University Library, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688-0002

Library Resources for BLY 490

These reference sources may help you find good information for this class. This page is by no means comprehensive; rather, it is intended to serve as a starting point for your research and assignments. For further assistance, please contact the Reference Desk.

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Library Links:

  • University Library Homepage - University of South Alabama
  • SOUTHcat - the catalog of the libraries of the University of South Alabama. It contains records for books, e-books, journal titles, DVDs, CDs, videos, and government documents held by the libraries.
  • Our Journal List - the database of all the journals we subscribe to in print and electronically. Once you have a citation to an article, go here to see if the Libraries have a subscription to this particular volume, issue and year of the journal you need. Occasionally the information is incorrect and/or unclear. Call us at 460-7025 if you have any question about the availability of these journals. (Note: Some magazine and journal publishers "embargo" the latest year of electronic versions. This means that the most recent issues will not be available online for a year from their publication date.)
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Library Catalog:

The catalog contains records for books, e‐books, journals, CD‐ROMs, CDs, DVDs, videos, and government documents held by the libraries at the University of South Alabama.

Search tips:

  • Keyword searches – use quotation marks to hold phrases together
  • Truncation – use ? after the root of a word to find all its variants (fung? finds fungus, fungi, fungal...)
  • Browse the Subject(s) field in records to find the right words for searches.
  • Revise and refine your searches
  • Watch for repeating call numbers and browse stacks in that area
  • Pay attention to the Location and Status fields. You will need this information to locate the item in the library.
  • Several Flash tutorials about SOUTHcat are available on the library's website.
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Indexes/Databases:

Use these to identify articles on specific topics, as well as to locate full-text electronic articles. Find them on the Articles, Indexes, and Databases page linked from the Library homepage. Remote access is available for most journals.

For this course, some databases you may find particularly useful are:

  • Biological Abstracts
  • BioOne Abstracts & Indexes
  • Science Direct
  • Wiley InterScience
  • Web of Science
  • Scopus
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Electronic Books

USA Libraries subscribe to several collections of electronic books. NetLibrary, in particular, has several titles related to symbiosis.

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Science Writing Guides

  • The Chicago guide to communicating science / Scott L. Montgomery
    • Univ. Library Bookstacks, Call number T 10.5 .M65 2003
  • How to write a paper edited by George M. Hall.
    • NetLibrary
  • The MIT guide to science and engineering communication / James G. Paradis and Muriel L. Zimmerman
    • NetLibrary
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Citing Your Sources

Science style guides in the library:

  • Scientific Style and Format: the CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers, 6th edition
    • Univ. Library Ready Reference (Non-Circ, 2nd FL North). Call number QH 304 .C68 1994

Online Style References:

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