Research Guide for Writing 137: The Bioengineering of Plants
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/w138.html



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
Print and Electronic Sources

Print

    There are a number of helpful encyclopedias and dictionaries in the areas of agriculture and biotechnology in the reference sections of Mann Library, Olin Library and Uris Library, including:


    Biotechnology from A to Z
    Bains, William
    Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1998
    Mann Library Reference (Non-Circulating) TP248.16 .B33x 1998

    Biotechnology, one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas of science, is a complex combination of scientific disciplines beset by jargon and buzz words. Now fully updated to incorporate the most current terminology, this second edition of Biotechnology From A to Z offers an illuminating and practical introduction to the ideas of biotechnology. This book provides a concise and readable overview of the field. Straightforward language and concrete examples are used to unravel the jargon for the non-specialist.

    The Concise Encyclopedia of the Ethics of New Technologies
    Edited by Ruth Chadwick
    San Diego, CA: Academic Press, c2001
    Olin Library Reference (Non-Circulating) TP248.23 .C664x 2001 +

    Entries are written by international scholars and average ten pages in length. The articles are nicely organized; each begins with an outline and a glossary and ends with a brief bibliography. Includes entries for "Biotechnology," "Genetic Engineering," and "Novel Foods" (genetically modified foods).

    Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Biotechnology
    Edited by Thomas H. Murray and Maxwell J. Mehlman
    New York: John Wiley & Sons, c2000
    Mann, Law, Olin, and Vet Libraies Reference (Non-Circulating) TP248.16 .M87x 2000

    This text focuses on all aspects of ethics, law and policy relating to the field of biotechnology. Index includes the main headings "Agricultural biotechnology," "Crops," "Farming," and "Food biotechnology."

    Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences
    Brian Thomas, editor-in-chief
    San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic, 2003
    Mann Library Reference (Non-Circulating) SB91 .E53 2003

    Covers the application of current advances in the biological sciences, through which scientists can now better produce sustainable, safe food, feed and food ingredients. Also covers the concerns over continuing advances in the application of knowledge in the areas of ecology and plant pathology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry and biotechnology, as well as the ethical issues involved in the use of the powerful techniques available to modern plant science.

    Dictionary of Biotechnology
    J. Coombs
    New York: Stockton Press, 1992
    Mann Library Reference (Non-Circulating) TP248.16 C77 1992


    The Facts on File Dictionary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering
    Mark L. Steinberg, Sharon D. Cosloy
    New York: Checkmark Books, c2001
    Mann Library Reference (Non-Circulating) TP248.16 .S84x 2001



    Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Science, Technology, and Society
    Edited, selected, and with introductions by Thomas A. Easton
    Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, 1997
    Uris Library Reference (Non-Circulating) Q175.5 .E23x 1997

    Taking sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Bioethical Issues
    Edited, selected, and with introductions by Carol Levine
    Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group, 1997
    Uris Library Reference (Non-Circulating) BJ57 .T13 1997

    Taking Sides is published in a series of volumes concerned with different issues. Each volume is divided into sections of pros and cons on a specific sub-topic. Each of these sub-topics is then divided into three parts: a summary of the issue, a pro argument and a con argument. Arguments are written by people who are considered authorities on the issue. Finally, a fourth section follows these three as the arguments are summed up and analyzed briefly in a postscript at the end of each chapter. There is a subject, name and title index, but there are no bibliographies.

 

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.

 

 

General Interest and Reference
Background resources like encyclopedias will help you understand the broader context of your research and tell you in general terms what is known about your topic. Use these Reference databases to find and access articles in a variety of encyclopedias and subject dictionaries:

Reference Universe
Searches 4500 reference sources on a variety of subects. You can limit your search to titles only at Cornell. Results will give you the article information and reference source information, but not the actual article.

Oxford Reference Oline
Searchable database of 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works of Oxford University Press. Enter a search term, get results, and click to see the full-text of the encyclopedia/dictionary entry.

Xreferplus
Searchable database of 100 reference sources on a variety of subjects. Enter search terms, get results, and click to see the full-text of the encyclopedia/dictionary entry.



Other online general reference tools:

Oxford English Dictionary

Merriam-Webster Online

Roget's Thesaurus

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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

    • Includes the holdings of 19 Cornell University libraries (over 7 million items).
    • Contains records for books, DVDs/videos, sound recordings, magazines/newspapers/journals, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, and more.
    • For help searching the library catalog, see a librarian or go to the catalog's help pages.
    • Not finding what you need? Try searching library catalogs worldwide.

    Library of Congress Classification
    Most items in the Cornell Univeristy Library catalog are assigned a call number based on the Library of Congress' alpha-numeric classification system. Use the call number to locate the items you need.

    Interlibrary Loan Services
    If Cornell Library does not have an item you need, Use ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) to request that we borrow materials from other libraries.

    Borrow Direct
    If we own a book you need but it is checked-out, try requesting another copy through Borrow Direct -- a 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.

 

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this class:

GENETIC ENGINEERING
BIOENGINEERING
BIOTECHNOLOGY
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY
ORGANIC FARMING

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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

    ProQuest
    Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International

    Searches over 2000 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. Many of the articles found by searching in this database are available in full text electronic formats. Pull down menus allow you to customize your searches. Also included is a limit for peer-reviewed articles (scholarly articles).


    LexisNexis Academic
    Dayton, Ohio: Lexis-Nexis

    LexisNexis Academic provides access to full-text documents from over 5,900 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications, including national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources; U.S. federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information; Shepard'sŪ Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789; and business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.
    Article First
    Dublin, Ohio: OCLC

    Indexes over 10,000 periodicals in science, technology, medicine, social sciences, business, the humanities, and popular culture.

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)

 

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity


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Research and Reference Help

 

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October 23, 2005
Ida Martinez, im58@cornell.edu
Reference Librarian


Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, okucirc@cornell.edu