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Life Sciences Library
Get an overview with encyclopedias. Remember you are going to want to see for yourself the books and articles cited in the encyclopedia.
For pro and con information or controversial topics, try:
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 electronic books, click the words "online content" to access the full text.
Quick Guide to Searching the CAT (HTML version) or Quick Guide to Searching in the CAT(easy-print PDF version).
Learn how to refine your search by Savvy Searching in the CAT (html version) or the easy-print PDF version: Savvy Searching in the CAT.
Reminder: you might have to broaden or narrow your topic to get usable results!
LionSearch is a search engine that will provides fast, simple access to relevant material at the Penn State University Libraries. LionSearch provides an integrated search of the books, e-books, research articles, newspaper articles, and other publications.
LionSearch delivers search results in a relevancy-ranked list so the most relevant results appear at the top of the list.
Tips:
Look at the Refine your Search section to select just scholarly articles, or different Content Types (book, journal article, ebook, newspaper article etc), Subject Terms, Locations, Years and Languages. You may have to click on more options to see a complete list.
To search for articles from the New York Times, select the advanced search. In the "With these terms:" box put your subject terms AND in the "From this publication:" box, put new york times.
Save the relevant sources into the LionSearch temporary folder by clicking on the small folder icon to right side of the item. When you are finished compiling your sources, click on the "saved items" link at the bottom of the screen and email or print (which allows you to copy into your clipboard) the references so you can easily add them to your project. Choose the APA format to have the citations correctly formatted for your project! CAVEAT: computer systems make mistakes when autoformatting. Double check your final paper against the appropriate Citation Style.
Don’t lose your work! Items are saved in LionSearch ONLY for your current session. You won’t be able to go back later and see a list of saved items.
For full text items, when you click on the title you'll get to the Penn State "GetIt" menu. Just click on the bright yellow "full text" icon to go to the full text.
Databases
To focus just on scientific scholarly articles, use one of the following databases:
What does a Scientific Scholarly Article Look Like?
Title: a clear and succinct expression of the article's topic.
Authors: all of the authors should be listed, with their institutional affiliation. Scholarly articles are written by authors who have credentials and experience with the subject.
Abstract: summary of the article.
Introduction: background information and a description of the author’s purpose.
Materials & Methods: how the study was performed with enough detail so that other scientists could repeat the study.
Results: data and findings.
Note: IF the article is a "review" article (one that summarizes and synthesizes research on a specific subject) there will not be a "materials & methods" section or a "results" section, instead you will find a detailed analysis of other primary research articles.
Discussion and/or Conclusion: what the findings mean and their implications; potential criticisms; avenues of future research.
References: a list of all the works used or referred to in the paper.
Journal information: On the first page of an article you will usually find the journal title, volume/issue numbers, if applicable, and page numbers of the article. Online articles may just include the journal title and a "DOI" (digital object identifier) number.
Peer-review information: dates of submission, review, and acceptance.
Check this Anatomy of a Scholarly Article tutorial from NCSU for a great visual overview of what a scholarly article will look like.
Scientific scholarly articles are concerned with research and academic topics. Unlike popular articles, which are designed for the general population, scholarly articles are designed for researchers. They are detailed original research reports which use language specific for that field (technical jargon). They describe how the researcher did the work; the results of the work; the key data (often in figures, tables, or charts); and should include a discussion of the results and conclusions about the work as well as a list of references cited in the article.
Professional or trade articles are somewhat in-between. They are designed for individuals in a specific trade, profession or business. They focus on current topics in the field, professional issues, trends, standards, and new technologies.
Check out this chart for more details between these types of articles.
Here are questions you should ask when evaluating books, ebooks, articles or web sites:
Currency: What is the publication date of the resource? When was the website last updated?
Authority: Who is the author, creator, or publisher?
Validity/Accuracy: Is the information accurate or valid?
Audience: Who was the information written for?
Point of view (bias): What is the resource's point of view?
Tip: See more information at this How to Evaluate Information site.
The objective in citing your sources is to lead the next person to the same information you found. Make sure your citation contains everything you would need to backtrack and find the information again. Use the specific style outlined in your assignment from the Journal of Animal Science (a PDF, see page 9).
