408 Paterno Library, University Park
PA 16802-1811
814-865-7056 • IM: lifescilib
814-865-7056 • IM: lifescilib
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408 Paterno Library, University Park
PA 16802-1811
814-865-7056 • IM: lifescilib | ||
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Don't forget: Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines and newspapers or pro and con debate information. Article Search Tips: Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps:
Get the full text: Once you find the citation in a database,
try the Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print! Use The CAT for finding books owned by Penn State. CAT Search Tips: The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries. Go to the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first). Go to the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms. Write down the call number and location for any book you want. For more detailed searching information go to the Quick Guide to the CAT. Suggested CAT Search Terms: Search for specific products (i.e. corn or cheese), processes (i.e. harvesting or fermentation) or concepts (i.e. precision agriculture or erosion). Call Numbers: At University Park, most materials in the life sciences are located on the 4th floor of Paterno Library. Some technology material is located on the 3rd floor of Paterno. General call numbers and subject areas are:
Books Elsewhere: WorldCat Libraries Borrowing Policies: Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. Loan periods are usually four weeks but books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code. Many government publications are available in print in the Life Sciences Library or in the Social Sciences Library. If you are having trouble locating a particular document, please ask at a reference desk. Included below are WWW pages of some important government agencies.
Agropedia a compilation of agriculture encyclopedias. Access Science is the online equivalent of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science is a print publication edited by Chalres J. Arntzen and Ellen M. Ritter. Technical terms may be found in printed dictionaries of agricultural science. Practical handbook of agricultural science. is a print publiation edited by A.A. Hanson. This publication is a quick reference, primarily in table format, to a variety of topics pertaining to soils and to the production and use of plants and animals. Directories & Biographical Sources American Men and Women of Science (part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library) This resource contains biographical information on living American scientists. The Biography and Genealogy Master Index is a comprehensive index to more than 10 million biographical sketches in over 1000 current and retrospective biographical dictionaries, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world. The National Faculty Directory. This resource contains information on faculty in the United States. Associations Unlimited is available from the Gale Company. It contains detailed descriptions of some 142,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local membership organizations in all subject areas. This is a list of National Commodity and Agricultural Organization Sites available from the Ag Marketing Resource Center CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) provides information about this organization of agricultural organizations. It also provides links to its member organizations. The National Academies: Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering and Medicine. Information and publications from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Voice of Agriculture: the American Farm Bureau includes online issues of the weekly Farm Bureau News, press releases, information on the Bureau's views, facts on agriculture, connections to state farm bureaus and other agriculturally related organizations. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is a general farm and rural organization working to promote and represent the interests of its over 25,000 farm and rural families in Pennsylvania. The National Agricultural Library provides access to their collections and some full text publications through their information centers. For some general facts on agriculture, check the Agriculture Fact Book available from the USDA. Agricultural Statistics United States Department of Agriculture. Washington, D.C. This is published each year and is a reference book on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns. The CRB commodity yearbook This book includes production, supply, exports, imports, price and futures information for agricultural and other commodities Census of Agriculture 2002 and Census of Agriculture, 1987, 1992, 1997 (courtesy of Cornell University). The census provides statistics by state, county and zip code. The National Agricultural Statistics Service provides access to some basic statistics and also links to their full text publications (mounted at Cornell University). Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service also provides full text versions of their publications, including the annual statistical summary. The Economic Research Service of the USDA conducts research on trends in the agriculture and food sector. Many of their publications are now available online. FAOSTAT provides access to international data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe is a powerful index to statistics and data contained in federal agency government publications. The University Library owns most of these collections in paper or microfiche format that do not contain full-text links. ASK for assistance locating information at any University Library Service Desk. Search E-Answers for extension material from 17 states. Topics covered include agriculture, forestry, fishing, family/consumer issues, lawn and garden, child development, 4-H/youth, environment, public policy, economics, water quality and communities. The Plant Factsheet Database from Ohio State indexes online information related to horticulture and crop science from 46 different colleges, universities, and institutions across the United States and Canada. You can look for Agricultural Information on the Internet by using one of the 'guides' listed below, or by using an Internet Search Engine. Usually the search engines are most appropriate when you have a narrow, specific information need. If you are just looking for information in a general topic area, a subject guide is most appropriate. AgNIC, the Agriculture Network Information Center, is a pilot project of electronic sources of agricultural information arranged by subject. It also includes a listing of agricultural conferences, agricultural databases, and assorted directories. The AgriGator from the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, is a massive listing of agricultural resources, arranged geographically. Biological, Agricultural, Medical Sciences INFOMINE is a comprehensive, searchable collection of Internet resources in the life sciences. Provided by the University of California, Riverside, the collection contains links to databases, library catalogs, listservs, bulletin boards, electronic books and journals and more. The collection can be browsed by date, subject, table of contents, etc., or can be searched by keyword The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Agriculture is a subject listing of agricultural resources on the WWW. Yahoo! - Science:Agriculture is a hierarchical listing of agricultural WWW resources. AgriSurf is a searchable agriculture industry site directory Evaluating Resources for Content To evaluate print sources and web sites, you should ask a series of questions concerning the source’s currency, authority, validity, intended audience and bias. See this How to Evaluate Information site for details. When using information from another source you must give credit to the original author or you are plagiarizing. You give credit by citing the source. Make sure your citation contains everything you would need to backtrack and find the information again. It is best to pick one citation style and be consistent. Check this Quick Guide to Citation Styles for details and format. Plagiarism, whether you copy a paragraph from a book or cut and paste someone else's words from an e-mail, is a violation of Penn State's academic integrity policy. See this Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty. |
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