Studying Science: Library Resources

Chat with Victoria!

Librarian for: Chemistry, Geological Sciences, and Physics

ph: 346-3076 vmitch@uoregon.edu

Find an article here:

The above search box is searching the following specific databases, that you might want to try individually:

Agricola

• This database covers many topics in plant science and ecology.

GeoBase

• GeoBase covers geography, geology, and environmental studies.

GeoRef

• The primary database for geology and paleontology. Covers books, geological survey reports, conference proceedings, as well as journal articles.

PubMed

• PubMed comprehensively covers research in the biomedical sciences.

Web of Science

• Interdisciplinary science database, a heavily-used source for science literature. Highly recommended.

See also:

Google Scholar

• Google for academics.

Find a book

in UOWorldCat (UO Libraries and beyond)
A few book search tips:

• Use less specific terms than when searching for articles. E.g., if you want books that will tell you about ACL injuries, you might want to look for a book on sports medicine or on the knee.
• UO WorldCat searches for articles, and many other formats besides books. To limit to books, click on book under format on the left side.
  
• You may get better results if you do a Subject Heading search for a broad term. To do a search by Subject, go to Advanced Search. You also can click on the subject heading links at the bottom of the full record display for a book that you like, to get more like it.

 

Tutorials

Reference Sources

Print
(Located in the Science Library)

The Science Library has many dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks in specialized disciplinary areas, many more than can be listed here. Here are some general ones that may be helpful:

American Heritage Science Dictionary. SCI REF Q123 .A5178 2005

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary SCI REF R121 .D73 31st ed.  

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (20 vols.) SCI REF QE5 .G37 2005

New Penguin Dictionary of Science  SCI REF Q123 .N46 2004  

Online
*(You must be on campus, or an authorized UO user if off campus, to access)


Encyclopedia of Earth

• An online encyclopedia of earth sciences: geology, geography, and environmental science.
  

*Gale Virtual Reference Library

• You can search the whole collection. See particularly those listed under "Environment", "Medicine", and "Sciences" .

*Oxford Reference (online) Premium

• A collection of *many* specialized subject dictionaries and other references, including all the scientific disciplines.
  

Compare the above reference sources with:
Wikipedia

• Do the articles have identified authors? Are the authors' credentials and affiliations available? Do the articles have references or bibliographies? If so, are there differences in the kinds of references given?
• Wikipedia is a very handy, free Internet source, but it is not necessarily reliable. For a humorous demonstration of this phenomenon, watch this excerpt of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. (Some improvements have been made to Wikipedia since this was aired.)

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Citing Sources

Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style

See this handy web page from the Ohio State University libraries:
Cite Resources: Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style

Here is another guide from Diane Hacker's Research and Documentation web site.

Using Scientific Literature in Biology Courses

• This was developed specifically for Earlham College students by Sara Penhale, but it is a very nice guide.
  

Consult the book for full information:

Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers SCI REF T11 .S386 2006 

General Information on Citing Sources:

UO Libraries guide Citing Sources in Research Papers

Evaluating Sources

This web page contains a wealth of information on evaluating information sources both in print and on the Web: Critical Evaluation of Information Sources

To determine whether a particular periodical (magazine, journal) is scholarly (peer-reviewed, refereed) or popular, see these pages:

• Scholarly or Popular?
• Types of Periodicals (pdf)

What is "peer-review"?

Here are a couple of pdfs that provide good explanations of what it is (and is not), and why it's particularly important in the sciences:

• Peer Review in a Nutshell
• Sense About Science Short Peer Review Guide
  

(NB: both of the above are produced in the UK, so there are a few Britishisms that may not make sense)

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Maintained by: Victoria Mitchell, vmitch@uoregon.edu