Information Sources in Biology at James Madison University.

1. Information Sources in
Biology at JMU
Tips for BIO 124
Created by M. Mandernach
Revised by Yasmeen Shorish
JMU Libraries, 2012
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2. Research tips you need to
know…
 Research is a process, it will take time.
 Using library resources will make a good
use of your time.
 Reading the abstract will save you time.
 A librarian is available to help. Take time
to contact her:
 Yasmeen Shorish  Science Librarian
 E-mail: shorisyl@jmu.edu
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3. http://despair.com/
Since YOU don’t have “an endless supply of expendable
labor,” you need to use your time EFFICIENTLY.
Learning to use specialized scholarly databases will save you
TIME!
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4. JMU Library Facts
 4 library locations at JMU – Carrier, Rose, Music, and
Memorial Hall-ETMC
 Materials can be requested from any library and
delivered to any library for you to pick up
 RoseLibrary has most of the print Biology materials
 Most science journals are online
 Interlibrary Loan (ILL) – gets materials JMU does
not own
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5. Accessing the library off campus
 See library webpage for instructions on how to
“Connect from Off Campus” -
http://www.lib.jmu.edu/proxy/default.aspx
 Everything electronic that you have access to
ON campus, you will have access to from
OFF campus.
 NEVER pay for articles - use Interlibrary Loan
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6. Evaluating Information Sources
You should examine each source you encounter in
order to determine its credibility.
 Authority – author given, credentials?
 Timeliness – date of information, is date important?
 Documentation – sources cited, bibliography?
 Purpose – intended audience, point of view,
scholarly or popular?
 Suitability – appropriate information, suitable level?
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7. Why use scholarly journals?
Scholarly, Peer-reviewed, Refereed
These are all terms that refer to journals in which
ANOTHER RESEARCHER or AN EDITOR has
already evaluated the quality of the research.
You do not have to be personally responsible
for deciding if it is “good” methodology or not.
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8. Magazines vs. Journals
Magazines Journals
 May be unsigned  Signed
 May be written by a  Written by an expert
generalist  Author’s position and
 No references institution given
 Written for general public  References
 Often contains  Specialized language
advertisements  May be published by
association or scholarly
press
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9. Types of articles
 Within scholarly journals a variety of types of
articles exist
 Research Articles
 Review Articles
 Editorials
 Corrections
 Current News Briefs
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10. Research vs. Review articles
Research articles Review articles
 Original Research  Summary of previously
 Experiment conducted conducted research
 Typical sections of a  Overview of particular
research article field/time period
 Introduction  Provides a good
 Methods background on a topic
 Results  Lots of references
 Discussion
 Conclusions
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11. How do you find scholarly
articles?
 Google Scholar
OR
 Databases created by professional scholarly
organizations (Examples: Scopus for biology,
SciFinder Scholar for chemistry, MathSciNet for math, NASA
ADS for physics, GeoRef for geology, PubMed for medicine,
etc.)
 Which do YOU think is more efficient?
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12. Searching a Database
 Break search phrase into searchable
concepts
 Competition among plants in a field, particularly
marigolds and other species
 Is this a good search phrase?
 What kind of results would you expect?
 Too broad?
 Too narrow?
 Brainstorm synonyms (technical names, common
names)
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13. More Database Search Tips
 Using AND between two terms will find
citations possessing BOTH of those terms.
Use AND to help narrow down your search.
 Using OR between two terms will find
citations possessing EITHER of those terms.
Use OR to help broaden your search.
 Using quotes “” will bring results with the
words together as a phrase, “plant species”.
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14. Even More Search Tips:
Truncation: throwing a wide net
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 Searching for “competition” – won't get
compete, competing, or competitive.
 Some of these terms might be useful. In order to
retrieve them, truncate the search term.
 In most databases, * is the truncation symbol.
compet* will gather all of the above.
 Be careful when using truncation… if interested in articles about
cats and you search cat*, you will retrieve articles about cats but
also articles about catapults, catalysts, or cathedrals (among
others).
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15. You have several good results…
now what?
 Read the abstract!!
 Can you understand the article?
 Is the article on your topic?
 Taking time to read the abstract NOW can
save you a lot of frustration later.
 You don't want to save it or print it out, take it home,
and read it a week later to find out that it's not on
your topic.
 Check out the “How to read a scientific paper?”
movie on the Home Tab of the course guide.
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16. Reading the abstract
 If you were looking for an article on plant
competition, would this article be useful?
 Abstract:
This work studied the effect of a noncommercial enzyme
preparation on xanthophyll extraction from marigold flower
(Tagetes erecta). The results show that the extraction yield depends
directly on the extent of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cell walls in the
flower petals and that it is possible to reach yields in excess of
those previously reported for treatments with commercially available
enzymes (29.3 g/kg of dry weight). The enhanced extraction system
appears to be very competitive when compared to the traditional
process and current alternatives.
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17. You read the abstract and it seems useful.
How do you find the whole article?
 Look for the button
It will open a new window and show you the options for retrieving the article
 Check it out:
 Online!
 If it wasn't available
ILL would be listed here
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18. You found your articles.
How do you cite them in your paper?
 Citations provide the basic information needed for
someone else to find the same thing you did.
 Citation styles vary (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian,
specific journals), but there is basic information that they
almost all contain.
 A basic citation format: Author(s) name(s). Year. Title of
article. Title of Journal. Volume # (Issue #): pages. doi (if
available)
Flint, W. D., and R. N. Harris. 2005. The efficacy of visual
encounter surveys for population monitoring of Plethodon
punctatus (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Journal of Herpetology.
39 (4): 578-584. doi:10.1371/journal.example
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19. Citation Tips, continued…
 Notice that there IS NOT a URL or web
address in the citation anywhere!
 Web information is given ONLY if the
information referenced is ONLY available
online, like websites, blogs, etc. When URLs
are given, you usually also give the DATE
you accessed the information. WHY?
Because web information can change!
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20. Citing online journal articles
Example:
The URL is NOT needed for this citation.
Web addresses are often NOT permanent links and may not work in
an email or another search.
This is NOT a good way to share information about finding this article!
Here is the
citation information
you need to use:
Journal Name
Volume, Issue, Pages
Article Title
Authors
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21. Citation help = RefWorks
 Every JMU student and faculty member has
access to RefWorks and Write N Cite. Use
these tools to organize your research and
drop citations into your paper!
 Attend a RefWorks walk-in workshop at the
library, or set up a time with the Science
Librarian for help using RefWorks.
 Or, check out our video tutorial or handout.
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22. What about books?
 Good point! Often while searching for the
most recent research reported in journals or
online, you can forget that there are great
sources of background information and
collections of information to be found in
BOOKS!
 How do you find books at JMU?
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23. Finding books
Look for Reference Books
Search the Catalog
Tips for finding books
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24. Still need help?
 Stop by the Rose Library or
Carrier Library Information Desks.
 Contact your librarian!
 Yasmeen Shorish
 E-mail: shorisyl@jmu.edu
 Chat via the Biology
Subject and Course Guides !
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