Sheena Campbell
Student Services Department
Student Services Librarian
530-752-3058
by Sheena M Campbell, Ruth Gustafson – August 8, 2021
This guide lists resources related to the general biological sciences which are useful for locating literature across a range of topics and which BIS majors would be interested in.
If you would like support from a librarian in conducting research, you can contact:
Feel free to reach out with questions via email, or to schedule a research consultation via Zoom by clicking on the link to ‘Book an Appointment.’
Off Campus Access
COVID-19 Related Library Updates
Find the latest information about library resources and services during the COVID-19 response.
Student Services Department
Student Services Librarian
530-752-3058
Searching in a library catalog requires looking for broader topics such as bacterial signalling or mammal behavior rather than the more specific yersinia quorum sensing or cheetah mate selection.
Author: Library Instruction Services, Shields Library
Library of Congress Classification is used for all of the UCD libraries except the health sciences libraries (which use NLM — National Library of Medicine — classification). Learn about how books are arranged in the UCD libraries with this guide.
Date: 2004
Methods in Enzymology is the classic laboratory methods/protocols book series. The complete backfile of the full-text is available back to volume 1 from 1955. As of 2017, videos are selectively being added to accompany the written methods. Direct article/chapter links are provided from core subject databases such as PubMed and BIOSIS Previews. Contains detailed protocols and descriptions of biochemical and biophysical techniques for research in biological and molecular sciences. More than 500 volumes are browse-able by individual volumes online from 1955 to the present or by searching across the collection by title, author, abstract, and keyword. Full-text access to articles is available in HTML and PDF formats.
A rapidly growing collection of peer-reviewed, life science protocols organized by 11 different fields of study and 10 different organisms. Protocols are organized chronologically with a detailed guide on how to reproduce a given experiment. Each protocol also contains an interactive and moderated Q & A section to facilitate open communication between protocol authors and the research community.
Open Access to full-text protocols in three categories of “in vivo”, “in vitro” and “in silico” and a general category of other.
Anyone can add their own protocols or review those under development.
Over 200 protocols available.
A website for creating, organizing, and publishing reproducible research protocols.
UC Davis researchers have access to free premium accounts.
The 2nd edition of this 7 volume comprehensive work covers all aspects of biodiversity. “Major themes of the work include the evolution of biodiversity, systems for classifying and defining biodiversity, ecological patterns and theories of biodiversity, and an assessment of contemporary patterns and trends in biodiversity.” Over 320 articles with “approximately 1,800 figures and 350 tables complement the text, and more than 3,000 glossary entries explain key terms”. Topics range from: Agriculture; Conservation & Restoration; Economics of Biodiversity; Environmental Conditions & Effects; Evolution; Extinctions; Genetics; Geographic & Global Issues; Habitats & Ecosystems; Human Effects & Interventions; Invertebrates; Microbial Diversity; Plant Biodiversity; Population Issues; Public Policies & Attitudes; Species Interactions & Interrelationships; Systematics & Species Concept; Techniques & Measurements; Theories & Concepts of Biodiversity; to Vertebrates
Extensive, completely revised and updated 17-volume version of the original work published in Germany in 1960. Incorporates recent developments in the animal world as noted by prominent advisors and contributors from the scientific community. Volume 1 covers Lower metazoans and lesser deuterostomes and volume 2 is on Protostomes. Volume 3 is about Insects. Volumes 4-5 are both concerning Fishes. Volume 6 pertains to Amphibians and volume 7 is about Reptiles. Volumes 8-11 are all concerning Birds. Volumes 12-16 are on Mammals and lastly, volume 17 is the cumulative index.
•Each entry by family includes taxonomic placement & brief details including thumbnail description, size, number of genera/species, habitat, conservation status, & distribution map.
•Detailed sections describe: evolution & systematics; physical characteristics; distribution; habitat; behavior; feeding ecology & diet; reproductive biology; conservation status; significance to humans; and end with lengthy species accounts
Four-volume reference set. Volume 1 has four sections including the introduction, principles of global bioethics, cultural perspectives and religious perspectives. Volume 2 is comprised of two sections: Specific issues from a global perspective (such as biobanking, genetic modification); and future perspectives. Volume 3 is entirely arranged by Countries and Regions from Argentina to Lithuania with Volume 4 concluding from Malawi to the USA.
An “extensive, annotated bibliography of the most important concepts and ideas in the discipline” of evolutionary biology. Articles range from adaptation to tetrapod evolution including “genome sequencing and evolutionary developmental biology”. As the Editor in Chief notes, this field is changing rapidly being at the “nexus of two developments, which jointly allow an understanding of evolutionary processes never before possible. First is the ability to sequence entire genomes, and second is the means to study natural populations over long periods of time.” The Evolutionary Biology Bibliography is kept current as follows: each article receives an annual formal review; and about 50-75 new articles are added each year.
See the list of Oxford Bibliographies Online to which UC Davis subscribes.
This classic encyclopedia covering scientists from all time periods and all fields of science has been completely revised. This “complete” online version includes all the entries from both the new (2008) edition and the original edition.
“Morphbank :: Biological Imaging is a continuously growing database of images that scientists use for international collaboration, research and education. Images deposited in Morphbank :: Biological Imaging document a wide variety of research including: specimen-based research in comparative anatomy, morphological phylogenetics, taxonomy and related fields focused on increasing our knowledge about biodiversity. The project receives its main funding from the Biological Databases and Informatics program of the National Science Foundation (Grant DBI-0446224). “
This open-access biomedical image search engine in is Beta test but has good retrievals for most major biomedical topics. Open-i helps “users retrieve not only the MEDLINE citation information, but also the outcome statements in the article and the most relevant figure from it. Further, it is possible to use the figure as a query component to find other relevant images or other visually similar images.”
Not all articles or ebooks will be available for download directly from a database. To access full-text articles and ebooks directly from databases (e.g., PubMed, Web of Science) and Google Scholar, click the Get it at UC button. If you are not on campus, be sure to connect to the library VPN to access your article.
Note that Get it at UC e-links can only connect you to material licensed or owned by the library. However, we can borrow material from other libraries, if you put in an Interlibrary Loan request: