Skip to Main Content

BILD 4: Introductory Biology Lab: Encyclopedias & Books

This guide is your starting point for navigating library resources and completing assignments for BILD 4.

Encyclopedias and General Topics

Encyclopedias are a very good place to start your research. They can help you narrow your topic, define terminology that you may not be familiar with, and lead you to references of primary articles that you can use for your research.

Resources with a lock symbol mean that you need to have your off-campus computer configured for access.


JOVE Resources: UCSD Only

JOVE Education offers videos and slide shows on many aspects of biology.  JOVE also offers lab-focused content - that's in the box just below this. Sections: 

UC Library Search - For Finding Books

UC Library Search UC Library Search includes all UC Libraries and some of Worldcat

UC Library Search - which is the search box on the Library's homepage - helps you find books, journals, media and various other materials at the UC San Diego Library and beyond. It also contains a limited number of online journals and newspaper articles. You may search by keyword, title, and author, and filter your search to what is available online. You can also use Request for book delivery, chapter scans or Interlibrary Loans  for materials at other UC campuses or libraries worldwide using your Single Sign-On credentials.

Search Tips 

  • Sign in to access full results lists, electronic resources, request items, and save records. To access electronic resources, you must be on the campus network.
  • Use Advanced Search to get more control of what you're searching.
  • Capitalize the operators AND, OR, NOT when combining key search terms.
  • Use the Filters on the left to focus on the kinds of results you want.
  • To get copies of items that the Library doesn't have use the Request button.
  • Use the Citation button to grab properly-formatted citations to an item you have found.

 

UC Library Search is one part of your complete breakfast search.

 

UC Library Search does not include all the content to which the Library subscribes! To extend your search, or to get more relevant results for your specific topic, try a database. The database you use depends on the topic or subject you have chosen and the type of information you need to access. You may choose among broad subject areas (e.g., biology, art, political science, etc.), as well as interdisciplinary databases or ones that search across multiple disciplines.  See the Finding Journal Articles page for more information about databases in Biology. 

You must also be logged into the campus network to access the information for any database with a blue Triton icon.