The Library Web Page is your gateway to all library information
and resources. ASK OR CALL THE LIBRARIAN, 683-7542, FOR ASSISTANCE!
Featured library gateway links are explained below:
Open the Online Catalog to search for books, journals, documents, and audiovisual media (videos) in the Carson Library and the UM Library Network.
SEARCH MAGAZINE INDEXES AND DATABASES
Search for magazine, journal, periodical, newspaper, and reference
information using over 40 databases. From off-campus, enter your
username and password to access a database via the campus proxy server.
The generic username is umwestern and the password is dillon.
SEARCH THE MONTANA LIBRARY NETWORK
The Montana Library Network serves as a gateway to all types of Montana
information on the Internet. The MLN Gateway provides access to a
variety of electronic indexes and catalogs.
SEARCH THE INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB
Access links to web site evaluation criteria and selected search engines.
1. Initiating the Process: At this stage, you compare what is being asked of you by the course instructor with what you already know and what you want to know.
2. Selecting a topic: Here you discuss, brainstorm, or simply make a decision about your topic to investigate. You may gather background information, in order to confirm your selected topic or change it.
3. Exploring a topic: You consult a variety of resources in order to read and reflect on your topic. You may skim or scan a number of print or Internet resources, taking general notes and deciding upon resources to explore more in-depth. Ideas about your topic begin to form, and you may decide to change your topic for a variety of reasons.
4. Formulating a thesis: Now you are ready to focus your ideas and your perspective about your chosen topic. You have a guiding idea, theme, or thread to follow. You understand who your audience is and what (and how) you plan to communicate.
5. Collecting supporting resources: You gather information that defines and supports the focus formed in the prior stage. You consult topical resources in a variety of formats, including books, journals, videos, and web sites. You search for specific authors, organizations, government agencies, or other focused resource providers. You take in-depth notes and create a bibliography. You create according to your presentation plan.
6. Presentation: Your ideas are communicated to your audience. Your narrative is complete, including additional media to support your ideas (graphics, multimedia, etc.)
HOW TO CITE YOUR RESEARCH SOURCES
The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: The Americas
Ref 333.7516 C765am 1996
Encyclopedia of Environmental Studies
Ref 333.703 A831e 2001
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 20 v.
Ref 570.3 E5644 2002
Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, vol. 1-13.
Ref 591 G69 1972
Grzimek's Animal life encyclopedia. Volume 8-11, Birds
Ref 591 G69 2002
Walker's Mammals of the World, 2 v.
Ref 599 N86w 1999
Listed below are scholarly and popular journals in Carson Library related to Biology and/or Conservation.
See also other journals in Science.
American Biology Teacher
Aududon
Bioscience
Environment
International Wildlife
Montana Outdoors
National Wildlife
Nature (in print and online)
Science (in print and online)
Wildlife Monographs
To find out if the library subscribes to a certain journal, search by Journal Title in the ONLINE CATALOG.
To learn more about journals, consult one of these handouts:
POPULAR VS. SCHOLARLY JOURNALS posted by the UM Mansfield Library, or
COMPARING PERIODICAL TYPES by Milner Library, Illinois State University.
To learn more about Expanded Academic ASAP, our broadest full-text journal database,
go to the TUTORIAL WEB SITE
prepared by University of Missouri-St. Louis.
To locate an article in a magazine, journal, newspaper, other periodical, or online reference source, select and search the databases in SEARCH MAGAZINE INDEXES AND DATABASES
Recommended Databases to Search:
BIOSIS: Citations and abstracts to articles in biology, including diseases and physiology.
Business and Company ASAP: Full-text articles on business, including industries that impact conservation biology and species.
ERIC: Full-text documents and citations/abstracts to articles in all fields of K-16 Education, including the sciences.
Expanded Academic ASAP: Broad full-text articles across all academic subjects, including conservation biology and endangered species.
ingenta: Survey the periodical literature in your field, search for full-text and citations to journal articles, and use ingenta's topical web guides to Biology, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sciences.
JSTOR: Full-text journal articles from decades past, includes Ecology.
Nature Online: Search the current journal or previous articles by topic.
Newsbank: Full-text articles in the nation's major newspapers.
New York Times Online: Full-text articles from one of the top national newspapers, 1999-present.=
Science Direct: Search over 1,700 science journals published by Elsevier. Available at one computer station in the Carson Library reference area.
Science Online: Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Wiley Interscience: Full-text to over 30 online journals published by Wiley, including coverage in chemistry, biology, medicine, and science education.
Go to
ingenta and follow the links from Biology/Life Sciences and Earth/Environmental Sciences
to access national and international web sites in all fields related to conservation biology.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Content by Melissa Heckard, Asst. Librarian, updated 04/2003.