WISER Science, Hilary Term 2006

WISER Science, Hilary Term 2006 Electronic resources for biology - exercises

Go to OxLIP, Oxford’s gateway to e-resources, at http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/oxlip/ Select any ERL database from the Biological Sciences list – look for the logo:

1. Try the demonstrated search in both Biological Abstracts and CAB Abstracts. (tip: when you have changed databases, go to Search History and click on rerun to perform the same search in a new database).

Elephant* AND behavio?r OR habit* AND eating OR feeding OR diet* How many results do you get in:

 Biological Abstracts? - After limiting by date and language? -  CAB Abstracts? - After limiting by date and language? -

Find a relevant article and click on TOUR to see if there is a full text version. If not, check the Quick link to OLIS to see if it is held in an Oxford library.

2. To start a new search, click on Change databases in the right hand corner. We are looking for articles on the effect of GM crops on ecosystems. Search in CAB Abstracts. Search for: GM in title AND crop* in abstract AND ecosystem* in terms anywhere You may be surprised by your findings! What can we do to get better results? Try searching the thesaurus for “genetically modified” and then “ecosystems”. Mark the heading that seems appropriate and select Search marked to search under each heading. Then go to Search history to combine the searches. How many results do you get?

3. Staying in CAB Abstracts, we are looking for an article by Oxford’s own Professor Hugh Dickinson. We know that it was published in 2004 and contained the words gene structure. Click on the Find citation tab and enter the details you know in the box provided. What is the full citation?

Click on the TOUR button to see if we have it in full text. (You should find a link through to the full text via ScienceDirect )

4. Over to you! Choose a research topic of your own and run a search on it on one of the ERL databases. Try the Suggest databases link to see which databases have the most relevant hits. To help us with our future course planning, please complete the online feedback form at: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/courses/feedback/index.xsp