Locating Biology Information in Dacus Library

Jackie McFadden
Reference Librarian
Winthrop University
August, 2008

Using DOC to find BOOKS

To find biology materials located in Dacus Library, go to the Dacus Online Catalog to search by keyword, author, title, subject, etc.  Be aware that some topics are so narrow that Dacus may not have an entire book on them. For example, if you need information on the "gypsy moth", you may need to enter the broader subject of "moths". If you need information on pesticide use with gypsy moths, look under "pesticides". If you have tried a subject search, you may also want to conduct a word search of your topic, because if there is not an entire book, there may be a chapter in a book on your topic

Useful Print Resources

• Indexes:
• Biological Abstracts (Ref QH301 .B37 - shelved along the outer wall)
• Biology Digest (Ref QH301 .B44 - shelved along the outer wall)

• Reference Books:
• Van Nostrands' s Scientific Encyclopedia (Ref Q121 .V3 2000)
• American Men and Women of Science (Ref. Q141 .A47 22nd Ed. 2005)
• Animal Behavior Desk Reference (Ref. QL750.3 .B37 2001)
• Dictionary of Biology (Ref QH302.5 .I534 1999)
• Encyclopedia of Entomology (Ref QL462.3.E47 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (Ref QH302.5 .E525 2002)
• Facts on File Dictionary of Biology (Ref QH302.5 .F38 1999)
• Encyclopedia of Genetics (Ref. QH427 .E53 2002)
• Encyclopedia of Microbiology (Ref. QR9 .E53 2000)
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (Ref QL7 .G7813 2003)
• Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations (Ref Q173.O915 2005)

Databases for Biology:

The following databases can be accessed from the Dacus Library Online webpage.  Search to find full-text articles, abstracts, or citations.  To obtain full-text articles from abstracts or citations, click the WebBridge link located on the results page or search for the journal title in the Dacus Online Catalog to see if a particular issue is available from Dacus library.  If the library does not have a link to the article, you may need to request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Academic OneFile - A collection of more than 10,000 journals, mostly peer-reviewed, which includes many full-text articles covering a variety of academic disciplines from science and technology to the humanities. Full-text of New York Times to 1995 is included.

AGRICOLA - A FirstSearch database, (a publication of the National Library of Agriculture) which covers the major fields in agricultural science. It also provides good coverage of biological science topics.

Directory of Open Access Journals - Over 3000 full text, scientific and scholarly, open access journals, with 1003 journals searchable at article level.

Dissertation Abstracts - Summaries of dissertations in a wide range of subjects accepted at accredited institutions.  Full text of dissertations is often only available from the institution where submitted.

Geobase - records covering the worldwide literature on geology, geography, and ecology.

HighWire Press - Stanford University's HighWire Press includes many free, full-text science journals.  NOTE:  Not all articles are free.

ISI Web of Knowledge – Premier database for biological information.  Includes Biological Abstracts: 2003-present, Medline: 1950-present, Science Citation Index Expanded: 2003-present, Social Sciences Citation Index: 2003-present, Arts & Humanities Citation Index: 2003-present. Registered users also have access to Endnote Web bibliography manager.

JSTOR - the "scholarly journal archive" provides full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665.  JSTOR is not a current issues database. Because of JSTOR's archival mission, there is a gap, typically from 1 to 5 years, between the most recently published journal issue and the back issues available in JSTOR.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center - Online library of current event topics - the facts, as well as the arguments, of each topic's proponents and detractors.

PubMed - a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to over 11 million MEDLINE citations back to the mid-1960's and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.

Science.gov - Reliable scientific information selected by federal government agencies. Includes authoritative science Web sites and databases of technical reports, journal articles, conference proceedings, and other published materials.

Science Resource Center - One-stop resource for science-related research needs, reflects curriculum trends and focuses on key concepts taught in school classrooms. Primarily designed for use in K-12 schools, but also useful for undergraduate science students.

Internet Resources and Gateways - Biology

These are a few of the many biology related sites located on the Internet.  Most of them will lead you to other, related sites.

ActionBioscience.org ( http://www.actionbioscience.org )  - Peer reviewed bioscience articles, lesson plans, and topic links provided by the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Advanced Placement Digital Library ( http://apdl.rice.edu/ ) - A collection of Internet resources that have been reviewed for their educationa merit.

AgEcon Search ( http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/ ) - A free, open access repository of full-text scholarly literature in agricultural and applied economics, included working papers, conference papers and journal articles.

BEN (BioSciEdNet): A Digital Library of the BIological Scitences for Biology Teaching ( http://www.biosciednet.org/portal ) - The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) pathway for biological sciences education.

Biodiversity and Biological Collections  ( http://www.biocollections.org) - Lists hundreds of sites emphasizing biodiversity, biological societies, biologists, botany, herpetology, ichthyology, mammalology, micorbiology, and ornithology.

BioEd Online ( http://www.bioedonline.org ) - Biology teacher resources. Instant access to reliable, cutting-edge information and educational tools for biology and related subjecdts, includes video presentation and a slide library.

Biology Browser ( http://www.biologybrowser.org ) - A free Web site produced by BIOSIS offering resources for the life sciences information community.  This site includes a forum, conference information, reference sources, and current scientific news.

Biology Online ( http://biology-online.org ) A good beginning source for biological information, ideal for homework, research projects and general interest.

BioTech:  Life Sciences Resources and Reference Tools ( http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/ ) - Annotated links to Web resources and electronic journals in biology and chemistry.

Cell and Molecular Biology Online ( http://www.cellbio.com ) - An informational resources for cell and molecular biologists.

The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) ( http://www.eol.org ) – Online reference and database project gathering information on all 1.8 million species currently known to science.

Entomology Index of Internet Resources ( http://www.ent.iastate.edu/List ) - Directory and search engine of insect-related resources on the Internet.

EnviroLink ( http://www.envirolink.org ) – An aggregator of environmental news and Web resources.

EurekAlert! ( http://www.eurekalert.org/ ) - An index of research advances in science included links to institutions, science media, journalism groups, and peer-reviewed research journals.

FishBase ( http://www.fishbase.org ) – The most comprehensive database on the world’s fish species.  Search by common or scientific name, family, country/island, ecosystem, topic and references.

Index of Organism Names ( http://www.organismnames.com ) – The most comprehensive organism names database.

INFOMINE - Biological, Agricultural, and Medical Resources ( http://infomine.ucr.edu/ ) - Provides indexing, annotations and links to resources of scholarly use.  Includes thousands of Internet sites covering most disciplines.

Martindale's The Reference Desk ( http://www.martindaleconter.com ) - A good general reference source that is especially strong in science.

National Agricultural Library Digital Repository (NALDR) ( http://naldr.nal.usda.gov ) – Provides access to primarily older USDA publications.

North American Mammals (http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna )- Searchable database of all living mammals of North America.

Science Watch ( http://www.sciencewatch.com ) – Tracking trends and performance in basic research.

Scirus ( http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/ ) - Helps you quickly locate scientific information on the Web searching more than 450 million science-related pages, Scirus filters out non-scientific sites. For example, if you search for REM, Google finds the rock group - Scirus finds information about sleep.

The Virtual Library:  Bio Sciences ( http://vlib.org/Biosciences.html ) - Bio Science links organized by subjects and maintained by expert volunteers.