Research Guides: BIOLOGY 180: Research Resources and Assistance

Databases Worth Your While

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with full-text periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. It features PDF content going back as far as 1887.
OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Contains full text of articles from over 2,500 publications, and indexing and abstracts from nearly 3,600 publications, supporting research in all core undergraduate subjects and for cross-disciplinary work.

Keyword Usage

Have you ever typed a phrase or question into a search engine and gotten weird (or no) results? That's because most search engines use keyword searching as their default function, so the terms that you type in are being searched by the search engine as though they would appear exactly like that in the title of a book, name of an author, or title of a journal article.

When searching databases or catalogs for resources about your topic, use the main terms in your research question.

Example: Your topic is on women's suffrage in the United States. Your keywords could be women suffrage united states to give you a broad overview of women's suffrage in the United States. If you wanted to refine your search to a specific person in the women's suffrage movement in the United States, you could add AND Elizabeth Stanton to your search.

You should also think about synonyms for your keywords. We could have searched women AND vote AND America. We should see similar results, but sometimes using synonyms give you completely different results. This is helpful because what you may call something (Obama Care) may be called something else in academic literature (Affordable Care Act).

Select the Advanced Search option to the right so you can get more options for your search:

Use Boolean Operators with your Keywords

Boolean operators refine your search results to make them more relevant to what you want.

AND: both of your keywords must be in every entry
ex: vote AND women
OR: at least one of your keywords must be in every entry
ex: global warming OR climate change
NOT: a keyword must not be in any of the entries
ex: United States NOT Britain

Try a keyword and Boolean search on one of the databases below:

Books

Marine Community Ecology and Conservation by Mark D. Bertness (Editor); John F. Bruno (Editor); Brian R. Silliman (Editor); John J. Stachowicz (Editor)
ISBN: 9781605352282
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Focusing on advancements over the last decade, this book gives advanced undergraduate and graduate students a current overview of what is known about the structure and organization of the assemblages of organisms that live on the sea floor, with each chapter written by leading researchers.
Ethnobiology of Coral by Nemer Narchi (Editor); Lisa Leimar Price (Editor)
ISBN: 9783319237626
Publication Date: 2016-01-06
This book explores the ethnobiology of corals by examining the various ways in which humans, past and present, have exploited and taken care of coral and coralline habitats. This book will bring the educated general audience closer to corals by exploring the various circumstances of human-coral coexistence by providing scientifically sound and jargon-free perspectives and experiences from across the globe.
The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms by Walter M. Goldberg
ISBN: 9780226301679
Publication Date: 2013-10-04
Reefs provide a wealth of opportunity for learning about biological and ecosystem processes, and reef biology courses are among the most popular in marine biology and zoology departments the world over. Walter M. Goldberg has taught one such course for years, and he marshals that experience in the pages of The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms.
The Biology of Freshwater Wetlands by Arnold G. van der Valk
Call Number: Online ebook
ISBN: 9780199608942
Publication Date: 2012
Global wetlands exhibit significant differences in both hydrology and species composition and range from moss-dominated arctic peatlands to seasonally-flooded tropical floodplains. They are increasingly recognized for the important services that they provide to both the environment and human society such as wildlife and fish production, nutrient filtering, and carbon sequestration. A combination of low oxygen levels and dense plant canopies present particular challenges for organisms living in this aquatic habitat. This concise textbook discusses the universal environmental and biological features of wetland habitats, with an emphasis on wetland plants and animals and their adaptations.
Creating and Restoring Wetlands by Christopher Craft
ISBN: 9780124072329
Publication Date: 2015-09-29
Creating and Restoring Wetlands: From Theory to Practice describes the challenges and opportunities relating to the restoration of freshwater and estuarine wetlands in natural, agricultural, and urban environments in the coming century. The underpinnings of restoration, driven by ecological (disturbance, dispersal, succession) theory, are described and applied to various activities (restoring hydrology, soils, and biota) that are used to improve the short- and long-term success of wetland restoration projects.

Helpful Web Sites

American Cetacean Society
The mission of the American Cetacean Society is to protect whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their habitats through public education, research grants, and conservation actions.
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
The Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography promotes interdisciplinary research and educational approaches to maintain the integrity of ocean ecosystems and manage their use in the face of rapid and inevitable global change.
Marine Conservation Organizations
List of conservation organizations. MarineBio is deeply committed to marine conservation and founded on the concept that, by sharing the wonders of the ocean and marine life, people will be inspired to protect it.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
From the website: "NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them."
Oceana
From the website: Oceana seeks to make our oceans more biodiverse and abundant by winning policy victories in the countries that govern much of the world's marine life.
Save the Bay (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
"Founded in 1967, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is the largest independent conservation organization dedicated solely to saving the Bay. Serving as a watchdog, we fight for effective, science-based solutions to the pollution degrading the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. Our motto, "Save the Bay," is a regional rallying cry for pollution reduction throughout the Chesapeake's six-state, 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to more than 18 million people and 3,000 species of plants and animals."

Please be in touch if you have any questions!

Elizabeth G. McClenney

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Contact:

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Subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Education, Government Documents, Religion & Philosophy