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Writing in the Professions: Science (UWP 104E)

2013 Spring

Pam Demory — phdemory@ucdavis.edu
Victor Squitieri — vsquitieri@ucdavis.edu
Aliki Dragona — apdragona@ucdavis.edu
Amy Clarke — amclarke@ucdavis.edu
Katie Rodger — karodger@ucdavis.edu

Librarian Subject Specialists

Ruth Gustafson
ragustafson@lib.ucdavis.edu — (530) 752‑1883 — Biological/Agricultural Sciences Reference Department (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/)

Librarian Subject Specialist for: General Biology; Animal Science; Avian Science; Entomology (including Bee Biology and Pollination); Environmental Science & Policy; Environmental Toxicology; Evolution and Ecology; Forensic Science; Nematology; and Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology

Need assistance? Email bioagquestions@lib.ucdavis.edu April 8-25, 2013. Ruth Gustafson will have office hours Mon/Fri 11am-noon starting Friday, April 26 through Monday, June 3, 2013 (exceptions Friday, May 10th; Monday, May 27).

SUNDAY Reference -- Available at 1st floor Shields, May 5th, 1-5pm

Laura Soito
lsoito@lib.ucdavis.edu — (530) 752‑2904 — Biological/Agricultural Sciences Reference Department (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/)
Make an Office Hours Appointment
Phoebe Ayers
psayers@ucdavis.edu — (530) 752‑9948 — PSEL Reference/Collections (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/pse/)

On This Page

Topic Ideas & Search Terms

Good sources for news in the sciences, where you might find interesting topics, are the magazines SCIENCE NEWS and NEW SCIENTIST. In addition, the top journals SCIENCE and NATURE include news items.

Once you've picked a topic, you will need to think of search terms to use for locating books and other publications. Harvest, the UC Davis Library online catalog, uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Each library subject database -- such as BIOSIS Previews or PubMed -- also uses subject lists that can help you precisely search your topic.

Research Help

Library Resources for Undergraduate Students (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/help/student.php)
Library Research Aids: How Do I...? Guides (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/instruc/research/guides/)
These guides include Choose a Research Topic, 5 Steps to Better Library Research, Find a Book, and more.
BioAg Consultation Desk (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/)
Located on the 3rd Floor of Shields Library. Ask for assistance at this Reference desk or you may email bioagquestions@lib.ucdavis.edu
Date: Monday-Friday 1-5pm (530) 752-9781
Carlson Health Sciences Library Reference Service (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/)
The Carlson Health Sciences Library is located in the Health Sciences District in the Southwest corner of the UC Davis campus, near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Date: Monday-Friday 10am-5pm (530) 752-7042
Physical Sciences & Engineering Library (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/pse/)
The Physical Sciences & Engineering Library is located near the Chemistry and Physics/Geology building, just NorthWest of Mrak Hall.
Date: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm

Science Library Collections

The UC Davis campus has 3 separate science libraries (two of them in health sciences) and one science department in the Shields Library. Important science information, including maps, is also found as part of the Government Information Collections of Shields Library, Lower Level.
Biological & Agricultural Sciences, Shields Library (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/)
The BioAg Sciences collections are located on the 3rd floor of Shields Library.
Health Sciences Libraries Collections (http://lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/about/collections/)
The Carlson Health Sciences Library is near the SouthWest corner of the UC Davis campus and the Blaisdell Medical Library is in Sacramento at the UCD Medical Center.
Physical Sciences & Engineering Library (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/pse/)
The Physical Sciences & Engineering Library is located near the Chemistry and Physics/Geology building, just NorthWest of Mrak Hall.
Date: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm
Government Information Collection [UC Davis] (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/govinfo/)
The UC Davis Library is a federal and state depository library with extensive historical and current collections in print, microform and electronic formats. We collect extensively from major international, intergovernmental organizations, selectively from local jurisdictions, and on a very limited basis from foreign governments. Agriculture, forestry, the environment and ecology are areas of strength. We collect comprehensively from the U.S. Congress and California Legislature, along with federal and state laws and regulations. The Library's collection of technical report literature is extensive. We emphasize statistical data in all collecting areas. Most government documents and maps are listed in the Harvest UC Davis Library Catalog and the UC-wide MELVYL Catalog. Some materials, such as technical reports and historical documents, may require specialized indexes or assistance from government information librarians. Government documents circulate on the same basis as other library materials. Some are housed in a separate stacks area in the Lower Level of Shields and are retrieved via the service desk on that level.

Connect From Off-Campus

Connect from Off Campus (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/services/connect/)
Instructions for UC Davis students, faculty, and employees to access our licensed resources from off campus. VPN is the preferred method for remote access in most cases.

Library Catalogs

The UCD Libraries selectively buy materials on writing in the sciences. Browsable subject headings that bring up these types of publications include: Biology -- Authorship ; Communication of technical information ; Life sciences -- Authorship ; Medical writing ; Report writing ; Technical writing

NOTE: If all books in this area are checked out, selected books on science writing may be found in the BioAg Reference collection, 3rd floor Shields. These Reference books are noted as "Library Use Only" which means they should always be available for you to review and copy.

Harvest UC Davis Catalog (http://harvest.lib.ucdavis.edu)
Harvest is the UCD library online catalog of the collections of all five UC Davis General Libraries. It does not include the holdings of the Law Library. If you log in (My Account) using your library card number and PIN, you can renew books online, and request items that have been checked out to another borrower, or are in storage.

E-book Collections

Electronic books in the Biological and Health Sciences (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/resources/etext/)
Subject listing of electronic books (handbooks, textbooks, guides) in basic biological and related health sciences disciplines/specialties and subdisciplines/subspecialties. Includes online books in general biology, biochemistry, endrocrinology & metabolism, genetics, microbiology & virology, molecular biology, neurology, nutrition, physiology, toxicology and veterinary medicine. All books are searchable at chapter-level. [Compiled by the UCD Carlson Health Sciences Library]
Springer eBooks Package (http://springerlink.com/books/) [Restricted] VPN
This UC-wide pilot is now (2013) a three-year package for Springer eBooks and includes more than 55,000 titles in English (and selectively in German) from every scientific discipline and many social sciences. This online interface enables all books to be searchable at the full-text level. Scope (textbook areas are starred) ranges from Architecture and Design, *Behavioral Science, *Biomedical and Life Sciences, *Business and Economics, *Chemistry and Materials Science, *Computer Science, *Earth and Environmental Science, *Engineering, *Humanities & Social Sciences and Law, *Mathematics and Statistics, *Medicine, *Physics and Astronomy, to Professional and Applied Computing. NEW books are added monthly. NEW INTERFACE as of November 26, 2012.
Coverage: 2005-2013
Related:
CRCnetBASE [via CRC Press] (full text books) (http://www.crcnetbase.com/) [Restricted] VPN

Full-text searchable database collection of more than 1500 handbooks, textbooks and manuals in agriculture, biology, business, chemistry, economics, engineering, ergonomics, law enforcement, materials science, math, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, physics, plant science, polymers, project management, public administration, statistics, telecommunications, textiles, toxicology and tribology. The full database can be searched, or any of its many subsets. The following TEN packages are subscribed by the University of California and are also listed separately under their respective Subject Guides: CHEMnetBASE, ENGnetBASE, ENVIROnetBASE, FOODnetBASE, FORENSICnetBASE, InfoSECURITYnetBASE, ITknowledgeBASE, MATHnetBASE, NEUROSCIENCEnetBASE, and STATSnetBASE.

Related:
  • Access Issues (http://blogs.lib.ucdavis.edu/pse/2009/05/08/accessing-online-crc-books-through-the-vpn/)
CAB eBooks [via CAB Direct] (http://www.cabi.org/cabebooks/) [Restricted] VPN

CABI ebooks now provides access to over 532 agricultural titles (more than 9,000 individual chapters). The archives from 2000-2007 includes 400+ titles (with over 6,000 individual chapters).

This collection is divided into six core subject collections: Agriculture; Animal and Veterinary Sciences; Human, Food and Nutrition Sciences; Plant Sciences; Environmental Sciences; and Leisure and Tourism.

PLEASE NOTE: This collection does *not* include ALL books published by CABI but selected titles. In particular, the publisher has chosen *not* to include textbooks in this package.

Coverage: 2000-present
Related:

Subject Guides

There is a subject guide for nearly every department on the UC Davis campus. Find the Subject Guide which best matches your major! Each subject guide lists the name(s) of the librarian(s) who buy(s) library materials in the respective subject. Feel free to email your Subject Specialist Librarian for help with reference questions and finding literature in that subject area.
Subject Guides (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/research/subjects/)
Use the Subject Guides to identify additional databases to search for information on your topic.

Databases

Databases and full-text collections which may be demonstrated or discussed at the library session.
BIOSIS Previews [via Web of Knowledge] (http://isiknowledge.com/BIOSIS) [Restricted] VPN

NEW interface loaded July 17, 2011 -- result retrievals will be larger due to search design changes.

More than 22 million records in all life science areas, including agriculture, biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, ecology, environmental sciences, genetics, microbiology, plant biology, veterinary medicine & pharmacology, and zoology. Indexes over 6000 journals, serials, books and book chapters, conference proceedings and patents.

Coverage: 1926-present
Related:
PubMed (http://uclibs.org/PID/17708) [Restricted] VPN
Citations and abstracts for articles published in approximately 8,400 journals in medicine, life sciences, health administration, veterinary medicine, nursing, molecular biology and genetics. PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Coverage: 1946-present
Related:
Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management (ESPM) [via ProQuest] (http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=davis&access=davis856&db=envclust-set-c&db=eisft-set-c&adv=1) [Restricted] VPN
New Interface 8/7/12 (from CSA Illumina to ProQuest): Major areas of coverage include aquatic pollution, bacteriology, ecology, energy resources, environmental biotechnology & engineering, environmental impact statements, hazardous waste, industrial hygiene, microbiology, and risk assessment. Separately searchable subfiles include: ASFA 3: Aquatic Pollution and Environmental Quality; Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B); Ecology Abstracts; Environmental Engineering Abstracts; Health and Safety Science Abstracts; Industrial and Applied Microbiology Abstracts (Microbiology A); Pollution Abstracts; Risk Abstracts; Sustainability Science Abstracts; Toxicology Abstracts; and Water Resources Abstracts. EIS: Full Text and Digests of Environmental Impact Statements is combined for cross-searching with ESPM.
Coverage: 1967-present (varies by subfile)
Related:
CAB Abstracts [via OvidSP] (http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&NEWS=N&PAGE=main&D=cabz) [Restricted] VPN

NOTE: default UCD Search Type set to Advanced Ovid Search. Citations and abstracts to the international agricultural literature, including veterinary medicine, human and animal nutrition, forestry, rural development, as well as other related topics such as tourism and human ecology. Covers over 11,000 journals & conference proceedings and selected books in agriculture. Produced by CAB (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux) International (CABI) with more than 9.0 million records as of 10/27/10.

HISTORICAL SCOPE: Archive abstracts added in August 2005 go back to 1910 with 1,860,000 additional records.

CAB DATABASE PDFs: As of January 2009, hard-to-find literature may be available as CAB Database PDFs (so noted *below* the UC-eLinks button). Currently, ONLY Internet Explorer (PC platform) or Safari (Mac platform) loads these PDFs. These CABI Full Text items give users automatic access to over 187,000 (as of March 2013) journal articles, conference papers and reports - 80% of which are not available electronically anywhere else.

Coverage: 1910-present [Archives added for 1910-1971]
Related:
  • Fact Sheet [CABI] (http://www.cabi.org/default.aspx?site=170&page=1016&pid=125)
    Describes content of CAB Abstracts database and provides tabs to coverage and serials cited.
  • Database Guide (http://www.ovid.com/site/products/ovidguide/cabadb.htm)
    Database guide to all features of the CAB Abstracts database
  • Saved Searches/Alerts/Automatic Updating Service (http://www.ovid.com/site/help/documentation/ospa/en/my_alerts.htm)
  • BioAg Librarians (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/about/meet-staff.php)
    For assistance with searching CAB Abstracts, e-mail bioagquestions@lib.ucdavis.edu or contact your BioAg librarian subject specialist
  • Veterinary medicine / health-related questions (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/)
    Carlson Health Sciences Library (530)752-7042, hslref@lib.ucdavis.edu
PsycINFO [via Proquest] (http://search.proquest.com/psycinfo/advanced) [Restricted] VPN
PsycINFO is a department of the American Psychological Association (APA). It provides citations to articles in professional journals, conference proceedings, books, reports, dissertations and even important internet sites in psychology and related disciplines, most with abstracts and some citations. (Psychinfo is the incorrect spelling.)
Coverage: 1840-present
Related:
Web of Science [via Web of Knowledge] (http://isiknowledge.com/wos) [Restricted] VPN

NEW interface loaded July 17, 2011 -- result retrievals will be larger due to search design changes.

Provides access to the content from three Thomson Reuters ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) Citation Databases: Science Citation Index Expanded; Social Sciences Citation Index; Arts & Humanities Citation Index.

Coverage: 1900-present [Science 1899-, Social Sciences 1900-, Arts & Humanities 1975-]
Related:
Compendex [via Engineering Village 2] (http://www.engineeringvillage2.org/controller/servlet/Controller?CID=quickSearch&database=1) [Restricted] VPN
Most comprehensive bibliographic database of engineering research literature, containing references to over 5000 engineering journals and conferences. About half the citations (from 2600 journals and conferences) include abstracts and indexing in the records.
Coverage: 1884-present
INSPEC [via Web of Knowledge] (http://uclibs.org/PID/22771) [Restricted] VPN
Citations from scholarly journals, conference proceedings, books, reports, and dissertations in physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control, and information technology.
Coverage: 1898-present
Related:
  • Use UC-eLinks to determine availability.
SciFinder [Registration Required] (https://scifinder.cas.org) [Restricted] VPN
SciFinder is the most comprehensive bibliographic database for scholarly research in the field of chemistry. It contains over 29 million citations and indexes over 10,000 journals, covering all aspects of chemistry, including chemical aspects of: biology and life sciences, engineering and materials science, food science, geology, medicine, physics, and polymer science. SciFinder also allows searching of chemical substances, chemical reactions, and includes some property data and spectra. It is the online version of Chemical Abstracts. Includes Cited Reference Searching: 1996 - present.
Coverage: 1907-present (with selected pre-1907 material)
Location: SciFinder Scholar can only be used by UC students, faculty and staff. Registration is required (see below)
Related:
GeoRef [via Proquest] (http://uclibs.org/PID/16251) [Restricted] VPN
Covers worldwide technical literature on geology, paleontology, and geophysics. Covers the geology of North America from 1785 to present and geology outside of North America from 1933 to present. Also includes GeoRef In Process database.
Coverage: 1785-present
Related:
  • Fact Sheet (http://md1.csa.com/factsheets/georef-set-c.php)
  • Help (http://www.csa.com/help/index.html)
  • GeoRef In Process Database (http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=davis&access=davis856&db=geoproc-set-c&adv=1)
    (records in process of being integrated into the main GeoRef database)
MEDLINEplus (http://medlineplus.gov/)
Full-text reputable consumer health information compiled by the National Library of Medicine from authenticated sources including the various U.S. Government agencies involved with health care. Many free and reliable full-text sources are incorporated including drug information, dictionaries and directories.
Academic Search Complete [via EBSCO] (http://uclibs.org/PID/126936) [Restricted] VPN
NOTE: Popular literature from Magazines and Newspapers are indexed in Academic Search Complete. The multi-disciplinary database Academic Search Complete (ASC) provides full-text access to more than 5,500 periodicals, including over 4,600 peer-reviewed journals, and indexing and abstracts for an additional 9,500 journals and 10,000 publications, including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. This scholarly collection offers coverage of information in many areas of academic study including, but not limited to: animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology and many other fields. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format.
Coverage: 1887-present
Related:

UC-eLinks

UC-eLinks (http://www.cdlib.org/services/info_services/instruct/ucelinks_guide.html)
Brought to you by UC libraries! UC-eLinks helps to link you to *choices* to find the item(s) you are interested in. UC-eLinks appears in most library literature or subject databases and provides a consistent way of getting to online articles (if licensed) or to information about which print issues of a journal we own. If we do not own a journal or book, you can use the UC-eLinks service to Request that the item be sent to you for free from another UC library -- often using Web delivery if the item is an article or book chapter.

Citation Systems

Citation Guides (http://ucdavis.libguides.com/citations)
Author: University Library
Library guide describing what a publication citation is and providing information on the most common disciplinary styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE and more.

EndNote

EndNote Instructional Webpage (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/instruc/research/endnote/)
Author: UC Davis Libraries
EndNote, licensed for all UCD full-time students, faculty, researchers and staff, is a bibliographic reference manager which enables citations to be stored, searched, and quickly inserted into research papers in the format of many scholarly journals.
EndNote Intro for BioAg Researchers (http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/research/topics/index.php?id=130)
Author: Ruth Gustafson
This webpage is the step-by-step guide for the monthly in-person EndNote Intro course taught in Shields Library.
Related:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Databases

A process through which manuscripts submitted to a journal are evaluated for quality -- by one or more subject experts in addition to the editor -- before being accepted for publication.

All ProQuest databases (such as ESPM and PsycINFO) enable you to narrow your result sets to just "Peer-Reviewed" journals. For journals retrieved from other databases, use the online Ulrich's Periodicals Directory to locate your journal. To the left of your title, look for a vertical black/white symbol depicting a referee jersey and thus noting the publication is "Refereed".

Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (http://www.ulrichsweb.com/) [Restricted] VPN
The standard source for information on virtually every active and ceased periodical, annual, irregular publication, and monographic series published throughout the world (plus thousands of newspapers). Indicates whether a publication is a refereed (peer-reviewed) title.

Journal Ranking

Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports is a comprehensive tool for assessing the importance of research journals in disciplines and subdisciplines including medical specialties. NOTE that review journals tend to be listed as top ranked titles, taking space away from original research titles, so use with caution.
Journal Citation Reports (JCR) (http://uclibs.org/PID/36787) [Restricted] VPN

Journal Citation Reports is an annual publication by Thomson Reuters with each yearly data analysis being completed in the following year. The most recent edition is always published in the summer following the year analyzed. Journal Citation Reports can show you the most frequently cited journals in a field, the highest impact journals in a field, and the largest journals in a field. JCR Science Edition contains data from over 7,300 journals in science and technology. JCR Social Sciences Edition contains data from over 2,200 journals in the social sciences. NOTE: For disciplines that have longer timespans for citation, consider sorting for ranking by using the newer 5-year Impact Factor.

Coverage: 2007-2011
Date: 2011
Related: