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FW 553: Principles of Wildlife Science

Librarian: Carol Vreeland

Finding Journal Articles

If a topic is too current or too specific to be covered by a handbook, encyclopedia, or book, it may be discussed in journal articles, research reports, or conference papers. Access to this literature has traditionally been through indexing and abstracting services. There is no universal index that covers all the published information in wildlife science, so at times you may have to consult several sources.

Electronic Databases

Electronic databases provide comprehensive searching of indexes or articles via the computer. Searching these databases is faster and often more complete since subject terms can be combined to locate a topic.

To search these databases, use the Information System workstations located in the D. H. Hill Library or the Natural Resources Library. Many of these databases can be searched from off campus via the NCSU Libraries Proxy Server. You will need a Unity account to login. Unity computing accounts (or Eos accounts for Engineering students) are automatically generated for all students, faculty and staff at NC State. If you do not know what your Unity login is, go to NCSU Computing Resources' Unity/Eos Help Page.

The databases that index articles about wildlife science are listed below. Use one or more of the databases to search for references to journal articles. These references may include a summary or abstract of the article, but they do not usually have the full text of the article. To read the journal articles you have identified, use the NCSU Libraries catalog to find out if the NCSU Libraries has the journal; search for the journal title (not the title of the article). Use the Journal List to locate electronic versions of the journal that you need. Articles not available via the Journal List may still be obtained through the Tripsaver service.

Agriculture and Life Sciences databases.
To search one of these databases, go to Databases (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/searchcollection/databases/). Then select a subject-- Examples: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences or Zoology. You'll see a long list of databases from which to choose.

AGRICOLA (via EBSCOhost) (NCSU only)

Agriculture and related literature indexed by the National Agricultural Library (NAL). Indexes journals, books, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials, technical reports, and agricultural experiment station reports held by the NAL. Coverage: 1970- present.

• NAL Agricultural Thesaurus (http://agclass.nal.usda.gov/agt/agt.shtml)
• Use the Journals Indexed in AGRICOLA (JIA) database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/catalog/jia.shtml) to find the full title for the journal abbreviation found in AGRICOLA.
  Note: you must include punctuation marks in your search. For example, to find out if Ecol. entomol. is indexed in AGRICOLA, search for Ecol. entomol. (not Ecol entomol) in Abbreviated Title.

Biological Abstracts (WebSPIRS. Works better with Internet Explorer.) (NCSU only)

Provides comprehensive indexing of worldwide journal literature in the life sciences, including wildlife science. Coverage: 1969- present. Updated quarterly.

CAB Abstracts (via EBSCOhost) (NCSU only)

Worldwide index to agriculture, forestry, and allied disciplines, including animal and human nutrition. From the Centre for Agriculture & Biosciences International. Coverage: 1972- present.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: select Biological Sciences subfiles, including Animal Behavior Abstracts and Ecology Abstracts. (NCSU only)

Animal Behavior Abstracts covers significant papers relevant to animal behavior, with subjects ranging from neurophysiology to behavioral ecology, from genetics to applied ethology. Coverage: 1982- present. Updated: monthly.

Ecology Abstracts covers current ecology research on subjects ranging from habitats to food chains, from erosion to land reclamation. The focus is on "how organisms of all kinds--microbes, plants, and animals--interact with their environments and with other organisms." Coverage: 1982-present. Updated: monthly.

Other relevant databases might include Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, Oceanic Abstracts.

Fish and Fisheries Worldwide (NCSU only)

Indexing and abstracts to worldwide fish and fish-related literature. Includes journal articles, books, pamphlets, conference proceedings, government reports, theses, and dissertations. Includes the database equivalent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's print Fisheries Review plus other fisheries databases. Coverage: 1971- present. Updated: quarterly.

Wildlife & Ecology Studies Worldwide. Also known as Wildlife Worldwide. (NCSU only)

Comprehensive index to the world literature on mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Covers studies of individual species to specific habitat types, hunting, economics, wildlife behavior, management techniques, etc. Includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife Review databases and other wildlife databases. Coverage: 1971- present (full); 1935-1970 (selective). Updated: quarterly.

Zoological Record (WebSPIRS. Works better with Internet Explorer.) (NCSU only)

Indexes the worldwide zoological literature, including journals, books, and conference proceedings. Coverage: 1978- present. Updated quarterly.

Other databases.

Biological Abstracts/RRM (WebSPIRS. Works better with Internet Explorer.) (NCSU only)

Biological abstracts/RRM (reports, reviews, meetings) contains bibliographic references to meeting proceedings, books and chapters, review articles, and U.S. patents. Coverage: 1993- present. Updated quarterly.

Blackwell Synergy (NCSU only)

Blackwell Synergy is the online journals service from Blackwell Publishing. Readers can "search for relevant articles, read abstracts for free, print the full-text of subscribed to articles, download citations, and make connections to other relevant research through reference linking." Coverage: Varies by title.

Includes access to the journal Ethology, as well as others.

Conference Papers Index (available through Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) (NCSU only)

Conference Papers Index "provides citations to papers and poster sessions presented at major scientific meetings around the world. Subject emphasis since 1995 has been in the life sciences, environmental sciences and the aquatic sciences, while older material also covers physics, engineering and materials science." Coverage: 1982- present. Updated bimonthly.

Dissertation Abstracts (WebSPIRS. Works better with Internet Explorer.) (NCSU only)

Indexing and abstracting for doctoral dissertations from participating colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, and selected international institutions. Dissertation Abstracts also contains citations, with abstracts (since 1988), to masters' theses. Coverage: 1861- present. Updated quarterly.

IngentaConnect (NCSU only)

A multidisciplinary table of contents database, updated nightly, indexing articles in over 17,000 journals. Coverage: Fall 1988- present.

Also available: an automated alerting service that delivers the table of contents of periodicals of interest directly to your e-mail box. The alert service also allows users to create search strategies for their favorite topics. Weekly alerts on the latest articles published on the specified topics are delivered to the user's e-mail address.

JSTOR (NCSU only)

"Provides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics and other fields" of the humanities, social sciences, and biological sciences. Coverage varies for each title.

Select (from the bottom of the search page) one or more disciplines to search--for example, Ecology, Botany, Population Studies. Then type in your search terms at the top.

NTIS (National Technical Information Service) (available through Engineering Village 2) (NCSU only)

Indexes the technical report literature.

The NTIS database "is the preeminent resource for accessing the latest U.S. government-sponsored research and worldwide scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information...Additionally, information is available from international government departments and other international organizations, including those from Canada, Japan, the former Soviet Union, Western and Eastern European countries." Coverage: 1964- present. Updated biweekly.

Science Citation Index Expanded (via Web of Science) (NCSU only)

A multidisciplinary database that covers 5,900 major journals across 150 scientific disciplines. Indexes cited references of the articles in the database so you can search by cited author, cited patent or cited paper. This allows you to trace a particular research topic in the scientific literature. Coverage: 1900- present. Updated weekly.

Web of Science v. 7 Quick Reference Card (http://scientific.thomson.com/media/scpdf/wos7_0805_qrc.pdf)
Database features and search tips.

Please note that the NCSU Libraries will not have some of the journals indexed by these databases. To see if we have the journal you need, use the NCSU Libraries catalog to search for the journal title (not the title of the article).

Satellite Shelving Facility. Sometimes, the catalog record will state that the book or journal you need is located at the NCSU Libraries' Satellite Shelving Facility. You can request the item(s) by logging on to the Tripsaver request system and filling out a Satellite Request Form. (Go to the Reference Desk for assistance.) Many requested items can be delivered the same day as requested. See Requesting Materials for details.

Even if the library does not have a subscription to a particular journal, you may be able to access the journal electronically. Use the Journal List to find specific electronic journals by title.

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