Biology: Get Started
Databases for Research
Databases provide access to journal articles and sometimes videos and additional content.
New to scholarly science journals? Read Science Buddy's How To Read a Scientific Paper, a short tutorial to help you get the most out of your research.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 4,500 scholarly social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. 3,700 are peer-reviewed.
- Biological Science Database This link opens in a new windowFull text articles from 280 biology journals, many of them peer-reviewed.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 1,000 peer-reviewed life sciences, Health Science, physical sciences, and engineering journals with citation information for thousands more. Look for the "Full-text available" indicators to view articles online. View the Science Direct handout.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar searches the web for scholarly articles, reports, books, and other materials. If using Google Scholar from a PCC campus, you can access full text articles. If PCC has access to an article, a "Find it @ PCC" link will appear to the right of the search result. Click “Find it @ PCC” to go to the library catalog where you will be offered a choice to view the article. From home, you will need to set your Google Scholar preferences to access PCC Library resources. See How to Search PCC Library on Google Scholar for directions on how to set your Google Scholar preferences at home.
- Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition This link opens in a new windowScholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Coverage of nursing and allied health is particularly strong. Also includes Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull text of about 600 scholarly journals in the arts and sciences, from their earliest issues up to 3-5 years ago. This is where you'll find the classic experiments of the past!
- MEDLINE This link opens in a new windowCovers the international literature on biomedicine, including allied health. Citations available from 1965 - present; some full text.
Databases for Background Information
Sometimes you need a magazine article or an encyclopedia entry to get your research started. These databases will help!
- Access Science This link opens in a new windowAn online version of McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. It contains nearly 9,000 online encyclopedia articles, terms, images and videos related to sciences and technology. The Study Center provides essay topics, study guides and bibliographies.
- Gale Ebooks (formerly GVRL) This link opens in a new windowGale eBooks has over 200 encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Look here for biology, chemistry, nursing and medicine, sociology, history, education, law, and more.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowProvides online versions of 500 published reference works, including general and specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias. Try the Concept Map to search for terms and topics that are interconnected and displayed in a visual form.
- MasterFILE Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text of general interest magazine articles, reference and travel books, biographies, primary source documents, photos, maps, and flags.
- SIRS Issues Researcher This link opens in a new windowFull text information on social issues, science, health, history, government, business, and the arts and humanities. Citations include Lexile reading levels. View the SIRS Knowledge Source handout [pdf].
Becoming a better biology student
- Biology Student SkillsTutorial designed for BI 112, but useful for anyone who wants to strengthen the skills good students need.
Librarian's Pick
Need information about an animal? The quickest place to check is usually Grzimek's -- either Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals or Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia.
Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals by
ISBN: 9780079095084Publication Date: 1990-01-01Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia by
ISBN: 9780787653620Publication Date: 2002-10-04
Related Guides
Librarian
What's new in biology?
- Science NewsDaily update from the weekly Science News magazine
- Science DailyHeadlines and news