Barnard College Library Research Guide
BC3590:Senior Seminar: Cell Biology
Spring 2007
Professor: Matt Wallenfang

Librarian: Karen Dobrusky

Mouse embryonic stem cells with flourescent marker.from:Wikipedia

 

Contents:

Finding Articles| Finding Books |RefWorks & EndNote | Web Resources | Library Services
 

FINDING ARTICLES USING DATABASES AND INDEXES
These databases/indexes are all on the Databases list on the Barnard Library home page or the Columbia Libraries home page. 
If you are not on campus, you will need a Columbia UNI and password to access them.

Biological Abstracts

  • An Ovid database with citations and abstracts for articles in biology, plant and animal science, ecology, paleontology, pharmacology, biochemistry, biophysics and bioengineering, published from 1969 to the present
  • Multiple words together are taken as a phrase; for truncation, use $ (environ$ will find environs, environment, environmental, etc.)
  • For a Keyword search, uncheck the box next to "Map Term to Subject Heading"
  • For a more focused search using subject terms, check the box next to "Map Term to Subject Heading"
  • To combine previous searches, click on "Combine Searches," check appropriate boxes, then click "Continue"
BioMed Central
  • Provides access to biomedical research including biology, medicine, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neurosciences, physiology, plant physiology and structural biology
  • Click on Advanced Search at top
  • Initially it is probably best to search the database record rather than the full text of articles, so select CITATION + ABSTRACT from the drop-down list under ALL FIELDS (FULL TEXT)

BioOne

  • Full-text journal articles focused on the biological, ecological and environmental sciences
  • Click on Search at the top, and enter terms in the Abstract field
Medline using Ovid;  Medline using ISI Web of Science
  • Huge database produced by the National Library of Medicine with citations and abstracts for articles in biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, published from 1966 to the present
  • For Ovid version, use same search methods as for Biological Abstracts; you can switch between Ovid databases and repeat your searches by clicking on "Change Database"
  • For Web of Science version, use same search methods as for Science Citation Index; you can switch between databases using the drop-down list at the top, but searches are not automatically saved and repeated if you switch between databases
PubMed
  • Full-text access to over 12 million Medline citations back to the mid-1960's and additional life science journals
  • Contributors include the National Center for Biotechnology, National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health
Science Citation Index
  • A Thomson-ISI Web of Science database that lists all the citations used in every article in the database; useful for determining if any articles have cited a specific article or book, for tracing the development of an idea, or to examine the references of an article you cannot obtain
  • Limit document type to "Review" to obtain articles that provide an overview of a topic
  • "Times Cited" is a rough measure of how influential the paper is in the field

 

FINDING BOOKS

Using CLIO to Find Books and Journals
CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online), the on-line catalog for the Columbia University Libraries, includes Barnard Library's holdings.  Enter CLIO from the Barnard Library home page or from the Columbia University Libraries home page.    
  • Title search: leave off the initial article (The, An, La, etc.)

  • Author search: put last name, then first name

  • Keyword search: use and, or or not between the terms, or quotes for a phrase, and use ? for truncation (to find variant endings of a word)
     use ? for internal truncation, e.g. labo?r retrieves, labour, labor etc. & use ? for right-hand truncation, e.g. ?phobe, retrieves technophobe, anglophobe etc.

  • Limiting to books in Barnard Library: use the Pre-select Limits or Post Limits options

  • Note that although the Barnard Library is in Lehman Hall, CLIO location Lehman means the Social Sciences library at Columbia

CLIO Online Tutorial
 

Library Locations at Columbia

Other Library Catalogs


BorrowDirect, ILL, and Science Journal Article Request  
If you cannot find the journal you need online or at any Columbia library, these services enable you to obtain books and journal articles from other libraries.  Links to all three services are on the Columbia Libraries Request It page, or access them through CLIO; you need your Columbia ID and password to access it

Borrow Direct

  • for books only - a consortium of the university libraries of Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton and Yale
  • takes about 4 days
Inter-Library Loan (ILL)
  • for books, dissertations or articles
  • you can also go in person to the ILL Office at 505 Butler Library; the phone number is 212-854-3542 and the email address is ill@libraries.cul.columbia.edu
  • use ILL for requesting books or non-science journal articles
  • can take up to 2 weeks

Science Journal Article Request Service

  • you can request articles from journals that Columbia does not own in the areas of science, technology, engineering and medicine
  • articles from journals at the Health Sciences Library can be ordered
  • you can submit the on-line request form or fill out a printed request form at a Columbia branch science library
  • when the article arrives, the relevant Columbia branch library will notify you by telephone or e-mail so that you can pick it up

 

REFWORKS AND ENDNOTE
RefWorks and EndNote are two different bibliographic software programs that can help you to organize and use the references you find in catalogs and databases. 

 

RESOURCES ON THE WEB
Here are some links to useful Web resources:

LIBRARY SERVICES
Consultations: Click here to complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation if you are having difficulties with your research. 
You are welcome to come to the Reference Desk on the second floor at any time (Reference Desk Hours).  We'll be happy to assist you in using our resources.
You can also contact a reference librarian by sending an e-mail to refdesk@barnard.edu or by calling 212-854-3953.
CLIO Online Tutorial


Last Modified 2/25/07
Karen Dobrusky
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library