• Web Sites
• Finding Books
• Subject Headings
• Reference Books
• Article Databases
• Citing Your Sources

Web Sites

Some helpful web sites include:

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

This web site from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) allows you to search for endangered species and view information on their taxonomy, history and justification of their endangered status, distribution, etc. It also includes references that allow you to search other web databases that include images and species information. After you use the Search function to locate an endangered species, check out the Publications & Links site to locate even more information sources.

UNEP-WCMC

On this United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) web site, use the Species Information link to access their Species Database. It includes data on 74301 animals and 88761 plants of conservation interest .

 

 

Finding Books

Use GCC's Online Catalog to locate books about your species. If you do not find a book on your specific species, try broadening your search. For example, if the search below for blue whale does not locate any books, try searching for books about whales.

 

Subject Headings

The following terms are some examples of subject headings that can be used to locate material about your species in the Online Catalog:

• gorilla
• pandas
• giant panda
• blue whale
• wolves

 

Reference Books

The GCC Library has various reference books that are useful for locating information on species. Some reference books of interest include:

• The Cactaceae: Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family  
  (REF 583.47 B862c, 1963)
• The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide  
  (REF 590.3. E56)
• Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life
  (REF 591.92 E56)
• Encyclopedia of Birds
  (REF 598 E56a, 1998)
• Encyclopedia of Fishes
  (REF 597.03 E56, 1998)
• Encyclopedia of Insects
  (REF 595.703 E56)
• Encyclopedia of Mammals
  (REF 599.03 E56, 2001)
• Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians
  (REF 597.9 F523)
• Grzimeks Animal Life Encyclopedia
  (REF 591 G895)
• Grzimeks Encyclopedia of Mammals
  (REF 599 G895)
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees
  (REF 582.1603 M835i
• The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
  (REF 581.022 N935p)
• Plants of the World
  (REF 581 W819p)
• Walker's Mammals of the World
  (REF 599 W178m, 1983)

 

Article Databases for Locating Magazine and Journal Articles

• Science Resource Center - includes thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations. In addition, the latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites.

Note on Science Resource Center - In the search shown above, you can also type western lowland gorilla instead of gorilla gorilla. The Science Resource Center database includes Beacham's Guide to International Endangered Species which includes information on behavior, conservation and recovery, descriptions, distribution, habitat, and threats. This database also includes a Source Citation for your bibliography or references list.

 

• Encyclopedia Britannica Online - contains the standard information from the print Encyclopedia Britannica plus media, web sites, and more.
• AccessScience - is the online version of the 9th edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. It includes encyclopedia articles with illustrations and bibliographies, science news updates, biographies of scientists, and links to evaluated related Web sites.

• ProQuest - covers various subject areas and includes full-text articles as well as scholarly articles.

Note on ProQuest - When reviewing your results in ProQuest, you may want to focus on the Scholarly Journals and Magazines. They will provide more in-depth and credible information.

 

Citing Your Sources

The GCC Library provides some brief, online guides on the MLA and APA citation styles. You can also use the library catalog to search for style manuals, which have more in-depth information. The two most frequently used style manuals for MLA and APA styles are:

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
  (808.02 G437m, 2003)
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
  (808.06615 P976, 2001)