D SOC 111: Genetic Engineering: Exploring Current Controversies
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/dsoc111.html


Taiwanese farmers march in protest of
WTO-mandated agriculture regulations
for genetically modified (GM) crops.
From The Dominion


Developing a Search Strategy

Finding Background Resources

Finding Books

Finding Articles

Internet Resources

Evaluating Sources

Citing Sources

Research and Reference Help


    


Developing a Search Strategy

Search strategy is a library term for the process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information and materials you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Research Steps:

  1. Choose your topic
  2. Find background information
  3. Find books on your topic
  4. Find periodical articles
  5. Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
  6. Evaluate your sources
  7. Cite your sources

For more information about library research strategy and using library resources, go to Research Strategy: a tutorial -- an online, hypertext guide to library research that is a part of Library Gateway Help.



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Finding Background Resources
Reference Books

 

Networked

CQ Researcher explores "hot" issues in the news in depth. Topics range from social issues to environment, health, education, and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports. The CQ Researcher's hallmark is scrupulous objectivity and balance. Every 12,000-word report is written by an experienced journalist and features comments from experts, lawmakers and citizens on all sides of every issue. Numerous charts, graphs and sidebar articles -- plus a pro-con feature, a chronology, lengthy bibliographies and a list of contacts -- round out each report.

A searchable electronic dictionary of biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics. Includes some terms relating to ecology, limnology, pharmacology, toxicology and medicine. Provides one paragraph definitions with links to related terms. Excludes names of animal species.


General Interest and Reference

 

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Finding Books

Click on the image to connect to the Cornell Library online catalog:Cornell Library Catalog

  • About the CU Library Catalog
    The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of 19 Cornell University libraries. (The Weill Cornell Medical Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.) The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials. There are also records for items that are on order or in process.

  • CU Library Catalog Help Pages
  • Library of Congress Classification
    The Cornell University Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results.
  • Library Catalogs Worldwide
    Use other online catalogs to find materials not in the CU Library Catalog.
  • Interlibrary Loan Services
    Use ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) to borrow materials from other libraries.
  • Borrow Direct
    A new rapid book request and delivery system that enables Cornell faculty, staff, and students to search the combined library catalogs of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, and directly request expedited delivery of circulating items.
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Finding Articles

Indexes, Abstracts, and E-Journals

Periodical indexes and abstracts are resources that identify and locate articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Increasingly, indexes are available as online databases that will often provide access to the full text of the articles.

Find Databases provides access to over 1000 online indexes and abstracts, almanacs, catalogs, dictionaries, directories, and encyclopedias. Entries for these resources provide descriptive information, dates of coverage, and links to the databases. You can find databases in your areas of interest by either searching by title or keyword or browsing through the subject menus.

All of the resources in Find Databases can also be found in and accessed through the CU Library Catalog.

Find Articles allows you to search for journal article citations in more than one database simultaneously. In many cases, these citations will provide links directly to online full text of the articles themselves.

Note: The number of databases available for simultaneous searching is a selective subset of the number of resources available in Find Databases.

Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles

 

Electronic Periodical Indexes - Multidisciplinary

 

Electronic Periodical Indexes - Special Subject

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Internet Resources

Portals, Search Engines, and Subject Guides

Use web portals, search engines, or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software programs that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.

Question and evaluate the information that you find on web pages. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative? Go to the Evaluating Sources section of this page for more information on how to assess the web sites you have accessed.

 

Selected Web Sites for this class:

Center for Food Safety
Established by the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) in 1997 and based in Washington, D.C., the Center for Food Safety (CFS) is a public interest and environmental advocacy organization which works to address the impacts of our food production system on human health, animal welfare and the environment. CFS works to achieve its goals through grassroots campaigns, public education, media outreach, and litigation.


Genewatch
GeneWatch is an independent organisation concerned with the ethics and risks of genetic engineering. It questions how, why and whether the use of genetic technologies should proceed and believes that the debate over genetic engineering is long overdue. Web site includes press releases, news, fact files, etc.


Biotech Knowledge Center, sponsored by Monsanto
Industry-sponsored site containing information that takes a largely favorable position toward bioengineering and food production.


Transgenic Crops: An Introduction and Resource Guide
Web site from Colorado State University that aims to "provide balanced information and links to other resources on the technology and issues surrounding transgenic crops..."


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Evaluating Sources

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

How to Critically Analyze Information Sources
Lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria
Shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

Evaluating Web Resources
Lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.

Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools
See this page for additional suggestions specific to Web sites.

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites
Offers a table of suggestions.

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography



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Citing Sources

APA citation style
(American Pyschological Association)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.)

Africana, Hotel, Management, Olin, and Uris Libraries
BF 76.7 .P83x 2001x
(located at the Reference Desks)

Also in ILR and Mann Reference at BF 76.7 .A51 2001.

APA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

APA Reference Examples for Electronic Source Materials (Excerpted from the 5th edition of the Publication Manual)

APAStyle.org (APA's web site)

MLA citation style
 (Modern Language Association)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.)

Olin and Uris Libraries Z253 .M68 2003
(located at the Reference Desks)

MLA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

 
Managing Information using Bibliographic/Citation Software

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. Click here for more information about RefWorks and to sign up for an account. RefWorks workshops are offered at Uris Library, Mann Library and ILR Library.

EndNote allows you to build your own database of bibliographic references from a variety of resources, including library catalogs and periodical indexes. EndNote interfaces with several standard word processing programs and provides direct connections to resources, making it easy to import references and incorporate them in your writing. EndNote (or RefWorks) is highly recommended for researchers. EndNote workshops are regularly held on campus at Uris Library and Mann Library.



Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity


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Research and Reference Help

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February 11, 2005
Ida Martinez, im58@cornell.edu
Reference Librarian
Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
PSA: Public Services and Assessment
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, olincirc@cornell.edu