Contents:

• Find background information
• Find books
• Find articles & essays
• Tracing citations forward
• Key scholarly websites
• Course guides

Offcampus Access Databases A-Z Research Guides by Subject | by Course Reference Books Online Library Catalog

Dictionaries

Biotech Life Science Dictionary - Online dictionary of cell biology, genetics, biotechnology, and more.
Dictionary of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Science Reference QH324.2 .D53 2004
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Genetics, Genomics, and Proteomics - Science Reference q QH427 .R43 2003
Oxford Reference Online - More than 100 dictionaries published by Oxford University Press

Encyclopedias

General
Access Science - Online version of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. See the Biological and Biomedical Science section.
Chemistry: Foundations and Applications - Sci Reference q QD4 .C48 2004
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences - Science Reference qQH302.5 .E54 2002 - Emphasis on cellular and molecular levels
Encyclopedia of Life - Growing collection of knowledge of all species
Frontiers of Life - Essays on organismal, cellular, molecular, and systems biology. - Science Reference q QH302.5 .F76 2002

Organismal
Birds of North America Online - Cornell Univ database
Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Updated 2007)
Encyclopedia of Earth - Free, peer-reviewed
Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences (2004)
Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition (2006)
Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (2001)
Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment (2004)
Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. (2nd ed., 2004)

Cellular/Molecular
Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry (2004)
Encyclopedia of Microbiology. Science Ref q QR9 .E53 2000
Hormones, Brain and Behavior. Science Ref. q QP356.45 .H433 2002
Online Encyclopedia of Genetics, Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics

Field Guides

eNature: Field Guides - Scope includes almost 6,000 wildflower, tree, invertebrate and vertebrate species, but lacks mushrooms. Searchable parameters include animal type, coloring, size, habitat, geographical region. Includes warnings for dangerous or poisonous species. "Same data set used to create the printed Audubon Field Guides."

All About Birds - Cornell University - Online multimedia guide to bird identification through sounds, behavior, maps, and photographs.

International Field Guides Database - More than 5,000 plants, animals, and other objects. Includes working definition of 'field guide.' Creator & compiler - Diane Schmidt, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Wellesley College Library Catalog. Books, journal titles, theses, and more. Science Library Floor Plan .

Nearby library catalogs. Links to other local libraries.

WorldCat (via FirstSearch) OCLC catalog of books and other materials available in libraries worldwide. WorldCat Help

National Academies Press (NAP). Readable and searchable e-books. See recent studies in Agriculture, Biology, Medicine/Public Health and Science and Ethics.

PubMed Bookshelf Electronic textbooks in cellular and molecular biology and related fields.

The following databases provide either full-text articles or citations (information about when and where the article was published). Once you have an article citation, use the Find It at Wellesley from the citation to reach

Electronic source(s), when Wellesley College has a signed license agreement with the vendor, or when the resource is free of charge.
Print sources through a linked search of the Wellesley College Library Catalog.
Interlibrary Loan (NExpress or ILLiad) a document delivery service, for the Wellesley College community, to obtain materials not available locally at the College in any format.

Multidisciplinary:

Introductory and Advanced:
Academic Search Complete.(EBSCO) Peer-reviewed articles published from 1975 to 2007/2008; broad variety of publishers.
InfoTrac OneFile (Thomson Reuters) 1980's+ (citations / some abstracts); 1990's+ (selected full-text articles).

Intermediate/Advanced:
Web of Science 1900+ Also known as Science Citation Index Expanded. Interdisciplinary subject and citation searches.
Annual Reviews (AR) Electronic Collection: Scholarly online articles critically reviewing research.

• AR Back Volume Collection (all series, first volume through year 2003)
• AR Current Subscriptions (selected series; See Library Catalog)

Biological Sciences databases (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts). Life science articles from multiple sources. Contains Agricola (1970+), Biology Digest (general: 1989+), Biological Sciences (research: 1982+), BioOne (research-ecological/organismal biology: 2000+), Plant Science (1998+), and Medline (1998+).

Google Scholar. Multidisciplinary coverage of peer-reviewed literature.

JSTOR, electronic archive of online journal articles. JSTOR journals start with volume 1. Always several years behind the current year/volume.

• Biological Sciences Title list
• JSTOR Tutorials (videos and transcripts; multiple languages)
• New JSTOR Features - 2008
  

PubMed for citations and abstracts, in all fields of medicine and biomedicine, from 1949-present. PubMed Basics brochure - Short tutorial.

Science Direct - Electronic journal articles from hundreds of journals in the physical, life, social, and behavioral sciences, published by Elsevier and affiliated publishers. Subscribed journal titles have a green icon, and are available full-text, from 1995-present.

 

Major scientific e-journals and magazines:

BioScience

Online, from 1951-2002 (early title varies); Online, from 2003-present.

 

 

BMJ, British Medical Journal

Online 1994-present

JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association

Online from January 1998-present

Nature (London)

Online from 1987-present. Print edition (backfile) in Science Class Periodicals Q1 .N2

New England Journal of Medicine

Online from Jan 1993-present

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)

Online, from 1915-present (complete subscribed content)
Online through JSTOR, from 1915-2005

Science magazine

Online, from 1997-present (AAAS publisher))
Online through JSTOR, from 1880-2002. Paper issues pre-2006 are in Off-site Storage.

Other databases may be useful for you, depending on your specific topic and approach. AskUs for some customized suggestions, or request an appointment with the library research liaison.

 

• Perform a 'Cited Reference Search' in the Web of Science WC for citations from 1900-present.
• Use the 'Get Related' button for citation searching in SciFinder Scholar. Searches mid-1990's-present.
• Run a citation search in Google Scholar. Caution: Unspecified time coverage; unspecificed books and journals.

Education

Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences, professional societies dedicated to the improvement of undergraduate life sciences education.

MIT OpenCourseWare is available for a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in Biology , Biological Engineering, and Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Open Learning Initiative (Carnegie Mellon University) is offering segments in Biology.

General

The Virtual Library: Bio Sciences, a component of the WWW Virtual Library
Online Career Resources for BioScientists, helpful advice for both academic and industrial job hunting.

Images

ASCB Image & Video Library Peer-reviewed collection. Focus on cell structure and function.

BIODIDAC (University of Ottawa). Digital resources for teaching biology.

Bioimages - Project of the Vanderbilt University Department of Biological Sciences. More than 10,000 images and 1,000 species represented. "Source of biological images for personal and non-commercial use." - Terms of Use

Dennis Kunkel - Microscopy Education. Requires advance written permission for use of images.

Medical Images and Illustrations - Karolinska Institutet, Sweden - Caution: many images require advance written permission before you can use them elsewhere.

See also Field Guides (above).

Laboratory Safety

Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories. 4th ed. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). .pdf version
Knowing How to Practice Safe Science (Howard Hughes Medical Institute).

Anatomy/Physiology

Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body. ( Bartleby.com) More than 1,000 illustrations of human anatomy.
Medical Encyclopedia, from MEDLINEplus, on hundreds of diseases, conditions, and wellness issues.

Biodiversity

Web of Species - Focus on biodiversity in Wellesley College and New England.
World Atlas of Biodiversity - United Nations Environment Programmes

Cell Biology

ASCB Image & Video Library Peer-reviewed collection. Focus on cell structure and function.
Cell & Molecular Biology Online
WWW Virtual Library: Model Organisms lists the attributes of model organisms and how they benefit research. Includes Model Organisms for Biomedical Research (NIH).

Developmental Biology

Human Embryology Animations
Virtual Library - Developmental Biology

Ecology

Birdnet: recent ornothological literature online (ROL)
Climate Change Collection. Includes IPCC Reports
OpenCRS - [U.S.] Congressional Research reports for the People
USDA Forest Service: Research & Development Treesearch. More than 7,000 forestry publications available free online.

Evolution

Complete Works of Charles Darwin (Dr. John van Wyhe, Cambridge University).
The Tree of Life, a multi-authored, distributed Internet project containing information about phylogeny.
Understanding Evolution, from the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology.

Histology

Internet Atlas of Histology, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Virtual Slidebox Histology, from the University of Iowa.
Medical Images: Histology (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden).

Marine Biology

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Oceans - Everything from coral reefs, ocean waves, undersea volcanoes, and much more.
SeaWeb Resources - Publications & Reports, Ocean Citations and Briefings
The Ocean Planet Exhibit is a offers insight into the Earth's dynamic oceans.

Microbiology

All the Virology on the WWW
Digital Learning Centre for Microbiology
Microbe World includes MicrobeLibrary and child-oriented Microbe.org.

Neurobiology

History of the Brain (U.S. Public Broadcasting Service).
Brain and Behavior (Bryn Mawr). Engaging online exhibits.
The BrainWeb and Brain Information ( Dana Foundation).

Plant Biology and Horticulture

Cooperative Extension System Offices (USDA) offers online horticultural advice on a wide variety of topics.
History - About Us - State and National Partners

PLANTS database (USDA). Distribution, morphology, growth requirements, etc for thousands of plants.
PlantFacts - Ohio State University

Proteomics and Genomics

National Human Genome Research Institute, from the National Institutes of Health (U.S.).
National Center for Biotechnology Information, home to PubMed, OMIM, and several specialized sequence databases.
Nature Genome Gateway, offers background, selected original papers, and links for genome sequencing information.

Societies and Organizations

Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences.
Resources of Scholarly Societies - Biology (University of Waterloo Library).

BISC 107: Biotechnology
BISC 108: Environmental Horticulture
BISC 109: Human Biology
BISC 110: Introductory Cell Biology
BISC 111: Intro Organismal Biology

 

BISC 209: Microbiology

Wellesley College Library • WCIS • Irene Laursen • last modified: March 26, 2009