BISC163 - Biological Sciences Laboratory

Library Resources for Research

Help with Scientific Literature

These links are to short YouTube videos created especially for you to help you with your library research.

One Search

Searches articles, books, digital collections and more.

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to help you use the library to find the information resources that you need for your oral presentation project.  If you need help with your research, please use our Library Chat service or stop by the reference desk on the first floor of the library.  We are there to help you!

Materials that must be submitted with the oral presentation include an annotated bibliography of at least 6 sources including 2 primary sources and no more than 2 web pages.  For each of the web pages you must include the full web address and anevaluation of the site.

Definitions

Sources / information sources - these are the books, magazine articles, scientific studies, and web sites that you find and use to develop your presentation and bibliography.
Primary sources - also called scientific or scholarly articles, these are the scientific journal articles or technical reports that scientists use to communicate the results of their research to other scientists.
Evaluation - If you cite web sources (e.g. a Wikipedia article) then you must write up an evaluation of the site for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. 

Choosing a Topic

Sometimes the most difficult part of doing research is figuring out your topic.  A good topic is one you can find information on! Here are some places where you can get ideas for a topic:

MedLinePlus - medical topics
Science.gov - biology and nature topics 
ScienceDaily - hot topics in the sciences 

Refining Your Topic

After you have chosen a general topic, you may need to focus on one aspect of that topic and you will need to find the proper key words for searching for information.

Compare these keywords:

FLESH EATING BACTERIA    vs.   NECROTIZING FASCIITIS

If you were to start searching for “flesh eating bacteria” you would find a lot of general or popular information.Click here for an example of a popular article.

If you want to find a primary source, e.g. a scientific article, on the topic, you need to use the medical terminology, “necrotizing fasciitis”.   Click here for an example of a scientific article. Be aware that the keywords you choose will greatly affect the outcome of your research!

You may also need to think in terms of broadening or narrowing the scope of your search. If you find too much information on a topic, then you need to focus more narrowly. Some examples of search terms for information about drug resistance going from broad topic to more specific topic: 

Keywords:

Antibiotics

Drug resistance

Drug Resistance in Microorganisms

Antimicrobial resistance

MRSA = Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus 

Main Library Chat

JavaScript disabled or chat unavailable.

RefWorks Citation Tools

RefWorks Logo

Use RefWorks to collect, organize and use citations for your research.

     RefWorks Login

Click here for more information about RefWorks.