Coral Reefs

Course Number:

BIO 495

Objective: To introduce you to the various methods and resources for obtaining scientific information on coral reefs. Specifically, this guide will address methods for beginning your research, finding journal articles, and other sources of information.

Articles & eResources

As you begin researching a topic, you may not be aware of any published material on your subject. And with multiple systems for accessing information, knowing where to begin can be a difficult and overwhelming task; particularly if one is not familiar with that specific area of study. However, knowing what sources are available for finding this information, and how to search through these sources is a critical function of a well-trained scientist.

To help you begin learning about core bibliographic databases in the study of coral reefs a list of these resources is provided below. These should also help you find scientific/scholarly journal articles related to your papers for this class. Please note that each database has a limited scope, so depending on your topic it may be necessary to search one or more of these databases.

Key Databases (i.e. indexes) for Finding Articles

Note: These databases are stand alone resources and primarily citation-based; i.e. they will not generally contain the full-text of the articles listed. You will need to search the library's catalog to determine if the library subscribes to the journal referencing your article. By searching the library's catalog you will be able to determine if the library has access to your article.

If you find that the library does not subscribe to the journal referencing your article or is missing the journal issue that contains your article, use the library's Interlibrary Loan service and the library will obtain it for you from another university. This is a FREE service! All you need to do is give us the citation and we'll do the rest. First, you'll need to create an account so that you can submit the information to us and so we know who to send the article to when it arrives. This service also applies to books.

Don't wait until the last minute to do your research. Interlibrary Loan requests can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks to fill so make sure you give yourself enough time to obtain the best information possible for your paper!

ASFA is a premier reference database for citations and abstracts of the world's literature dealing with the science, technology and management of marine, freshwater and brackish water environments and organisms. This source combines three major files that cover the biological sciences and living resources; ocean technology, policy and non-living resources, and aquatic pollution and environmental quality.

BIOSIS Previews

Biological Abstracts (BA) is the most comprehensive index for worldwide journal literature in the life sciences and is one of the most important index to biologists.

GeoRef

Established by the American Geological Institute in 1966, provides access to the geoscience literature of the world. GeoRef is the most comprehensive database in the geosciences and covers the geology of North America from 1785 to the present and the geology of the rest of the world from 1933 to the present. The database contains over 2.6 million references to geoscience journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports and dissertations/theses along with references to all publications of the US Geological Survey.

Web of Science

Provides a unique search method for cited reference searching. A favorite tool among scientists, users can navigate forward, backward, and through the literature (2002-present), searching multiple disciplines to explore how many times an author or article has been cited and by whom, and to located later publications that cite a specific article.

WorldCat

A combined catalog of thousands of libraries, including Randall Library. Search WorldCat if you want to search the largest universe of book and other cataloged items.

Zoological Record

The premier resource comprehensively indexing literature in zoology, ZooRecord indexes every aspect of zoology including biochemistry, behavior, ecology, evolution, genetics, etc. ZooRecord indexes over 4,500 international serials, and includes approximately 1,500 non-serial publications (i.e. professional journals, magazines, newsletters, monographs, books, reviews, and conference proceedings). ZooRecord is published by BIOSIS and the Zoological Society of London. Please see the Zoological Record Fact Sheet for more information on using this database.

Websites

Coral Literature, Education & Outreach (CLEO) Gray Literature

Designed to provide easy access to gray literature and pre-1990's literature on the coral reef environments near the ICON/CREWS monitoring stations.

NOAA Library Catalog

An online catalog containing the holdings of NOAA libraries around the country. Collections consist of reports, special data files and datasets, documents, articles, and audiovisual resources related to ocean science and atmospheric sciences.

ReefBase

The world's premier online information system on coral reefs, and provides information services to coral reef professionals involved in management, research, monitoring, conservation and education. Also included is full-text to first through the tenth International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) Proceedings. Access is free but users must register first.

Astronaut Photography of Coral Reefs

Public domain images.

Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research

Coral Health and Monitoring Program (CHAMPS)

Coral Kingdom Photo Library

Public domain images.

Coral Reefs

From the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII).

Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS)

Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network

International Coral Reef Initiative

NOAA National Ocean Service: Corals

Great introductory material on coral reefs.

U.S. Coral Reef Task Force

Citation, Writing & Presentation Resources

The following titles (available in the library's General or Reference collections) may be helpful to you as you develop technical writing and speaking skills.