Biology Subject Guide
Getting Started
When refining a research topic in biology, it often helps to consult some of the standard reference works before searching for books and journal articles. A good article in a specialized encyclopedia can give you the necessary background you need to get started and can help suggest keywords or other avenues of research.
You can look for relevant sources in the reference book collection on the first floor, near the circulation desk, generally in the QH section. You can also ask me or the librarian at the Reference Desk for assistance in finding appropriate reference sources.
Finding Books
Searching
Searching TIGER by keyword or subject is often the fastest way to find books about your topic.
For books that we don’t own here at Colorado College, or books that are checked out or otherwise unavailable, use Prospector - Colorado Unified Catalog . You’ll find books (and CDs, DVDs, etc.) in libraries across Colorado that you can request and have sent to the Tutt Library circulation desk where you can check them out.
For books not available in TIGER or Prospector, you can request through Interlibrary Loan via WorldCat .
Please ask a librarian if you need help with TIGER, Prospector, or WorldCat.
Browsing
Books about biology are assigned call numbers that begin with a Q (science) or R (medicine) or S (agriculture).
Here is an overview of the call numbers for biology:
- Q General Science
- QH Natural history, Biology
- QK Botany
- QL Zoology
- QM Human Anatomy
- QP Physiology
- QR Microbiology
- R Medicine
- S Agriculture
- SB Plant Culture
- SD Forestry
Finding Articles
There are a number of databases to consult for articles on biological topics. For empirical articles, you may want to start with Web of Knowledge; for more general science articles, Academic Search Premier is a good database to try.
Complete list of databases for biology
- AGRICOLA
- Coverage: 1982 - current
- This resource covers all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including plant and animal sciences, forestry, entomology, soil and water resources, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, agricultural products, alternative farming practices, and food and nutrition.
- Annual Reviews
- Coverage: 1990's - current
- Online access to 20 Annual Reviews series covering biomedical sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences.
- BioOne
- Coverage: 1998 - current
- An aggregation of full-text research journals including biological, ecological and environmental sciences published by small scholarly societies. Peer-reviewed.
- Encyclopedia Of Life Sciences
- Coverage: varies
- Features signed, peer-reviewed entries covering cell, molecular, and structural biology, microbiology, genetics, neuroscience, and plant science.
- Encyclopedia Of Pain
- Coverage: N/A
- A guide to the understanding of the broad, multi-faceted and complex topic of pain.
- General Science Abstracts
- Coverage: 1984 - current
- Covers such subjects as anthropology, astronomy, biology, computers, earth sciences, mathematics, medicine and health, and much more.
- GreenFILE
- Coverage: varies
- Scholarly and popular articles, government documents and reports from over 600 titles dealing with the interaction between humans and the environment.
- History Of Science, Technology And Medicine
- An international bibliography for the history of science, technology and medicine, reflecting the influence of these fields on society and culture from prehistory to the present. Includes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews and dissertations.
- MEDLINE
- Coverage: 1965 - current
- Journals published internationally, covering all areas of medicine. *Password required for full text. Contact Reference Desk x6662.
- PubMed
- Coverage: varies
- PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, includes over 14 million citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950's. It is the public version of Medline and links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.
- ScienceDirect
- Coverage: varies
- Full-text articles online from Elsevier and Academic Press journals. Summary information about articles from all other Elsevier titles and some other publishers. Coverage includes all science areas and many social sciences and humanities areas.
- SciFinder
- Coverage: 1907 - current
- SciFinder Web retrieves information contained in databases produced by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and Medline. It contains journal articles, patents, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical reports, books, and more, covering a wide spectrum of science-related information, including chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering.
- SPORTdiscus
- Coverage: 1975 - current
- Covering all aspects of sport, fitness, recreation, and related fields.
- Web Of Knowledge
- Coverage: 1900 - current
- Citation-based searching in all disciplines. Includes Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present).
- Web Of Science
- Coverage: 1900 - current
- Citation-based searching in all disciplines. Includes Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present).