Biology

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. We recommend visiting the ACC Library's Research Guides & Tutorials page, which offers a narrated tutorial on searching the online catalog and two tutorials called "Research Steps," offering important search strategies. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

• You may also use the word “and” to combine two subjects in a search: birds and New York.
• Most college libraries, including the ACC Library, use the Library of Congress’ call number system, which use letters and then numbers as a code for a subject. Science books’ call numbers start with Q. Others to know:

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library. (Note: This is a subscription database. ACC students, faculty and staff may log in from off-campus with their campus network user names and passwords.)

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

Subject Databases:

Scroll to the "Sciences" databases part of the Subject Databases page, and check out these two science databases:

ScienceDirect, a database of over 60 million scholarly (peer reviewed) article, is extremely useful for most biology topics. Most are full-text. Once on the main page, click the "Search" link for journal search screen. Special features: you may e-mail article authors (look for yellow envelope next to names); save searches to run automatically and create search alerts. Click the "Register" link for details.

Science Reference Center provides 639 full text titles from reference books, encyclopedias, periodicals, newspapers, biographies and images. Provides easy access to a multitude of full text science-specific content. Biology, chemistry, earth, space, life, physical, and environmental sciences are covered as well as health and medicine, science in society, science as inquiry, history of science, technology, scientists, and wildlife.

Other Science databases to try include Health Reference Center, General Science Collection and Medline.

For basic information about various animal species, try Gale Virtual Reference Library first and then EBSCO Animals.

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

Microbes.info: http://microbes.info/ Microbiology portal, from microbiologist Dr. Al Chan.

CELLS alive!: http://www.cellsalive.com/
Images and animations of living cells in action: virus infections, cell division, antibodies and much more. Video clips require QuickTime. Useful for cell biology, microbiology, immunology and microscopy studies.

Bugs in the News! - What the Heck is.....???? http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/whatheck.html
Clear explanations of biology concepts, from John (Jack) C. Brown, Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

American Society for Microbiology http://www.asm.org/
Professional organization's Web site. See "Learn About Microbiology" section for Microbe Magazine, Weekly NewsDigest, Microbeworld, Microbelibrary, daily podcast, more.

Kimball's Biology Pages http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/
Online biology textbook, updated regularly by author John W. Kimball.

Darwin Digital Library of Evolution http://darwinlibrary.amnh.org/
From American Museum of Natural History; to present "the full literature of evolution available online within a historically and topically coherent structure. The work of Charles Robert Darwin is our pivot, but our framework includes the 17th century to the present and encompasses the history of evolution as a scientific theory with deep roots and broad cultural consequences."


Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org
Consumer advocacy organization for health and nutrition. See Integrity of Science page for scientists’ links to industry; news on genetically engineered foods, more.

Politics & Science: http://oversight.house.gov/features/politics_and_science/index.htm
Reports on the “State of Science Under the Bush Administration,” investigating influence of politics on scientific research. Covers many biology-related issues: Yellowstone, Arctic wilderness, more. Led by Rep. Henry A. Waxman.

Public Library of Science http://www.plos.org/
Online journal with scholarly scientific and medical articles from "nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource."

PubMedCentral http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/
This is "U.S. National Institutes' of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature."

North American Mammals: http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna//main.cfm
From Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Shows species information, pictures, distribution range, bones, conservation status, etc. of over 400 North American mammals. Searchable; browse by name, family tree, map, etc. Create your own printable field guide for specific species.

The Wild Center: Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks http://www.wildcenter.org/
New museum focusing on wildlife of Adirondacks; opened July 2006 in Tupper Lake. Live animal exhibits (river otters, turtles, trout, more), glacier ice wall, high definition films, hands-on exhibits, 31-acre campus, naturalist guides.

New York Suburban Coyote Study http://nycoyote.org/
Site has information and studies on coyotes in suburban New York State. From NYSDEC and Cornell University.

Finding Information on New York State Birds: http://www.sunyacc.edu/~millerja/Birdguide.htm
Offers links to Web pages on bird songs and identification, area birding groups, as well as birding books in the ACC Library. By birder and ACC Professor of Library Science Joyce Miller.

Avianflu.gov: http://www.avianflu.gov
Federal Planning tab links to Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza from May 2006; links to other federal agencies with information on avian flu, more. Also under PandemicFlu.gov.

Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/
By American Association for the Advancement of Science, publishers of journal Science. Features include current science news, links to many science Web sites, essays, more.

Librarians Internet Index: http://lii.org
A subject directory listing quality sites. Under Science, click on Biology or General Resources. Or, type in a subject, such as Virology or Microbiology.

University at Albany Libraries’ Biology links: http://library.albany.edu/subject/biosci.htm
Large, current selection of biology Web pages: anatomy, genetics, images, journals, lab techniques, much more.

Google: http://google.com
Go to the Advanced Search page; limit by domain name (.edu), etc.

Scirus: http://www.scirus.com
This is a science-only search engine. Use Advanced Search for best results.

Also, see the book The Scientific American Guide to Science on the Internet (Circulating Collection, Q 179.97 .R4 2000).

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.

Controversial Issues (bioethical topics), Nursing (health issues), Veterinary Technology, Chemistry, Botany and Environmental Science may also be helpful.

Updated July 2008/JM