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Biological Sciences

A Brief Guide to Reference Resources

[Databases, Indexes & Abstracts] [Dictionaries]
[Biography] [Library of Congress Subject Outline] [Current Awareness Service]
updated:  January 10, 2007

In the News: Avian Flu

World Health Organization - Avian Influenza. <http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/>
Covers a wide range of information on avian influenza, including factsheets and information on pandemics.

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Avian Influenza. <http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm/>
Provides key facts and information on avian influenza.

Official U.S. government web site - PandemicFlu.gov. <http://pandemicflu.gov/>
The official U.S. government Web Site on pandemic flu and avian influenza. Includes the "National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza" and other planning documents, as well as general information on pandemics.

CDC Resources for Pandemic Flu. <http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic.htm>

Databases, Indexes & Abstracts

Agricola. Accessible to University at Albany users only
Major agriculture resource, also very good for plant ecology and forestry. Covers over 5,000 journals. Available electronically through the Library Web page <http://library.albany.edu> under "Database Finder", for 1970+. (Available free through the National Agricultural Library.)

Biological Abstracts. Accessible to University at Albany users only [SCIENCE REF / Index QH 301 B37]
Covers many biology topics: Biochemistry, ecology, neuroscience, botany, genetics, etc. Tries to be comprehensive world-wide. Covers about 4,000 journals. Available electronically through the Library Web page <http://library.albany.edu> under "Database Finder", for 1995+. The Science library also has 1926-2001 in print.

Biological Sciences Database. Accessible to University at Albany users only (through Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)
Extensive coverage of most biological subjects. Covers over 4,000 journal titles. Available on the web - Library Web page <http://library.albany.edu> under "Database Finder", for 1982+.

Chemical Abstracts. Accessible to University at Albany users only [SCIENCE REF / Index QD 1 A51]
Definative chemistry source, available electronically to University at Albany faculty, staff, and students through SciFinder Scholar, for 1907+. While SciFinder Scholar is accessible from any campus location, it requires special software. This software is available on the four terminals next to the reference office in the Science Library and may be obtained by contacting the bibliographer for chemistry. The Science Library also has 1907+ in print.

Medline.
Primary biomedical resource, covering about 3,900 biomedical journals. Available electronically through the Library Web page <http://library.albany.edu> under "Database Finder". (if you access on campus or using the proxy server (off campus), you can link to some full-text journals), for 1965+.(Available free through the National Library of Medicine.)

Science Citation Index. Accessible to University at Albany users only [SCIENCE REF / Index Q 1 Z999 S28]
Indexes core journals in biology and its related fields. Searchable by author, title keyword, author's address, or by cited reference which links current and past publications. The Science Library has 1964+ in print; also available in CD-ROM format (1980+) (Stand alone terminal by Science Information Commons).

Zoological Record. Accessible to University at Albany users only [SCIENCE REF / Index QL 1 Z999 Z66]
Important zoological resource, covering most areas of zoology, including biochemistry, behavior, ecology, evolution, genetics, systematics, etc. Covers about 4,500 journals. For best results, search by scientific name of organism. The Science library has 1864- 1993-95 in print. For electronic access, go to the library Web page <http://library.albany.edu> under "Database Finder", for 1978+.

Dictionaries

Henderson's Dictionary of Biology. [SCIENCE REF QH 302.5 H45x 2005]
Classic dictionary, offering coverage of all major fields in biology.

Oxford Dictionary of Biology. [SCIENCE REF QH 302.5 D53x 2000]
Contains over 4,700 definitions which are enriched with illustrations.

Biography

Notable Twentieth-Century Scientists. [SCIENCE REF Q 141 N73 1995]
Comprehensive source of biographical information on over 1,300 20th century scientists. Each biographical entry includes a 2 or 3 page essay, a list of selected writings, and a bibliography. There are indexes for field of specialization, gender, nationality/ethnicity and subject.

For further general biography resources, go to SCIENCE REF Q 141.

Library of Congress Subject Outline

Biology and its related fields contain a large number of specialized dictionaries and biographical works. To locate them, use the Online catalog or browse the Science Reference collection by call number:

QH 301 - General biology
QH 540 - Ecology
QK - Botany
QL - Zoology
QM - Human Anatomy
QP - Physiology
QR - Microbiology
R - Medicine
S - Agriculture

Current Awareness Service

Ingenta. <http://www.ingenta.com/> Accessible to University at Albany users only
An automated current awareness service that delivers the table of contents of journals or article citations by electronic mail. Search strategies can be created by journal, keyword, or author. Instructions on how to set up a profile are available at <http://library.albany.edu/databases/about/ingentahelp.html>.


For Web-based Biological Sciences resources
see the Biological Sciences subject guide
available at <http://library.albany.edu/subject/biosci.htm>.

This page is maintained by Sue Kaczor
Comments to skaczor@albany.edu