Books | Articles | Web Sites | Online Tutorials

Subject Guide: Biology

Books

Reference materials are a great place for exploring a topic. You will find definitions, overviews, facts, a history of a topic, and explanations of basic scientific concepts.

Selected Reference Books in McQuade Library (First Floor):

  • Encyclopedia of Evolution [REF QH360.2.O83]
  • Encyclopedia of the Human Genome [QH 427.N38]
  • Encyclopedic Dictionary of Genetics, Genomics, and Proteomics [QH 427.R43]
  • Environmental Encyclopedia [REF] GE10.E38
  • The Facts on File Dictionary of Biology [REF] QH302.5 .F38 1999
  • Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology [REF] QP512.G55
  • Grizimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia [RE] QL7.G7813 2003
  • Grizimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals [REF] QL701.G7913 1989
  • Illustrated Glossary of Protoctista [REF] QR75.5.I44 1993
  • Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Marine Sciences [REF][GC9.I58
  • Life On Earth: An Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution [REF QH 541.15.B56.L54]
  • Myelin Biology and Disorders [REF]QP 752.M9L39
  • Molecular Biology and Biotechnology: A Comprehensive Desk Reference [REF] QH506.M66155 1995
  • McGraw- Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology [REF] Q121.M3 2002
  • Walker's Mammals of the World [REF] QL703.W222 1999
  • World of Microbiology and Immunology [REF] QR9.W675
  • Writing the Laboratory Notebook [REF Q180.58.K36]

Search the NOBLE Web Catalog for more print and electronic books owned by McQuade Library. Try these sample subject headings:

Botany Genetics
Botany Ecology Immunology
Cells Marine Biology
Cytology Microbiology
Ecology Plant Physiology
Photosynthesis Zoology

To find additional related subject headings, scroll down the catalog record OR consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (a set of red reference books located near the Information Desk in McQuade Library). Not finding enough on your topic? Expand your search to "View Entire Collection" which will include all NOBLE member library catalogs.

Articles

Print and Electronic Periodicals:

The library subscribes to a number of biology journals in print. These are located in the Periodicals Room on the second floor of the library. There are also many full-text electronic journals available in the library's online databases. For a complete list of the library's periodicals holdings in both formats, go to Journal Finder. Here, you can search by title or subject for all print and full-text electronic periodical holdings.

Annual Reviews
The library subscribes to several annual reviews in print which circulate and can be found on the third floor of the
library. These secondary sources are helpful in that they provide articles which summarize and evaluate current
research in a particular field of study. They also include lengthy bibliographies.

Annual Review of Biochemistry (1947-present) QP501 .A7
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics (1983-present) QH540 .A53
Annual Review of Entomology (1956-present) QL461 .A53
Annual Review of Genetics (1967-present) QH431 .A1
Annual Review of Immunology (1983-present) QR180 .A58
Annual Review of Medicine (1984-present) R101 .A61
Annual Review of Microbiology (1983-present) QR1 .A5
Annual Review of Physiology (1961-present) QP1 .A535
Annual Review of Phytopathology (1963-present) SB599 .A68
Annual Review of Plant Physiology (1950-present) QK1 .A48
Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology (1988-present) QK1 .A48

Search these databases to find articles.
For off campus access, enter 13-digit number on back of college ID.

  • MEDLINE, created by the National Library of Medicine, providing citations and abstracts to over 4,000 biomedical journals.
  • ProQuest Biology provides access to a wide range of biology topics. The database includes over 285 titles, with more than 250 available in full text.
  • Academic Search Premier
    • The world’s largest academic multi-disciplinary database, Academic Search Premier provides full text for more than 4,500 publications, including full text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles. This database is updated on a daily basis. via EBSCOHost

  • Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition This database provides more than 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition also features abstracts and indexing for nearly 850 journals. This database is updated daily. via EBSCOHost

  • Health Source-Consumer Edition
    • This database is the richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide, providing information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. Health Source - Consumer Edition features searchable full text for nearly 300 journals. This database is updated on a daily basis.via EBSCOHost

  • Scientific American Archive Online

  • AGRICOLA contains materials relating to all aspects of agriculture, forestry, and animal science via FirstSearch.

  • BasicBIOSIS contains basic information about biology and other life sciences via FirstSearch.

  • GEOBASE contains worldwide literature on geography, geology, and ecology via FirstSearch.

  • Expanded Academic ASAP

  • Health Reference Center Academic Use this database to find articles on: Fitness, Pregnancy, Medicine, Nutrition, Diseases, Public Health, Occupational Health and Safety, Alcohol and Drug abuse, HMOs, Prescription Drugs, etc. The material contained in this database is intended for informational purposes only. via InfoTrac

  • JSTOR is a digital archive that contains back issues of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It contains complete runs of these scholarly journals, many of which date from the 1800s. Please note that the most recent 3 to 5 years of a journal are not included in this archive.

  • PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine providing over 11 million MEDLINE citations back to the mid-1960's as well as other life science journals. PubMed provides links to many sites providing full text articles and other related sources.

  • Chemical Abstracts (via STN Easy) covers all areas of biochemistry, chemistry, and chemical engineering. This database contains records of documents reported in printed CA from 1967 to the present. Current sources include over 9000 journals and patents from 26 countries. No-full text articles. On campus only.
    (Important Note: This is a sophisticated database and may not be appropriate for introductory information. Try the other sources mentioned above first. Also, due to our database licensing agreement access is limited to after 5:00pm weekdays and weekends. Students must get login and password from their professor or a reference librarian.

  • Wiley Interscience provides the full text of over 300 scientific, technical, medical and professional journals published by John Wiley and Sons.

  • Project MUSE is a unique collaboration between libraries and publishers providing 100% full-text, user-friendly online access to over 300 humanities, arts and social sciences journals from 60 scholarly publishers. Every journal is heavily indexed and peer-reviewed, with critically acclaimed articles by the most respected scholars in their fields. MUSE is the sole source of complete, full-text version of titles from many of the world’s leading university presses and scholarly societies.

Web Sites

General Guides

Science-Specific Search Engine

Topics in Biology

BioTechnology

Botany

Cell and Molecular Biology

Entomology

Environmental Biology

Genetics

Microbiology

Phylogeny

Taxonomy

Zoology

Education Resources

Local Resources

Professional Organizations

Miscellaneous

  • CBE Style Guide - Published by the Council of Science Editors, this is a formatting guide for documenting science sources.

Online Tutorials