Z 349: Biodiversity: Causes, consequences and conservation

• Eric Seabloom
• Office Hours:
  Cordley 3029.
• Contact Info:
  
  Instructor's Website

Prepare a scientific report on a controversial topic in conservation biology. Introduce the problem and give an explanation of why it is important (fully referenced), indicate the nature of the controversy or dilemma and arrive at a conclusion on the topic. Justify conclusions. Report should have at least 8 references from the primary literature.

Be sure you can locate the the OSU Libraries Home Page and from there find these three links

OSU Libraries Catalog

Databases

E-Journals

Also look for the links to "Get help with a subject" and "Get help with a class" (see the navigation bar to the left).

The Valley Library subscribes to several databases which index the first reporting on scientific research (primary literature) relevant to biodiversity and conservation issues and topics. This reporting is most often in peer-reviewed scientific journal articles   The process of "peer-review" (sometimes called "refereeing") is discipline and journal specific.   It is intended to assure that the articles in that journal represent good scientific methodology and are regarded as a contribution to the literature of that field of study.  If in doubt about whether a journal contains peer reviewed articles, ask.

Most databases noted in ths guide will index a high percentage of "refereed" journals and therefore contain very high percentage of peer reviewed articles. They may also include first hand reporting of research findings or state-of-the-art reviews from other reporting sources such as federal agency reports, dissertations, conference proceedings, professional journals, etc.   All of these may prove useful resources in framing and explaining the controversial topic your select for your paper.

When considering a database, it is important to be aware of its content including:

• Subject coverage
• Types of publications indexed in the database e.g., research journals, scientific magazines, conference proceedings
• Dates of coverage

This is usually available in the short descriptions available on the database listing indicated by an .  It is tempting to limit yourself to indexes that provide a lot of full-text coverage but you do this at your own risk.

Follow the "more" link below for some suggestions for databases to search.  Links will take you to the appropriate page of the database listing, but not to the database itself.    Once you have done a search in one, some, or all of these databases you should have a list of articles which are potentially relevant to your topic.

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If you are new to database searching or haven't searched for a year or so, follow the "more" link below for some tips.

• Read More...

1. Get This Item: Many of the databases listed above contain a button called "Get This Item" or "Webbridge."   Using this link will open a window with links to the library catalog and to the e-journal list so you can investigate the availability of the source journal.  In the ideal case, it will result in a direct link to the full-text of the article.
2. E-Journal list: If you have a reference and want to see if OSU Libraries subscribes to the electronic version of that journal (or some service that provides the full-text from that journal), click the E-Journals link on the Library's home page and type in the name of the journal that you need. If the article you need is not available from the E-Journals list, then try the catalog.
3. Online Catalog: Search the online catalog (limit to "journals") to see if the library has a paper copy of the journal. You can then photocopy the article. Most bound journals circulate for three days. Unbound journals do not circulate outside the library.
4. ** If you choose, you can try a Google Advanced Search.   It is best to search the title of the article as an exact phrase). This is a long shot so if it doesn't work immediately, a better use of you time is checking to see if the library has the journal in some format and if not, filling out the interlibrary loan request form. If you decide to post your own articles to the web, be sure that you know what copyright restrictions apply by contacting the publisher. When this is allowed, it is more often the case that you are allowed post the pre-formated version (of your own articles only) but not the final journal formated version.

You will find the library subscribes to most of its journal electronically though older issues may only be in the print collection on the first floor.  But you may be interested in these two collections that can be searched directly.  The links will take you to an alphabetic list, look for the collection by title.

• BioOne
  Searchable collection of full-text biological science journals published by scholarly societies
• JSTOR
  Searchable electronic archive of some primary research journals including Science and the journals of the Ecological Society of America. Due to agreements with publishers, JSTOR does not provide access to the most recent few years of the journals. Click Browse and then Ecology to see a list of journals included for this subject.