BISC 102:ECOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT

LIBRARY TUTORIAL

Spring 2012

Tutorial Outline

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The research process

Popular vs. scholarly publications

Finding scholarly information

Practice time

BiSc 102 Library Research Guide in WebCT

Link to BiSc 102 Library Research Guide for this assignment

BiSc 102 (@ Surrey) research guide

Scientific posters – see: WebCT

Creating postersSample posters

Sample poster (links in WebCT)

A scientific poster

IUCN Red List <http://www.iucnredlist.org/>

Search box

Sample search: manatee

IUCN Red List: results page

The species I have chosen: Trichechus manatus (West Indian Manatee) Status: Vulnerable   C1   ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing

Trichechus manatus entry

• Taxonomy • Assessment

Information • Geographic Range • Population • Habitat and Ecology • Threats • Conservation Actions

Scientific name:Trichechus manatus

Bibliography link

Your species

Note: It will be easier to find information on your species if you choose an organism that has been studied by researchers extensively. This may seem obvious, but it’s worth

considering before you commit to creating a poster on the Ochre-rumped antbird.

Henrique, C. (2008). Ochre-rumped antbird [Photograph]. Retrieved from

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/

IUCN Red List: Practice

Let’s try searching in the IUCN Red List now.

Research Process

Identify the research topic:

Endangered or vulnerable species:

manatee

Research Process

Some aspects of your species:

EcologyHabitatConservation actions

Research Process

Identify the terms:

manatee

conservation

Research Process

Identify the related terms

Manatee: Trichechus manatus

Conservation: conserve, preserve

Use the scientific name of your organism for searching and for your scientific poster

Searching tools

OR

AND

* (truncation)conserv* will find …

conserve, conserves, conservation, conservationists, etc.

AND / OR

Trichechus

manatus

conservation

Trichechus manatus OR conservation

Trichechus manatus AND conservation

Combining terms & tools

Background information (books)

For background information on your species, try looking in …

reference books e.g., encyclopedias

books about your species (note: there might not be any) books on a broader topic

e.g., endangered species; endangered plants; rare animals

There are suggestions for finding useful books in the BiSc 102 (Surrey) Research Guide in WebCT.

Popular vs. scholarly publications For your poster, you will need to find

scholarly publications with articles on your species

Keep in mind: you shouldn’t be using Wikipedia as a source

What are the differences between popular and scholarly publications?

Popular publications

Informs or entertains Sells products Aimed at general

public Contains graphics,

photos, illustrations Rarely cites other

sources Simple, non-

technical language

Scholarly publications

Reports on original research

Audience includes academics, researchers, professionals

Longer articles Technical language,

jargon Always cites

sources PEER REVIEWED or

REFEREED

Finding articles

What is Fast Search? What it includes What it doesn’t include

Fast Search vs. databases Why would you use a database rather

than Fast Search?

The BiSc 102 Research Guide includes a list of key databases to use for your assignment.

Fast SearchTrichechus manatus conserv*

Fast SearchYou can limit results to articles from scholarly publications

Note:You still need to know how to identify a scholarly article because many non-scholarly articles appear in scholarly journals (e.g., book reviews, editorials).

Getting full-text articles from Fast Search

Step 1: Click on article title

Step 2:Click on full-text link.* * If there is no full-text link, there are a few things that could be happening…Step 3:

Either the full-text version will open automatically, or you will use the ‘Where can I get this?’ info to find the article.

Fast Search

Let’s spend a bit of time using Fast Search to find scholarly articles on a species you found using the IUCN Red List.

Citations: APA style

Citing images (APA)

Getting help

Getting help

Getting Help

Ask anyone at the reference desk in any of the three campus libraries

Use our Ask a Librarian services (via the Library home page) to contact a librarian (by phone, IM, or email).

Contact : Jenna Walshjmwalsh@sfu.ca

Class? Due Date? Where have you searched? How have you searched? Found anything close to what you need?