Field Biology and Plant Ecology

Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson
Social Sciences Reference Librarian
phone: x3552
email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu
IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): jjarson1 (add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN)
Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN.
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information.

Selected Reference Sources

Bailey, J. (Ed.). (1999). The Penguin dictionary of plant sciences. London: Penguin.
Reference 580.03 B154p

Bortman, M. (Ed.). (2003). Environmental encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Detroit: Gale/Thomson-Gale.
Reference 363.7003 E61e v.1-2

Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides access to 325 reference works, including general and subject specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, fact books, guides, companions and more from over 60 respected publishers across 17 major subject areas--all online, all searchable from one search box.

Eldredge, N. (Ed.). (2002). Life on earth: An encyclopedia of biodiversity, ecology, and evolution. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Reference 333.951103 E37L v.1-2

Encylopedia of life sciences. (1999- ). Basingstoke, Hampshire, England: Nature Pub. Group: Macmillan; New York, NY: Grove's Dictionaries, Inc.

Levin, S.A. (Ed.). (2001). Encyclopedia of biodiversity. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Reference 333.9503 E56o v.1-5

Ness, B.D. (Ed.). (2003). Magill's encyclopedia of science: Plant life. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Reference 580.3 M194e v.1-4

Robbins, P. (Ed.). (2007). Encyclopedia of environment and society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Reference 304.203 E56o v.1-5

Finding Primary Literature

Reading Primary Literature in Biology (Kenyon College)
http://biology.kenyon.edu/Bio_InfoLit/index.html

Article Databases and Indexes

Academic Search Premier
Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

Agricola
A bibliographic database of citations to agricultural literature created by the National Agricultural Library. It contains separate databases for books and journals which combined account for millions of records from 1970 to present.

Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
An open-access search engine that looks for content it identifies as "scholarly" on the free web. Emphasis is on books and journal articles. Intended as a "federated search" to search across disciplines (weighted toward sciences and social sciences). Not always full text. Be sure to check librar catalog to see if Muhlenberg has access to the full text.

Ingenta
Provides online indexing to professional and scholarly publications. Researchers are able to search and access a broad range of academic materials relevant to biology, life sciences, as well as many other subject areas. No full text.

JSTOR
Searchable collections of full-text journals across many disciplines. Contains full-text of many biology, botany, ecology journal titles. (Note: To restrict results to particular journals/disciplines, from Advanced Search screen, choose discipline category/ies.)

OmniFile
Multi-disciplinary database providing the complete content--indexing, abstracts, and full-text--from six of Wilson's full-text databases.

ScienceDirect College Edition Health and Life Sciences
This database includes 1000+ full-text Elsevier journals in the areas of health and life sciences. Coverage spans 1995 to the present.

Explore other databases via the Library Homepage -- Articles A-Z (in the Find box).

GETTING THE ARTICLES

When searching for articles, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.

If not, search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
- Most databases have a Get It! link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings. If the database doesn't have a Get It! link, search the Trexler Library Catalog by the title of the journal in which the article was published.
- Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.
If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
- Many databases (including PsycINFO) have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form.
- If the database does not have an ILL link embedded, go to the Library Homepage -- ILL (in the Services & Forms box) -- ILL Forms -- Articles (in the left sidebar). Fill out the form. NOTE: Interlibrary Loan can take anywhere from a few day to a few weeks. Plan accordingly.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE: Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) -- Trexler Library Catalog

OTHER LIBRARIES

WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) -- Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

LVAIC. You can borrow books directly from LVAIC (Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges) Libraries.

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) -- Regional Libraries -- LVAIC Libraries

For more information on Interlibrary Loan options, see http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/more/ill/index.html or ask for help.

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- ILL (in the Services & Forms box)

Citing Your Sources

For information on citation styles, consult the following resources.

Writer's Handbook (University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html

Trexler Library handouts on citation styles:
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/citations.html
GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Citation Guides (in the Research Help box).