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Getting started

Welcome

Welcome to the Biology Research Guide! Here you can find tips on how to find and use information pertaining to Biology. Please explore the links and feel free to contact us for any additional information or help using our resources.

Cite your References!

Find information on popular reference styles through our "Citation Style Guide." Remember to use the style asked for by your professor, and to check your work.

Use Zotero to help import, manage and export bibliographic references in various styles.

More Help

In the library: The Library User Assistance Desk to your immediate left as you enter the library is a good place to start.

By email: Email the librarian responsible for your faculty for a reply during regular working hours.

Research consultations: Book a research consultation with the librarian responsible for your faculty by Zoom or phone.

By chat: With our "Ask the Library" service. For more information, see About Ask a Librarian.

For Distance Education students: Telephone: 1-800-661-1058, ext. 2 or email: bibdesmaraislib@laurentian.ca

Searching for books

Searching the Catalogue

The catalogue is your primary tool for finding books in the J.N. Desmarais Library. You can also use the catalogue to find other materials, including government publications and journals (including individual articles).

You can search the catalogue by:

  • Title
  • Author/Creator
  • Subject
  • Call Number

When you know the book you are searching for, pick Title or Author; when you are searching for a topic, start with Keyword unless you know the exact Subject heading describing your topic.

More on searching the Catalogue is available in Module 5 of the Research Skills Tutorial in D2L.

Additional Print Resources

  • A Concise Dictionary of Biology (2nd Floor: Ref. QH 302.5 C66 1990)
  • Concise Encyclopedia of Biology (2nd Floor: Ref. QH 302.5 A2313 1995)

Shelf Searching

Laurentian uses LC Classification. Some patrons may wish to browse for books in the stacks; Biology is classified under science (Q) and more specifically, under QH - Natural History. The following are the Natural history designations:

QH1-278.5 Natural history (General)

QH1-(199.5) General (Including nature conservation, geographical distribution )

QH201-278.5 Microscopy

QH301-705.5 Biology (General)

QH359-425 Evolution

QH426-470 Genetics

QH471-489 Reproduction

QH501-531 Life

QH540-549.5 Ecology

QH573-671 Cytology

QH705-705.5 Economic biology

WorldCat

With nearly 200 million records representing titles held by nearly 75,000 libraries you will find almost any book ever published in the English language in WorldCat.
 
 

Getting articles

Theses and Dissertations

Proquest Theses and Dissertations

For additional information on advanced research as well as theses and dissertations, please consult our Research Guide for Advanced Studies.

Biology Related Databases

  • Academic OneFile ?

    Description: More than 14,000 titles, including more than 9,000 peer-reviewed journals and more than 6,000 in full text. Extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects since 1980.

  • EBSCOhost Platform Databases ?

    Description: Multidisciplinary platform containing many databases in different disciplines, such as the humanities, social sciences, education, arts and natural sciences.

  • GreenFILE ?

    Description: GreenFILE is a multidisciplinary database which relates the environment to a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. Includes more than 538,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 5,800 records. Years covered: 1969 - present.

  • Google Scholar ?

    Description: "Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature... across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites."

  • ProQuest Platform Databases ?

    Description: Multidisciplinary platform containing many databases in multiple disciplines, such as the humanities, social sciences, education, arts and natural sciences.

  • Web of Science ?

    Description: A comprehensive research platform that brings together many different types of content including journal articles, patents, websites, conference proceedings, and open access material. Web of Science is located within Web of Knowledge. This resource offers access to journal articles in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Web of Science contains over 100 years of research, fully indexed and cross-searchable.

Getting e-books

E-books

E-books are located in two different places:
  • Some may be located by using the library’s catalogue and selecting "Books & eBooks" as the "Material Type" and then further filtering your results by "Available online". 
  • E-books can also be located by searching in e-book collections. Searching in these collections is the same as searching in a database. Recommended e-book collections can be found below.

Recommended E-book Collections for the Sciences

  • ForensicNetBase ?

    Description: Over 700 ebooks in the forensic and criminal science

  • Books at Ovid ?

    Description: over 450 ebooks in the health sciences

  • Ebook Central ?

    Description: close to 40,000 ebooks in multiple subject areas

  • Oxford Scholarship Online ?

    Description: Over 13,960 ebooks in multiple subject areas.

  • ScienceDirect ?

    Description: A full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters from nearly 2,500 journals and 26,000 books in the fields of physical, life, health and social sciences, engineering and the humanities.

  • Springer LINK ?

    Description: SpringerLink currently offers 2,777 fully peer-reviewed journals and over 151,000 books online.

  • Scholars Portal - Ebooks ?

    Description: Over 345,000 ebooks in multiple subject areas. Select Full Text Only to find only those ebooks with full text.