Plant Science Subject Guide

Where do I start my research?	What are some good Web sites?
How do I find books on my subject?	Journal title abbreviations
How do I find journal articles? (Databases)	How do I cite and manage my sources?
Where does CrossSearch fit in?	Past exams
For help: Email: Science.Reference @utas.edu.au Phone: 6226 7217	Go to: Science Library School of Plant Science
Contact: Chris Evans, Plant Science Liaison Librarian

Where do I start my research?

A good way to start your research is to define your topic by using subject dictionaries and to find background information in encyclopaedias such as:

Encyclopedia of biodiversity	Sci Ref QH 75 .E54 2000
Encyclopedia of genetics	Sci Ref QH 427 .E53 2001
Encyclopaedia botanica	Sci Ref QK 7 .B6 1986
Concise Oxford dictionary of botany	Sci Ref QK 9. C67 1992
The Plant book	Sci Ref QK 11 .M29 1997
Australian plant index	Sci Ref QK 431 .C45 1991
From forest to fjaeldmark : descriptions of Tasmania's vegetation	Sci Ref QK 457 .F76 2005
Native trees of Tasmania	Sci Ref QK 457 .K57 2004
The little book of common names for Tasmanian plants	Sci Ref QK 457 .L58 2005
Fungi of Australia	Sci Ref QK 611 .F86 1997
Encyclodaedia of Australian plants suitable for cultivation	Sci Ref SB 439 .E46
Encyclopedia of plant pathology	Sci Ref SB 728 .E53 2000
CREDO reference	Online reference library including access to over 160 encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of quotations and subject-specific titles
Oxford English Dictionary	An unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words across the English-speaking world.

How do I find books on my subject?

To find books on your subject you can:

search the Library Catalogue using the 'subject keyword' or 'general keyword' option.
OR
browse the bookshelves using these call numbers:

Science Library, Hobart:

QH 75-77	Nature conservation
QH 301-705	General biology
QH 360	Evolution
QH 540-549	Ecology, including general & animal
QK	Plant Science
QK 641-673	Plant anatomy
QK 710-899	Plant physiology
QK 901-938	Plant ecology
SB	Plant culture
SB 123	Plant breeding

How do I find journal articles?

The Library holds journals in print and electronic formats. The best way to access articles in these journals is by using the [print indexes and] databases listed below. When you find an article you want to read, use the Library Catalogue and the E-journals list to see if we hold a print copy or have access to the electronic copy in full-text. Some databases listed will have direct links to the full-text article.

Plant Science Databases | Related Databases | Multi-discipline databases | Where does CrossSearch fit in? | Journal title abbreviations

Plant Science Databases:

Biological Sciences	References to articles on biology including biotechnology, zoology and ecology. 1982+
CAB Abstracts	The most comprehensive database for agricultural science references in journals, conference papers and technical reports. Subject coverage includes agriculture, animal production, genetics, forestry, entomology, rural social science. 1990+
Plant Science	Focuses on all plant scientific aspects, especially on pathology, symbiosis, biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, techniques and environmental biology. 1994+
ASFA	References to articles in marine biology, ecology, fisheries, aquaculture, oceanography and limnology. 1978+

Multi-discipline Databases:

Web of Science	References to core academic journal articles in all subject areas. Each reference has links to articles cited by and citing that reference as well as related articles. 1900+
Scopus	Coverage of scientific, technical, medical and social science literature (approximately 14,000 titles), with citation index. Abstracts back to 1966 and references from 1996.
Current Contents Connect	Most up-to-date references to core academic journals in all subjects. Includes Alerting service. Back file of last 4 years.
Ingenta	General database with some full-text. Includes alerting service.1988+
CSIRO journals	Includes full-text articles in biology and agricultural science.
ProQuest	Good starting point to find some full-text journal articles. Includes references to and some full-text articles of popular and academic journal articles.
CSA Databases	Select and search two or more CSA databases simultaneously
ANZ Reference Centre	Fulltext Australian and N.Z. Newspapers

Related Databases

AANRO (Australian Agriculture and Natural Resources Online	Includes ABOA: Australian Bibliography on Agriculture which indexes journal and magazine articles on Australian animal, crop and pasture production; ARRIP: Australian Agricultural Research in Progress 1975+; and Streamline which indexes Australian literature on natural resource management 1982+
Agricola	References to journal articles, books, conference papers in all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines. Produced by U.S. Dept of Agriculture. 1975+
ELIXIR	References to Australian literature in agriculture, mineral resources, conservation and land management -includes grey literature. 1990+
ENDANGER	References to articles on Australian threatened flora and fauna and related topics.1960+
GeoBase	References to articles in geography, ecology, natural resource management. 1990+
Medline (PubMed)	Biomedical references with strengths in biotechnology, microbiology and genetics - integrates databases of nucleotide sequences, protein sequences, macromolecular structures and whole genomes produced by NCBI Help
SciFinder Scholar	Chemistry-related plant science references including, biotechnology, toxicology, environmental science. 1907+ (Includes Medline). Access Instructions

Where does CrossSearch fit in?

CrossSearch provides a single entry point for our electronic resources including library catalogues, databases, eJournal collections, selected websites and more. Most resources can be searched with the CrossSearch interface, with the capacity to search up to eight simultaneously. Each of the resources has links to its original interface. CrossSearch gives you access to resources recommended by our librarians within a specific subject category, or you may browse alphabetically for individual resources.

Other features include the ability to connect (via the FindIt/SFX button) to loads of full-text articles, compatibility with EndNote, and the capacity to customise, organise and group your favourite resources for regular searching. With CrossSearch, you can also save search histories and set up alerts for new information in your research area.

Try CrossSearch today!

Journal title abbreviations:

Web of Science Journal Title Abbreviations	Abbreviations of journal titles indexed in Web of Science.
All That JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources	Web pages that list journal title abbreviations.
Periodical Title Abbreviations	Comprehensive list arranged by full title and abbreviated title. Held at library information or service desks

Useful Web Sites

Web site directories:

Biosciences	A comprehensive guide to bioscience web resources. Contains many plant science related links.
Flowering plant gateway	A gateway to databases, links to flowering plant classifications, some DNA sequence information and ethnobotanical data.
Internet Directory for Botany	Covers all kinds of botanical information for finding places, societies, groups, taxonomic information and herbaria.
Mycological Resources on the Internet	These pages summarize internet resources of interest to mycologists.
Plant pathology internet guide book	Subject oriented internet resource guide for plant pathology, applied entomology, and all related fields - internet sites and other resources.
Scott's Botanical Links	Diverse range of links including "Link-of-the-day". Very current.

General scientific and scholarly web directories and archives:

Australian Digital Theses project	Most Australian universities are depositing the full text of their current PhD and research Master theses in the ADT server. The University of Tasmania has joined but is not yet contributing. Visit the eTheses Collections link where you can find similar sites for Canada and other countries.
Citeseer	CiteSeer is a scientific literature digital library that aims to improve the dissemination and feedback of scientific literature. Contains an extensive citation cross reference.
Directory of Open Access Journals	The aim of the Directory of Open Access Journals is to increase the visibility and ease of use of open access, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.
OAIster	This site provides access to institutional archives. You may be able to find full text of theses or difficult to source papers. As of August 2006, OAIster contains nearly 9 million records from more than 680 worldwide institutions.
UTas Eprint archive	This growing archive contains papers and theses produced within the University of Tasmania.
Scirus	A comprehensive science-specific search engine. Find scientific, scholarly, technical and medical data from the Web, reports and journal articles.

Australian government sites:

Environment Australia	Environmental information, including biodiversity, ecosystems and Australian animals.
Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment	Includes Tasmania's threatened fauna handbook

Biotechnology:

Plant Genome Data and Information Center	US Department of Agriculture-offers access to a variety of information services and publications covering many aspects of plant genome mapping.
Biotechnology Information Resource	National Agricultural Library of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)- offers a wide-ranging collection of resources on biotechnology research

Organisations:

Australian Systematic Botany Society	ASBS promotes the study of plant systematics.
Society for Experimental Botany	The Society promotes all aspects of experimental biology

Other sites:

DELTA	Descriptive language for taxonomy - includes range of databases
Threatened species in Tasmania	Maintained by Dept Primary Industries Water and Environment (DPIWE)
Tamar Valley Weed Strategy	Identifies common weeds of Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania (and much else of rural Australia) and suggests ways of dealing with them

How do I cite and manage my information resources

Below are guides to citation styles and other aspects of presentation. The citation styles that you use will depend on the policies of the schools that you are studying in and specific publications.

Personal bibliographic software (for example, EndNote) can be used to manage your sources when undertaking in-depth research. The Library provides training in EndNote for honours students, postgraduates and staff.