Libraries

Research

Subject Research Guides

Biology Research Guide

An Introduction to Library Research Strategy

The resources listed in this subject guide are only a few of the resources available to you at the Iona College Libraries. Please check the ORION catalog for a complete listing of all available books & multimedia for your research.


Locating Background Information

  • Read articles in general & subject encyclopedias.
  • Note any relevant items in bibliographies, indexes, and subject lists.
  • Additional information can be found in your class notes, textbooks, and reserve readings.

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Examples of Reference and other Materials
A good place to begin your research is the Reference Room, located on the 1st floor of Ryan Library, where you can browse Reference materials (all items with a call number beginning with an "R").

General Reference Sources

An A-Z of DNA Science: What Scientists Mean When They Talk about Genes and Genomes. (2001). New York: Cold Spring Harbor.
R 576.5 W 823

Bains, William. Biotechnology From A to Z. 2nd ed. (1998). New York: Oxford.
R 660.603 B 162

The Creation/Evolution Controversy: An Annotated Bibliography. (1998). Pasadena: Salem Press.
R 016.576 H 427

Chronology of Science: From Stonehenge to the Human Genome Project. (2002). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
R 502.02 C 557

Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. (2001). New York: Routledge.
R 503 E 56

Eureka's and Euphoria's: The Oxford Book of Scientific Antidotes. (2003). New York: Oxford Press.
R 509 G 773

Krebs, Robert. Scientific Laws, Principles, and Theories: A Reference Guide. (2001). Westport: Greenwood.
R 503 V 26-9, v.1-2

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. 9th ed. (2002). New York: McGraw-Hill.
R 503 M 147-9, v.1-20

Rohen, Johannes W. Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body. 5th ed. (2002). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
R 611.002 R 737

Science and Society: The history of Modern Physical Science in the Twentieth Century. (2001). New York: Routledge.
R 530.09 S 416, v.1-4

Using the Biological Literature: a Practical Guide. 3rd ed. (2002). New York: Marcel Dekker.
R 570.72 D 261-1

Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. 9th ed. (2002). New York: Wiley.
R 503 V 26-9, v.1-2

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Dictionaries

Dictionary of Modern Biology (1997). Hauppauge: Barron's.
R 570.3 R 916

Facts on File Dictionary of Biology (1999). New York: Facts on File.
R 570.3 F 14

Facts on File Dictionary of Botany. (1984). New York: Facts on File.
R 580 F 142

Henderson's Dictionary of Biological Terms, 11th ed. (1995). New York: Wiley.
R 574.03 H 496-1

Penguin Dictionary of Biology, 9th ed. (1994). New York: Penguin.
R 574.03 T 36

A Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 2nd ed. (1998). New York: Cambridge University Press.
R 570.3 L 73

Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. (1997). New York: Oxford.
R 572.03 O 98

Dictionary of Biological Psychology. (2001). New York: Routledge.
R 612.8 D 55

The Facts on File Dictionary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. (1999). New York: Facts on File.
R 660.65 L 665

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Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. (2002). New York:Nature Publishing.
R 570.3 E 56, v.1-20

Encyclopedia of Microbiology. (1992). San Diego: Academic Press.
R 576.03 E 56, v.1-4

Encyclopedia of Evolution. (2002). New York: Oxford.
R 576.803 E 56, v.1-2

Encyclopedia of Genetics. (2002). London:Fitzroy Dearborn.
R 576.5 E 56

Encyclopedia of Human Biology. (1997). San Diego: Academic Press.
R 612 E 56-2, v.1-9

Encyclopedia of Environmental Biology . (1995). San Diego: Academic Press.
R 574.503 E 56, v.1-3

Encyclopedia of Earth System Science. (1992). San Diego: Academic Press.
R 550.3 E 56, v. 1-4

The Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects. (2002). New York: Facts on File.
R 616.042 E 56

Environmental Encyclopedia. (2003). Detroit: Gale.
R 363.7 E 616

Concise Encyclopedia, Biology. (1995). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
R 574.03 C 744

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Handbooks

Biodiversity: A Reference Handbook (1998). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
R 333.95 B 391

The Facts on File Biology Handbook (2000). New York: Facts on File.
R 570 F 142

Fitness & Exercise Sourcebook. (1997). Detroit: Omnigraphics.
R 613.7 F 546

Genetic Engineering: A Reference Handbook (1999). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
R 660.65 L 665

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Style Manuals

The library has style manuals to help you follow the guidelines recommended by your professor when writing your paper, and to help you consistently and accurately format your citations.

CBE Style Guide Online (Council of Biology Editors)

More Citation Guides

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Videos

Bring to video number to Ryan Help Desk to view.

Biology & Crime, Video/Cas 0324
Digestive Systems in Animals, Video/Cas 0011
The Ear: Hearing and Balance, Video/Cas 1163
The Earth's Imagination, Video/Cas 1319
Environmental Vision, Video/Cas 0653
Ethics of Cloning, Video/Cas 1441
Evolution and Perception, Video/Cas 0652
Evolution, Environmental and Growth, Video/Cas 0623
Excretory Systems in Animals, Video/Cas 0013
Gender Biology: Men and Women, Video/Cas 1529
The Global Brain, Video/Cas 0240
Life in the Balance, Video/Cas 0582
Nature and Nurture of Development: Summary and Review, Video/Cas 0642
Nerves, Video/Cas 1021
Nervous System in Animals, Video/Cas 0009
Planet Earth: Fate of the Earth, Video/Cas 0690
Race to save the Planet: In the Name of Progress, Video/Cas 0964
Race to Save the Planet: The Environmental Revolution Video/Cas 0961

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Locating Books & Multimedia in ORION Catalog
To access ORION from the Iona College Libraries web site, click on "Find Books & Multimedia" and then either "Basic Search" or "Guided Search."

There are four searches that will help you to find the resources you need for your research:

  • "Keyword Anywhere" e.g. Microorganisms
  • "Title Exact" e.g. biology and the future of man
  • "Author Browse" e.g. Erlich, Paul R.
  • "Subject Browse" e.g. biology

Remember to ignore initial articles "a" "an" and "the"; when searching for specific book titles in ORION.

Please note, ORION is not case sensitive.

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Call Number Areas to Browse
Call numbers help you to identify specific subjects. Use the call numbers listed below to browse the library's shelves to find the books you need for your research.

550

Earth Science

551

Geology, Hydrology, Meteorology

570

Life Sciences, Biology

571

Physiology

572

Biochemistry

576

Genetics and Evolution

577

Ecology

579

Microorganisms, Fungi, Algae

580

Plants

590

Animals

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Subject Headings
When Searching ORION or finding full text articles in the Electronic Databases, Library of Congress subject headings are very helpful in locating books and articles that specifically pertain to that subject. The following is a few examples of biology subject headings found by doing a "Subject Browse" search with the term "biology" in ORION.

Biology

Biology - Study and Teaching

Biology - Classification

Biology - Vocational Guidance

Biology - History

Biomathematics

Biology - Philosophy

Biometry

Biology - Research

Biophysics

Biology - Social Aspects

Biotechnology

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Electronic Databases and Journal Articles

When this icon is present in an article record, click it to go directly to the full-text.


ScienceDirect
Abstracts from over 1800 journals, 200+ in full-text. Coverage focuses primarily on science and medicine.

MEDLINE (via PUBMED)
Indexes 4,600 biomedical and health science journals.

Academic Search Elite
A large, multidisciplinary database that indexes and abstracts over 3,200 popular and scholarly journals in all fields of study. Full-text is available for more than half of these journals.

ACS Publications
From the American Chemical Society, Web Editions provides full-text for over 30 ACS journals from volume 1 to the present, covering all aspects of chemistry.

Agricola
Access to the National Agricultural Library book and article databases.

Annual Reviews
Scholarly coverage of 12 disciplines in the sciences and social sciences. Articles provide evaluations of recent advances in primary research literature and include comprehensive bibliographies.

HighWire
From Stanford University, this database provides some full text to medical and scientific journals.

PUBMED Central
Provides access to 70+ full-text life science journals.

Locating Individual Journal Titles

From the library's homepage click on "Find Journal Articles & E-Resources" and then Find a Journal Title. Then type the name of the periodical, magazine, or newspaper in the space provided. The results will indicate the format (electronic or print) and availabilty of that particular title.

In Ryan Library, current periodicals are located in the Reference Room. Earlier periodicals are bound and located in the Periodicals Room. Computer Science, Mass Communication, and Education periodicals are housed at the Helen Arrigoni Library.

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Print Periodical Indexes

Biology Digest (1978 - current)
Located in Periodicals Room, first row of shelving

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Internet Resources

Biology Bookmarks (Dr. Charles Sackerson, Iona College)
Biology Links (Harvard University Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology)
GenBank (National Center for Biotechnology Information)
The Tree of Life (University of Arizona)

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