Resources for Biological Literature

updated Summer 2001

To search for references on a biological topic
  Apply different methods for different types of searches:
    Specific fact or statistic;
    Cursory overview;
    Update;
    Comprehensive search.
     
To conduct a comprehensive search of the published literature on a specialized topic
     
  Identify appropriate databases
    Note databases searched and dates of each
     
  Design a search structure
     
  Modify search structure and terminology for each database
    Use help-screens and thesauri to design the search
    Use preliminary results to modify the search design
    Note terms and structures searched, by database and by date
  Evaluate the citations found
     
  Locate and retrieve full text of relevant materials
     
  Know when and how to use nonstandard and nontraditional sources:
    government publications;
    grey literature;
    websites.
     
  Know when to quit.
     
     

.For correct form for citing sources, refer as needed to:
Council of Biology Editors Style Manual Committee. 1994. Scientific style and format: the CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 825 p
(call number: QH 304 C33 1994; copies in Reference and Reserve Book Room.)
   

 

Outline of Classes

1.
 2 Feb Introduction; scope; organization of materials and information
2.
 9 Feb Indexes, abstracts, databases: search basics: Medline ; citation form
3.
 16 Feb Indexes, abstracts, databases: search structure and logic
4.
 23 Feb Indexes, abstracts, databases: keywords, descriptors, thesauri, bibliographic software
5.
 1 Mar Indexes, abstracts, databases: database selection, currency
6.
 8 Mar Quiz: search structure and logic
7.
 15 Mar
Locating articles: InvestiGator and other catalogs; fulltext sources;
interlibrary loan and document delivery
8.
 22 Mar Citation indexing; evaluating references
9.
 29 Mar Reference books and websites (and search engines); selective and focused searches
10.
 5 Apr Government publications
11.
 12 Apr Scientific writing; fair use
12.
 26 Apr Quiz: citation indexing, locating and selecting materials
13.
 3 May Reviews; grey literature
14.
 10 May Scientific publication: tradition and trends
15.
 17 May Theses and adjuncts (illustration, mapping, guides to literature)
16.

24 May

Review; special topics

 

 

Rev. 01.05.28