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RESEARCH TIPS:

Evaluating Resources for Content:
You need to use peer reviewed scholarly journals for this assignment. These are articles written by researchers that report on actual experiments that have been conducted and include sections such as "materials & methods", "results" and "conclusion". They also will include a list of references at the end of the article. You may also use review articles that summarize the research from many experiments all of which will be listed in the references section at the end of the article. See more information about the differences between types of articles at the Periodicals and Journals site.

Citing Your Sources:
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 style recommended by Dr. Hagen in the assignment.

ARTICLES:

Article Search Tips:

  • 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.

Check these databases for Animal Science articles

  • Biological Abstracts - every life science topic is covered, including physiology, agriculture, biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, microbiology, neurology, toxicology, and zoology.
  • PubMed (Medline) - The premier database for biomedical research articles. The core subject is clinical medicine, but subject coverage also includes genetics, microbiology, nutrition, physiology, and veterinary medicine.
  • CAB Abstracts (agriculture, nutrition and global health) - A major agricultural database that includes citations to journals in animal breeding, dairy science, animal nutrition, and veterinary medicine.
  • AGRICOLA Articles - The database from the US National Agricultural Library. Especially good for finding information published by the USDA.

Get the full text:
Once you identify an article you want, while still in the database, click on the Get it! button. A menu will appear that offers a link to the full text if it is available. If no online full-text is available, click on The CAT link to see if Penn State owns the print version. If no print version is available, click on the ILLIAD option to order the article from another library. You can also enter your article information into the Citation Linker service to see if Penn State has it.

BOOKS:

The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries.

Cat Search Tips:

  • Use the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first).
  • Use 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.
  • You won't find research articles in the CAT, but you will find books that may give you an overview of your topic.
  • You may find information on your specific topic, but more than likely you will have to use broader terms
  • For more detailed searching information go to the Quick Guide to the CAT.

Suggested CAT Search Terms:

  • reproduction and mammals
  • reproduction and cattle (or other species)
  • physiology and mammals
  • physiology and horses (or other species)

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Course Contact

Helen Smith
Agricultural Sciences Librarian

 

Course Information

Dan Hagen
Fall 2009


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