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Research
Guide for Biology |
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Barnard Library |
Columbia Libraries Main Page |
CLIO Library Catalog |
Databases List
FINDING ARTICLES IN
BIOLOGY
Finding articles using an
index or database is a two-step process:
1. Find citations to relevant articles;
2. Find the articles themselves, by clicking on "e-link" to find the full
text of the articles online, or searching CLIO using the journal titles, to find
out which library has print copies.
There are many databases
other than those listed below that can be useful in the field of biology; for
further help, ask at the Reference Desk on the second floor of the library.
These databases/indexes are all on the
Databases
list on the Barnard Library homepage
or the Columbia Libraries page.
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Agricola |
- an OCLC FirstSearch Database with
citations and abstracts for articles in animal science, chemistry, energy,
entomology, food science, forestry, life sciences, natural resources, and
plant diseases, published from 1970 to the present
- use quotes to search for a phrase
- for truncation, use * (phenotyp*
will find phenotype or phenotypic)
- FirstSearch also includes Medline;
you can switch databases and repeat your searches by using the drop-down
list next to "Search in database:"
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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 $ (phenotyp$
will find phenotype or phenotypic)
- to combine previous searches, click
on "Combine"
- Ovid also includes Medline; you can
switch databases and repeat your searches by clicking on "Change Database"
at the top
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JSTOR |
- full text scholarly journals from
various publishers, from their first issue up to a few years ago
- useful for historical research;
contains ecology and botany journals dating back to the early twentieth
century that are not indexed in other databases
- no issues from the last 3 to 6
years, depending on the journal
- multiple words together are taken
as a phrase
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Medline |
- an Ovid database (also available in OCLC FirstSearch) 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
- search functions are the same as
for Biological Abstracts
- you can switch between Ovid
databases and repeat your searches using "Change Database" at the top
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Science Citation Index |
- a Thomson-ISI Web of Science
database useful for determining if any articles have cited a specific
article or book, or to examine the references of an article
- use "General Search" to look up
citations
- limit document type to "Review" to
obtain articles that provide an overview of a topic
- for an author search, use last name
then first initial followed by an asterisk, e.g. mckay j*
- to find a journal whose title is abbreviated in this database, use the Web site
All That JAS:
Journal Abbreviation Sources to find the full journal title
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LIBRARY
LOCATIONS AT COLUMBIA |
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BORROW
DIRECT, ILL, AND SCIENCE FAST TRACK DELIVERY SERVICE
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.
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Borrow Direct |
- for books only - a consortium of
the university libraries of Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn,
Princeton and Yale
- a link to a request form is
available on the
Request It page on Library Web; you need your Columbia ID and password
for access
- takes about 4 days
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Inter-Library Loan |
- for books, dissertations or
articles
- also on the
Request It page
on Library Web; you need your Columbia ID and password for access
- 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
- takes about 2 weeks
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Science Libraries' Fast
Track Delivery Service |
- also available on the
Request It page
- 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
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BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOFTWARE
RefWorks and EndNote are two different programs that
can help you to organize and use references from databases and catalogs. The page "RefWorks
and EndNote Bibliographic Software
at Barnard and Columbia" gives an introduction to their use.
WEB RESOURCES
By doing a Web search on your topic you may be able to find bibliographies,
names of researchers, protocols and other information about current research.
| Here are some links to
useful Web resources in biology: |
- The
American Museum of Natural History homepage
- Columbia's Biology Library provides
a list of
Biology Internet Resources
- The
Ecology WWW page has a huge collection of links to Web sites on
biology and ecology
- The
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is maintained by
the Center for Biological Informatics of the U.S. Geological Survey
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PrimateLit provides
bibliographic access to the scientific literature on nonhuman primates
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PubMed is the National
Library of Medicine database of citations and abstracts for articles in
MEDLINE, additional life science journals, and the integrated molecular
biology databases included in the National Center for Biotechnology
Information retrieval system (including DNA and protein sequences, 3-D
protein structure data, and assemblies of complete genomes) and has links
to articles which usually require payment for full text; however, Columbia
subscribes to most of these journals, so use Columbia databases instead to
obtain full text
- The
Tree of Life is a
project containing information about the diversity of organisms on Earth,
their history and characteristics; the information is linked together in
the form of an evolutionary tree
- The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service homepage includes links to reports,
news releases, and an Online Library
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Yale
University Library - Biology Resources lists databases, search tools,
organizations, and interesting reference sources
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CONSULTATIONS WITH
REFERENCE LIBRARIANS
Click here to
complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation on your
research, or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor. 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.
Last Modified 9/26/07
Lois Coleman
Reference Librarian
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