Spring 2008 - Ginny Hayssen
Reference contact: Rocco Piccinino x2951

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Use the RESERVES tab in the Five College Library Catalog to locate print reserve materials for BIO272. Search either by Instructor (Hayssen) or Course ID (BIO 272). Some (but not all!) of the useful items for the hagfish/lamprey assignment are listed below.

Need a book that one of the other Five Colleges has, but Smith does not? Use the Request Item feature in the Five College Library Catalog. To see an animated demo, CLICK HERE.

WorldCat. All dates
OCLC catalog of books, web resources, and other material worldwide. Contains millions of records.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Library Databases

Begin your research using this list of databases. For a more comprehensive list of biology-focused databases, visit the Biology Subject Resources Page.

Look for SC Links: , or use Smith's Journal Locator to access journals by title. Connect to the Five College Library Catalog to find call numbers for bound periodicals kept in the basement floor of the Young Science Library.

Encyclopedias

AccessScience
Over 7100 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology.

Britannica Online
Full content including over 80,000 in-depth articles, detailed maps, multimedia, and research tools.

Internet Sites

Fishbase
An internationally refereed database of fishes with entries for 29600 species, 43600 pictures contributed by 1410 collaborators. Searchable by scientific name, common name, family, geography and more.

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
Taxonomic information on animals, plants, fungi and microbes of North America and the world. Composed of a partnership among U.S., Canadian, Mexican and other organizations. ITIS is a partner of Species2000 and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

NCBI Entrez Taxonomy Homepage
This database from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides lineages for many taxa and links to PubMed citations, and gene and protein data. Enter a common name or species name to retrieve taxonomic lineages.

IMAGE RESOURCES

Find Images
Resources for finding images (Smith College).

SEARCHING TIPS

Whether you are searching for books in the Five College Library Catalog, or searching for scholarly literature in a library database, it pays to be organized as you start your search. I like to break down searching into a three step process:

STEP 1
Write down as much information about your topic as possible. Answer the following questions:

• What is your topic?
• What questions do you have?
• What do you know? What don't you know?

Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.

EXAMPLE: I am interested in learning more about the respiration system of the hagfish, and how gills play a role.

STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.

EXAMPLE: hagfish, respiration, anatomical system, gills

STEP 3
Now create a list of synonyms of your key concepts. Think broadly, think narrowly! This step is helping you expand your search by expressing your query in a variety of ways. If you get too many results, then you can work on focusing your search.

 You will use the word lists you created in Step 3 to create search strategies. Use "OR" between synonyms and "AND" between concepts. For instance:

(hagfish* OR myxin*) AND (ventilation OR respir*) AND (gill* OR branchial*)

DOWNLOAD this worksheet (with *bonus* search tips!) to help you organize your search strategy.

HELP WITH CITATION STYLE

For complete instructions on formatting your assignment, refer to "Format for Written Work" which was handed out at the beginning of the semester. If needed, suggestions for formatting your bibliography are given below.

HELP FROM A LIBRARIAN

See Need Help? Ask a Librarian! to send a question via e-mail at any time or live (chat) during reference desk hours. Or contact the Science Librarian Rocco Piccinino directly: rpiccini@email.smith.edu.

Additionally, we appreciate your feedback on library sessions! Please fill out the following short survey: CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY!

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