FE 456: International Forestry

Team Project (25% of Grade)

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:43:10 -0700

PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is threefold:

to cause you to think and write carefully about some specific aspect related to international forestry,
to give you practice in searching the literature for reliable information on international forestry, and
to learn to work in a multidisciplinary team

For guidelines on content, citing sources and due dates, follow the "read more" link below.

Plan Ahead!

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:24:50 -0700

Use the three deadlines noted in your project assignment to your advantage and start your research early. Click on "Read more" below for one approach you might take.

Your questions are always welcome. In general the sooner you ask them, the better. My contact information is to the upper left of this page.

Database Help

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:38:45 -0700

These databases each have "help" or "search tips" screens which will answer most of your questions n the mechanics of searching.

Click on "read more" below if you need a quick review of search tips.

Topic Ideas

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:10:58 -0700

Click on "read more" below to see listing of suggested topics ideas. Those selected by this year's groups are in green.

Selecting databases for International Forestry

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:47:36 -0700

Once you know how to "access" a database, the next step is to decide which one(s) to use. It is tempting to limit yourself to indexes that provide a lot of full-text coverage but you do this at your own risk. The point of indexes is to show you what is available and if it is not available here at OSU, the library will do everything it can to borrow what you need from another library.

Here are some suggestions for databases to search. Before you use any database think about these aspects of your topic.

what is the broader subject (is it related to forest biology, forest trade, wildlife, etc.);
what types of publications do you need e.g., research reports, scientific journals, something for an interested "lay audience", newspapers;etc.
how current or "old" is your topic (some topics need very recent information other need background, older coverage).

Course Instructor

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:50:02 -0700

John Sessions

Accessing Library Databases

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:14:25 -0700

You want to make your case with the best evidence. The library purchases access to indexing databases which help you to identify articles on specific topics. Most databases are not freely available to the public and are only licensed to OSU Libraries for the OSU community of users. They are independent of the holdings of any one library.

To begin using these databases and locating articles in "peer reviewed" journals and other reliable resources, start on the OSU Libraries home page: http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu,

Click on "Databases," and then on the first letter for the name of the database you want.
If you are not on campus, you will encounter the "ez-proxy server" asking you to "authenticate" yourself as a qualified OSU user by entering your ONID username and ONID password.
Apart from this, you should never be asked for a username nor a password while attempting to use a database. If you are asked for one, this is usually an indication that the ports are busy. Just try again later.

Data Sources

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:55:20 -0700

For tropical timber imports use the International Tropical Timber Organization in particular look for their link to the "Annual Review of World Timber" under "publications.
Geo.worldbank.org provides brief overviews info by country
FAOSTAT (look under "forestry")
Forest Resource Assessment (FAO) 2005 - look for links to tables on left (e.g. Global assessment)
Eurostat (select "en" for english)

Instructor's Recommendations

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:36:34 -0700

Click to see purpose, goals, structure, content and grading schema for this course.

State of the World's Forests 2009 (earlier years available at: SD131 .S68 in the book "stacks" on the first floor of The Valley Library.)

Websites to consider

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:30:05 -0700

Consider these websites as one of many tools. If you use information from these or other websites in your paper, be sure to cite the source appropriately. Listed below are websites that you may find useful for other reasons.

For non-wood/non-timber uses for forests and other topics search the FAO Corporate Repository at
http://www.fao.org/documents/index.asp?lang=en
For international statistics use the various databases at the FAO Statistics webpage http://www.fao.org/corp/statistics/en/
For a searchable catalog of websites related to Agriculture and Forestry try BIOME's AGRIFOR
http://agrifor.ac.uk/
For more information on maps, use the library Maps research guide
http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/research/guides/maps/maproom.htm
For more information on how to site sources, one option is the Council of Biological Editors (CBE) Guidelines (one option),
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite8.html

Click on "read more" below if you want to review the list of websites listed in your class syllabus.