BIO 151 Guide
Villa Maria College Library
The journal articles you need for your assignments can be found in our online databases.
The complete list of databases available can be found on our website.
Articles not available in full text can be requested through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Contact the library for help with ILL.
Off-campus access to most online databases requires a username and password. Drop by the library to get this information.
Magazines
Discover
Popular Science
Science News
Scientific American
Search Tip
To search within one of these magazines for
Full Text Articles, click the link that reads "
Search within this publication" and then add
AND plus your search terms.
Example: JN "Science News" AND cloning
Online Databases
Multidisciplinary databases:
Subject databases:
Search Tip
When searching with
Google, use the following commands to improve your search results:
site: Use this command to limit your search results to a particular site or to a domain
Example 1: site:villa.edu will limit your search exclusively to Villa Maria College's site
Example 2: site:.edu will limit your search to sites ending in .edu (educational institutions)
- Use this command to exclude items from your results
Example 1: jaguar speed -car will give you results about the animal NOT the car
Example 2: pandas -site:wikipedia.org will give you results about pandas but NOT from Wikipedia
Evaluation Tips for Online Resources
If you choose to use resources from the open web (e.g. websites you find in a Google search), keep the
CRAAP test from the CSU, Chico Meriam Library in mind:
Currency
- When? Publication date, post date, updates
Relevance
- Related to your topic, Intended audience
Authority
- Who created it? Are they qualified to write on the topic?
Accuracy
- Where does the information come from? Evidence? Reviewed? Unbiased?
Purpose
- What is the purpose of the resource? Inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade? Is it fact, opinion or propaganda?
Evaluating information is an essential step in quality research.
Search for Books, eBooks and Print Journals
The library's online catalog,
Alexandria, can be used to find both books and ebooks.
Books in the standard collection may be borrowed for three weeks. Books placed on reserve by your professor will have a shorter loan period. Books not available from the library can be borrowed through AcademicSHARE or Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Contact the library for help. To find items held by Villa and other libraries, try WorldCat.
Don't forget your Villa Maria College ID card to check out books!
BEN
The BEN portal from the National Science Digital Library is a resource for biological sciences education. The collection is managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Khan Academy
This resource offers practice exercises, videos and tutorials on a variety of topics including biology, cosmology and astronomy, chemistry, physics and more.
WolframAlpha
This reference resource offers graphs, formulas and more on the natural sciences and other areas
Susan Abel-Smith
Reference and Information Literacy Librarian
