Wellesley College Library

Research Resources for Biotechnology:

Biological Sciences 107

Find books

Internet links

Find background information

How to evaluate and cite properly

Find news Local help

Find journal articles

WC = Wellesley College users only.


Find books

Wellesley College Library catalog where you'll find books, journal titles (NOT individual articles), and more. Searching by "Keyword" can be helpful if you are starting to research a topic.

National Academies Press Through this publisher's web site, you can read more than 3,000 online books (free in .html format). Browse categories like Biotechnology or Health & Medicine, or search specific terms to locate relevant chapter(s).

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Find background information

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Access Science,WC online version of McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science &Technology.
Biotech Life Science Dictionary More than 8,300 definitions; includes biotechnology. Alternate dictionary site.
CQ Researcher WC In-depth, unbiased background and analysis on designer humans, cloning debate, and more.
Discovery Guides - Biomedical (CSA) include recent overviews/bibliographies on genetically modified foods, stem cells, and more.
Encyclopedia of BioethicsWC 2004 edition. Articles on assisted reproduction, genetic testing, genetic engineering, and more.
Facts on File Dictionary of Biology, 3rd edition. Science Reference QH302.5 .F38 1999.
Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health. Science Reference q RA423 .E53 2002.
Medical dictionaries located in the Science Reference R 121 ... section.
Oxford Reference Online, WC (Oxford University Press) More than one hundred dictionaries in all disciplines.

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Find news

Lexis Nexis Academic News WC Full-text, domestic and international news service. Multiple languages in addition to English.
Lexis Nexis Academic Medical WC Full-text medical news and medical & health journals. Articles without graphics.
Science Now, WC daily science news service from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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Find journal articles

The following databases provide either full-text articles, or citations (information about when and where the article was published).

  • Once you have a citation for an article, use the InfoBridge link, or click on the InfoBridge icon from each citation to search one or more electronic journal sources or the Wellesley College Library catalog.
  • Use the name of the journal as the title.
  • If Wellesley does not own the article, you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

For coverage at the introductory or intermediate levels, try searching

InfoTracOneFileWC
General Science FullText (via WilsonWeb)
WC

For more specialized database coverage, search

Bioethics in NRCBL (National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature) and in NLM (National Library of Medicine, U.S.) Databases. NLM databases include PubMed with a preformulated bioethics strategy.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts databases WC for simultaneous searching of the following databases: Agricola, Biological Sciences, Biology Digest, MEDLINE (latest 10 yrs), and Plant Science (latest 10 years).

Biotechnology, a part of Science.gov, for U.S. federal scientific and technical web sites.

WC = Wellesley College users only.
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Selected online journals:

WC = Wellesley College users only.

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Internet links

AccessExcellence, (U.S.National Health Museum) "About Biotech" includes many topics in medical, forensic, and agricultural biotechnology.

Actionbioscience.org examines Biotechnology and Genomics as major biological challenges. The web site clearly identifies articles from scientists, science educators, and science students.

Center for Genetics and Society outlines the risks and benefits of new human genetic technologies. SiteMap here.

Dolan DNA Learning Center has free multimedia guides like "Your Genes, your Health" and "Inside Cancer".

Human Genome:

Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues related to the Human Genome Project. Includes gene testing, gene therapy, patenting, privacy, forensics, courts, and behavior. Also, see

Selected articles below may be available free of charge:

Technology Trends, from the journal Nature Medicine.
Making Stem Cells, a Web Focus feature of the journal Nature.
Twenty-five Years of Embryonic Stem Cells, another Web Focus feature.
Insight: Stem Cells, a Supplement from Nature.

Technical Risk in the Mass Media, selected articles, from the 1990's, from the Franklin Pierce Law Center web site.

How to evaluate and cite properly

Evaluating web sites:

Kapoun, J. (1998). Teaching undergrads Web evaluation: a guide for library instruction [Online]. College & Research Libraries News, 59 (7), 522-523.

  • Short set of criteria for evaluating a web site: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, coverage, and ease of use.
  • Scan down the article until you reach the comments in Kapoun's table.

Citing printed material and web sites:

Electronic editions:

Sciences: Documenting Sources, from RESEARCH and DOCUMENTATION Online, covers how to cite electronic journal articles and books, in addition to citing traditional print sources. Illustrates the "name-year" citation style. The CSA Reference List is located beneath the section, "Page Ranges."

Using CBE [Council of Biology Editors] Style to Cite and Document Sources covers how to cite electronic journal articles and books, in addition to citing traditional print sources. Illustrates both the "citation-sequence" and the "name-year" citation styles.

Documenting Electronic Resources in MLA or APA - includes instructions and examples for email, databases, CD-ROMs, and Web Sites.

Print editions:

A Short Guide to Writing About Biology. 4th edition. Science Reserve QH304 .P43 2001.
How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. Science Reserve and Science Reference T11 .D33 1998.

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Local help

Research librarians, Irene Laursen and Neil Nero are happy to help you with your searching. You may come visit us at the Science Reference Desk, call us at 781-283-3085, or use our email reference service, AskUs.

Science Library webpage has hours of operation and a floor plan (Ground Floor includes Periodicals; Mezzanine has books).

To locate material not available at Wellesley, use Interlibrary Loan , a service that will borrow material on behalf of Wellesley College students. Valuable and popular service, but takes lead time of several days to fill a request.

Need help with library jargon? Try the University of Michigan's Library glossary [Online] Accessed July 25, 2006.


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  • Irene Laursen, ilaursen@wellesley.edu
  • Wellesley College Library
  • Date created: March 2, 2001
  • Date Modified: July 26, 2006
  • Expires: June 1, 2007