Beginning Research
1.  Identify a topic. This can sometimes be the most difficult part of research - choosing a topic. Consult with your professor on the viability of a research topic to see if there will be enough information written on it or too much. You may need to narrow or broaden your topic accordingly.
2.  Explore the literature. Browsing the journal literature, especially trade publications either in print or online, or the gray literature (see below) can be a rich source for topic ideas. Consult a reference librarian for suggestions.

Background Information
1.  Don't forget books. Books are excellent for an overview of a topic, for background information, and for summarizing research done on a topic up to a certain time. Keep in mind that most books take about 2-3 years to go to press, so the references cited will be at least that old. Use PILOT, our catalog, to identify books on a topic. Consult a reference librarian if you need assistance.
2.  Utilize reference books. Special subject dictionaries and encyclopedias as well as guides to the literature are available in the Reference Collection (for an explanation of Andruss Library's different collections, click here). Reference books are for in-house use only. The following reference books may be useful; they are found in the Reference Collection on the 2nd floor of the Library:

Guide to Reference and Information Sources in the Zoological Sciences
A very helpful guide to the literature which provides annotated lists of general zoological information sources and of vertebrate information sources (including chapters on fishes, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mamals).
REF QL 45.2 .S36 2003

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
A classic encyclopedia, 17 volumes. All groups of animals are covered, many with color illustrations and photographs. Articles include both general topics like bird migration as well as taxonomic articles on each major taxon.
REF QL7 .G7813 2003

Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
A dictionary of natural history providing brief definitions and cross-references.
QH540.4 .L56 1998

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
A 20 volume encyclopedia containing 4,000 articles written by over 5,000 well-known experts. It's strongest in molecular biology and related fields, but does have some articles on taxonomic groups.
REF QH302.5 .E54 2002

Latin Names Explained: A Guide to the Scientific Classification of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals
Translates scientific names into English and provides background on how name was chosen by original author, as well as information on distribution and on species or higher taxa. Separate indexes for English and scientific names. Initial section discusses classification and nomenclature in general, followed by specific sections on the three groups.
REF QL9 .G67 1996

Finding Current Information
1.  Generally for more current information, you'll want to search the professional literature, comprised of scholarly journals and gray literature.

• Scholarly journals - often published by professional organizations containing peer-reviewed research. In addition to some secondary sources (e.g. book reviews) scholarly journals also contain original, primary research articles. Journals can be either in electronic or paper format, by subscription.
• Gray literature -produced by government agencies, professional organizations, associations, universities, and other organizations. It can come in the form of reports, working papers, theses, government documents, bulletins, trade magazines, fact sheets, conference proceedings, and more. It can be in electronic or print format; and it can be either free or by subscription. Also a good source of background information (see above). For a more detailed explanation of gray literature, visit http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/access/greyliter.htm

2.  Following is a list of a few print subscriptions to scholarly journals found in the Library. For a complete listing of the scholarly journals available through Andruss Library (both print and electronic), try searching by subject in the Periodicals Title List under "Life Sciences and Agriculture" >> "Biology">> "Zoology".

• Animal Behaviour - 1958 - present (last 12 months also online)
• Behaviour - 1971 - present (also 1999 - present online)
• Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History - QH1 .A4 (General Collection, 4th floor)
• Canadian Journal of Zoology - 1951 - current; (also online 1998 to present)
• Copeia - 1966 - present; published by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
• Herpetologica 1936 - present
• Integrative and Comparative Biology - 2002 - present (also online 1997 - present)
• Journal of Mammalogy - 1919 - present
• Physiology and Biochemical Zoology - 1999 - present (also online)

3.  To identify relevant articles on your topic in BOTH scholarly journals and the gray literature, you will use electronic library databases. These databases allow you to combine key words & subjects and search across a range of years, something that print indexes cannot do. Electronic library subscription databases contain not only references to documents found in professional journals, books, gray literature, but also abstracts (descriptions of the document) and, in many cases, full-text articles.

4.  Important features of databases to remember:

• Different databases index different journals, although there may be some overlap. If the same journal is indexed in two different databases, you may still get different results since the depth of indexing may vary as well as the dates indexed.
• As biology majors, you should know that one of the best indexes to the international literature is Zoological Record. Andruss Library has it on microfiche from 1870 to1948. For a list of the 4500+ journals currently indexed in Zoological Record, visit http://www.biosis.org/support/zr-serials/ .
• Most databases allow you to limit your search to a particular journal. To find out which databases index a particular journal, try searching the free web site http://jake.openly.com or the subscription database, The Serials Directory. For more information, consult a reference librarian.
• Many databases offer searchers the ability to -
  a. limit a search by date or date range and other limiters
  b. mark records to create a bibliography and download the citations
  c. use a controlled vocabulary for more precision searching than keyword
  d. save searches to be run at a later time or sign up for a current awareness service that automatically alerts them to new publications
• Some databases have publisher-imposed 'embargoes' on certain journals so that the last 6 - 12 months are not available online.
• The Andruss Library does not own everything indexed in the databases to which we subscribe. If we do not own an item you want, you may request it through our Interlibrary Loan service, after FIRST CHECKING the Periodical Title List (for a journal title) or PILOT (for a book title).

5.  Databases for searching the vertebrate biology literature include :
Agricola - Indexes more than 2.5 million records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, including journal articles, books, theses, patents, and technical reports. 1979 - present.

Biological Abstracts - Nearly 6,000 journals are abstracted, including: agriculture, biochemistry, biology, biotechnology, botany, ecology, environment, microbiology, neurology, pharmacology, and public health. 1997 - present.

Basic Science Index - A multi disciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts. It indexes 800 major English-language journals across 100 scientific disciplines. 1995 - present.

JSTOR - A searchable collection of over 300 full text journals, some dating back to the 19th century. Recent issues of most journals are embargoed.

MEDLINE - Provides abstracts from over 4,600 current biomedical journals indexed by the National Library of Medicine. Contains information on animal testing. 1966 - present.

GPO - Contains citations for U.S. government publications. Check the library catalog and/or at the Reference Desk for library holdings. 1976 - present.

6.  For a complete listing of the more than 100 databases available through Andruss Library, visit our Databases A-Z page.

7.  If accessing the electronic databases and journals from home, you will be prompted for your "Lib #" - the 14-digit number found on the lower left hand corner of your BU ID card.

Physically Locating Journal Articles
1.  Many of the Andruss Library databases will link to the full text of the article. Use the PDF format, when available. You may print, download or email the article to yourself.

2.  If an article is not full-text in the database, click on the link labeled "Check Availability" within the database. This connects to our link resolver (called LinkFinder Plus) which will search for a direct link to the article. If no article link is available, you may still be able to get the article in the Library. Click next on the Periodical Title List  link to see if the journal is available in print or in a journal not known to the link resolver.

3.  If you are working with a reference from another source (web or print), then go directly to our web page link for Periodical Title List to see if you'll be able to access the article, either electronically or in print. Search by the journal title (not the article title).

4.  If the article is available in print (as opposed to electronic format), the Periodical Title List will show a link to Andruss Library Catalog (PILOT). Click on the link to get the holdings information, displayed in the 'Location' field of the record; it tells you in what collection the journal may be found, either

• Current Periodicals (usually last year or so) are arranged alphabetically by title on the 1st floor  in the Current Periodicals Collection
• Bound Periodicals (from 1988 - present) on the 1st floor Bound Periodicals Collection (NOTE: Bound journals older than 1988 are found on the 4th floor in the Pre-1989 Bound Periodicals collection)
• Microfilm Periodicals are also arranged alphabetically by title on the 1st floor in the Microfilm Periodicals Collection

Before going to a collection to look for the journal, be sure to note the year and volume/issue number and page numbers cited. Articles may be photocopied only ($.10/page); journals do not circulate.

5.  If you find the article is NOT available through Andruss Library (meaning you've checked the Periodical Title List for the journal), then you may request it through Interlibrary loan (ILL). When you fill out the online request form for an ILL article, be sure to provide complete, accurate information, and include the source for your reference (e.g. BioAbstracts).  In most cases, you will receive an email with instructions on how to retrieve the article on the web when it becomes available. For assistance, contact a Reference Librarian (x4204) on the 2nd floor of the Library.

Citing and Tracking Your Sources
1.  Consult with your professor regarding which citing style you are to use when writing up your results. Note that many professional journals have their own writing style and often provide information in the front of the print issue or on the journal's web site in the form of "Instructions to Authors".
2.  The Library's web page provides numerous links to different styles of citing. Consult a reference librarian for help.

Additional Web Sources
Biology Browser - a free web site sponsored by BIOSIS featuring a nomenclature glossary for zoology, the Zoological Record Thesaurus, and links to current science news stories, relevant web sites, and more.

Scirus -good source for gray literature. To see if Library owns the item you want, check the Periodical Title List link.

Google Scholar -if you use the Firefox browser, you can download a plug-in to automatically link to Andruss Library's link resolver. (Ask me to show you this.)

Government Information - this is Andruss Library's web page on how to locate government information (Andruss Library is a partial government depository) with numerous links.

Prepared by Linda Neyer, September, 2005