| Contact
Amy Paster
Head, Life Sciences Library
im: aglibrarian4
phone: 814-865-3708
Top 5 Resources
Books: The
Cat
Journal Articles:
Turfgrass
Information Files (TGIF) or CAB
Abstracts
Encyclopedia: Agropedia
Internet: Plant
Management Network
Related Guides
Crop & Soil Science |
Find Books:
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: Try searching for specific
species or cultivars of grass (i.e. bermuda grass or bent
grass), diseases (i.e. powdery mildew or rust fungi),
or concepts (i.e. golf course maintenance or weed control).
Call Numbers: At University Park, call numbers starting
with Q, R, and S are located on the 4th floor of Paterno Library. GV call
numbers are located on the 3rd floor of Paterno Library. General call
numbers and subject areas are:
- GV413 – Athletic Fields
- GV975 – Golf Course Maintenance
- QK – Botany
- QK495.G74 – Grass
- S – Agriculture
- SB433 – Turfgrass
- SB608 – Turfgrass pests
- SB611 – Weeds
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.
Find Articles:
Article Search Tips: Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps:
- Select a database from the list below.
- Enter and combine terms appropriate to your topic
- Look at the best references you retrieve and determine the subject terms used for those articles. Then revise your search using these new terms.
- Write down or print off all pertinent information (called the 'citation') including the journal title, volume, date, and page numbers.
- Explore other databases and subject terms (which vary between databases) for more information.
Databases To Use:
- Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines or pro and con debate information.
- Turfgrass Information Files (TGIF) is a database of published materials reporting on aspects of turfgrass and its maintenance. This includes conference proceedings, trade publications, scientific journals, field day programs, and newsletters.
- CAB ABSTRACTS is a comprehensive file of agricultural and biological references from over 8500 journals with information on veterinary medicine, animal nutrition, animal breeding and poultry.
- AGRICOLA is an agriculture database produced by the U.S. National Agricultural Library. It contains a wide variety of animal feeding, breeding, and veterinary information
- Biological and Agricultural Index is a general index to a number of scientific and popular journals including HortScience, Agronomy Journal and Pesticide Science.
- Dissertation Abstracts (dissertations) includes dissertations from most U.S. institutions.
- Web of Science (cited references) search for new articles which cite an older article by using the "cited ref" search mode.
Get the full text: Once you find the citation in a database, try the  button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you can use the ILLiad link to request it from another library.
Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print!
Reference Material
Pesticides and Chemicals
- Material Safety Data Sheets from Cornell University.
- National Pesticide
Use Database. The National Center for Food & Agricultural Policy's
National Pesticide Use Database contains 20,886 individual records that
quantify the use of 235 active ingredients on 87 cops in the 48 contiguous
states. The original database covered 1992 and has been updated for
1997.
- National
Pesticide Use Database: 2002. The National Pesticide Use Database
(2002), compiled by the Crop Protection Research Institute of the Crop
Life Foundation, contains quantitative data on the use of fungicides,
herbicides, insecticides, and other pesticides in U.S. crop production.
The data are organized by state, crop, and active ingredient and include
crop acres planted, percent of acres treated, acres treated, average
annual application rate, and total pounds of pesticide applied. The
sources of all data are referenced and publicly available.
- PAN Pesticides Database.
The PAN Pesticides Database is your one-stop location for current toxicity
and regulatory information for pesticides. The PAN Pesticide Database
brings together a diverse array of information on pesticides from many
different sources, providing human toxicity (chronic and acute), ecotoxicity
and regulatory information for about 6,400 pesticide active ingredients
and their transformation products, as well as adjuvants and solvents
used in pesticide products. This database of active ingredients has
been integrated with the U.S. EPA product databases, which provide information
on formulated products (the form of the pesticide that growers and consumers
purchase for use) containing the active ingredients. The information is most complete for pesticides registered for use in the United States.
- Pesticide Education Program at Penn State.
- US EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Database. Includes links to Pesticide fact sheets; Controlling Pests: Around the Home and In the Lawn and Garden; and information on Pesticide Regulation.
- The Standard
Pesticide User's Guide by Bert L. Bohmont. 7th Edition.
- Turf
&Ornamental Chemicals Reference: T&OCR.
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.
Citing Your Sources
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.
Internet Resources
You can look for turfgrass information on the Internet by using one of the ‘guides’ listed below, or by using an Internet Search Engine like Google Scholar. Usually the search engines are most appropriate when you have a narrow, specific information need. For example if you were looking for information on the type of grass appropriate for a grass airplane landing strip. If you are just looking for information on a general topic such as golf course maintenance, a subject guide is most appropriate.
- AgNIC Turfgrass page provides access to a number of World Wide Web sites pertaining to turfgrass
- Solution Source is a Web-based information system from Penn State Cooperative Extension. There is a section on horticulture, gardening, and landscaping that contains relevant turfgrass information.
- Plant Management Network is a unique cooperative resource for the applied plant sciences. The Plant Management Network offers an extensive searchable database comprised of thousands of web-based resource pages from the network's partner universities, companies, and associations. In addition, the network has four peer-reviewed citable journals, Applied Turfgrass Science, Crop Management, Forage and Grazinglands, and Plant Health Progress.
|
