locator service. Use Select Databases by Category, Conferences, select Papers & Proceedings, click on GO for a list of databases.

The following list of current and retrospective sources located in the Woodruff Library can be used to identify, verify, and locate conferences and conference paper

Bibliographic Guide to Conference Publications. Boston:: G.K. Hall (1965-)
Reference Z5051 .B5

Search WorldCat on GALILEO for conference titles not owned by Emory. From EUCLID, click on Interlibrary Loan to request a book or journal article from another library. Also go to Interlibrary Use Programs for information about direct borrowing privileges at many libraries in the Atlanta/Athens area.

If the citation to a conference paper has been found through an online database which has a document delivery service, the easiest way to obtain a copy of the paper may be to place an online order through that vendor.

Scientific Meetings (1977 to present)
Q101 .S63

World Meetings: Social & Behavioral Sciences, Human Services & Management.
AS8 .W75 (v. 9 ,1979-) Latest in Ref.; others in Stacks

 Managing major public events [computer file] : a planning guide for municipal officials, law enforcement, community leaders, organizers, and promoters. See EUCLID, Emory's online library catalog.

Don't let your next conference go to waste : go for the "green" : planning environmentally sound conferences United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Region IV. EP 1.2:C 76/24

"b-there.com: Perfecting Conference Planning." Alistair Christopher. Venture Capital Journal, Wellesley Hills, May 1, 2001.