BIOLOGY REFERENCE SOURCES [ dictionaries, abstracts and indexes, handbooks, encyclopedias, images, bibliographies]

Note: Handout/webpage information guides or bibliographies are also available for:
botany,
natural history and zoology,
taxonomy,
ecology and evolution,
environmental studies,
molecular biology, and
science biography.

Click here for a more in-depth information guide for biology sources outline.

DICTIONARIES

A Dictionary of Biology, 5th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 D54X 2004
Also searchable online A Dictionary of Biology.

Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, Frank J. Dye. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2002.
Kline Science Library Reference QH491 D94 2002

Facts on File Dictionary of Biology, 4th edition. Edited by Robert Hine. New York: Facts on File, 2005.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 F38X 2005

Elsevier's Dictionary of Biology Compiled by Rauno Tirri, Juhani Lehtonen, Risto Lemmetyinen, Seppo Pihakaski and Petter Portin. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier, 1998.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 E47X 1998

Henderson's Dictionary of Biology. Pearson Education Limited, 13th ed., 2005.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 H45X 2005(LC)

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Bioscience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2nd edition, 2003.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 M382X 1997

Dictionary of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Edited by John M. Hancock and Marketa J. Zvelebil. Wiley-Liss, 2004.
Kline Science Library Reference QH324.2 D53X 2004(LC)

Dictionary of Gene Technology: genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, Gunter Kahl. New York: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co., 3rd ed., 2004.
Kline Science Library Reference QH506 K33 2004 (LC)

Glossary of Biotechnology Terms. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2002.
Kline Science Library Reference TP248.16 F54X 2002 (LC)
Also online at CRCnetbase.com or through Orbis.

Note- There are several language dictionaries for biology available in the Kline Reference Collection. These include:
Russian-English Biological and Medical Dictionary; Russian-English Biological Dictionary; Langenscheidt Routledge German Dictionary of Biology shelved at QH13 K3; QH13 D85; and QH302.5 L36 respectively.

ABSTRACTS OR INDEXES

BIOSIS Previews (Biological Abstracts + Biological Abstracts Reports Reviews Meetings). Philadelphia, PA: BioSciences Information Service
Online edition covers 1926 to present. Print volumes for 1926-1969 are in Kline Abstracts. Print volumes for 1970-1993 may be requested from the Library Shelving Facility.
Covers more than 5000 journals published in more than 100 countries. Author, subject, concept, generic, biosystematic indexes. Words from article titles and abstracts appear in the indexes. The precursor to Biological Abstracts, Botanical Abstracts, in print is available at Kline Science Library 1918-1926 Abstracts area as is Helminthological Abstracts in print, covering 1932-1976.

Biological and Agricultural Index Plus. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, Inc.
Online edition citations span 1983 to present; print issues available at Kline Science Library Abstracts 1964-1982 ABSTRACTS area; 1983-1990 volumes may be paged from the Library Shelving Facility.
Subject index to approximately 150 English-language journals. Designed for the student and layperson. Indexes articles in: agricultural research, biochemistry, biology, botany, ecology, entomology, environmental science, forestry, genetics, marine biology, limnology, microbiology, physiology, and zoology.

Biology Digest (1974/75 - present) monthly September through May, with cumulative annual index. Medford, NJ: Plexus Publishers, Inc.
Available at Kline Science Library Abstracts area.
Designed for secondary school and undergraduate college level students. Author/keyword indexes and abstracts written by its staff. Covers approximately 200 journals.

BioResearch Index. (1969-79) [became Biological Abstracts/RRM]
Kline Science Library Abstracts Z53221 +B56
Covers reports, reviews, meetings, books, and bibliographies.

Zoological Record. Philadelphia, PA: BIOSIS Previews
Online database covers 1864 to the present of references to zoology and natural history articles from 6000 journals around the world. Print issues available at Kline Science Library 1864-1977 Abstracts area; 1977-1994 can be paged from the Library Shelving Facility.

BioLine. From BioLine International.
Science journals from developing countries are the focus of this site from a non-profit publisher. The search function works across all of the journal titles and search results may include citations, abstracts, and complete text of articles or reports. Within biological subject fields, agriculture, botany, and zoology are represented.

Medline. Washington DC: National Library of Medicine.
Online edition of Index Medicus covers 1966 to present. 3500 journals published in 70 countries are indexed and abstracted by this resource.
Print edition is available at the Medical Library 1879 to 2004. Ref 2 ZR100 I51 Medical Library

Chemical Abstracts. Columbus, OH: Chemical Abstracts Service.
Online edition covers 1907 to present; print issues available at Kline Science Library covering 1907-2004, Abstracts area. This is the major bibliographic abstract to periodical literature related to chemistry, including chemical topics with biological aspects such as biochemistry. Over 8,000 journals are indexed.
Use selected workstations for online access (known as SciFinder Scholar) at Kline Science, Chemistry, Engineering, and Medical libraries. For current Yale affiliates, this can be installed on your workstations and includes the entire 1907 to present.

Current Contents. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information. Updated weekly; one year's worth of citations with abstracts.
A listing of the contents of the current issues of many leading journals. The Yale Library's online subscription to Current Contents includes all of its subject sections from print editions.
The Life Sciences edition in print is available in the Abstracts area at Kline Science Library (6 months) and at the Medical Library (2004) Ref 2 ZQ180C87 MED.
The Life Sciences section began in 1958 in print as Current Contents. Chemical, Pharmaco-Medical and Life Sciences and the Agriculture, Biology, and Environmental Sciences section began in print in 1970 as Current Contents. Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science.

General Science Full Text. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, Inc.
Online edition covers 1984 to present; print issues (General Science Index) available at Kline Science Library 1978-1983 Abstracts area; volumes for 1985-1997 may be paged from the Library Shelving Facility.
Subject index to approximately 80 English language journals. Book review citations are included in the back section of the print edition. Designed for the student and layperson. Subjects indexed include: astronomy, biology, botany, earth science, environment and conservation, genetics, medicine, microbiology, oceanography, physiology, psychology, and zoology.

Index of Fungi (a recent index) United Kingdom and Cambridge, MA: CABI Publishing
Available at Kline Science Library Abstracts area.
Users will find book chapters or journal articles concerning fungi and its names referred to in this print index.

Science Citation Index.
Online edition is Web of Science and includes Science Citation Index 1945 to present, Social Sciences Citation Index 1956 to present, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index 1975 to present. The print edition volumes for 1945-1995 may be paged from the Library Shelving Facility. This database contains abstracts and is updated weekly.
Comprehensive coverage of the most major science journals from all fields of science and technology. Author, keyword, and cited author searches are possible with this resource.

HANDBOOKS

Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 9th ed. Edited by John G. Holt et al. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1994.
Kline Science Library Reference QR81 +B46 1994
Medical Library QR81 S36 1977
Description and classification of all the bacteria cited in the world literature is found here- from class to species to subspecies. (Index Bergeyana is an alphabetical listing of the bacterial taxa. QR81 I53 Kline Science Library Reference)

Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd ed. Edited by: DR Boone, RW Castenholz, and Ed-in-Chief: George M. Garrity.
Kline Science Library Reference QR81 +B46 2001
Volumes 1 and 2A-2C have been published.

Biology Data Book, 2nd ed., Ed. by Phillip L. Altman and Dorothy Dittmer. Bethesda, MD: Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology, 1972-74.
Kline Science Library Reference QH310 +A38 1972
Forestry and Environmental Studies Library QH310 +A38 1972
Cross Campus Library Reference QH310 +A38 1972
Medical Library QH310 +B56 1972
Biomedical handbook for research in genetics, cytology, morphology, animal processes, tissues, regulators, toxins, biochemistry, and biophysics. Also includes sections on experimental materials and methods, culture media, laboratory diets, and chemical indicators.

The Prokaryotes: a handbook on the biology of bacteria. Editor-in-Chief M. Dworkin, other editors: S. Falkow, E. Rosenberg, K-H Schleifer, and E. Stackebrandt. Springer, 2006. 7 volumes.
Kline Science Library Reference QR100 +P75 2006
A 3rd edition of this encyclopedic work on this group of organisms.

Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. Edited by Sybil P. Parker. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1982. 2 vols.
Kline Science Library Reference QH83 +S89 1982
A comprehensive classification of living organisms, with short descriptions of characteristics, biology, ecology, and distribution, down to the family level.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. England: Grove's Dictionaries Inc./Macmillan Publishers, Ltd.
To access this online resource, go to: http://www.els.net
This is an online resource updated regularly. The print edition of this encyclopedia was completed in late 2001 and is a comprehensive and current encyclopedia for biology topics, although use of other sources is advised for some of the related fields. Reference librarians along with related resource guides or reference works may offer additional assistance. In Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, there are 3000 signed articles written by several thousand scientists. Print edition (c2002) is available in the Kline Science Library Reference Collection QH302.5 +C539 2002.

Concise Encyclopedia Biology. Translated and revised by Thomas A. Scott. New York: Walter de Gruyter Berlin, 1996.
QH302.5 A2313X 1996 Kline Science Library Reference
This single-volume source is useful for current definitions and brief explanations of terms in general biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, zoology, and botany. Some entries are enhanced by a literature reference or a line drawing.

Magill's Survey of Science Life Science Series. Edited by Frank N. Magill. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1991.
Kline Science Library Reference QH307.2 M34X 1991
This 7-volume set is comprised of 370 articles with accompanying bibliographies from all fields within life science. The treatment of subjects in this source is for non-specialists and undergraduates.

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Edited by: Adrian Friday and David S. Ingram. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985.
Kline Science Library Reference QH307.2 +C36 1985
Medical Library Ref 19 QH307.2 +C36 1985
A general life science encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia of the Biological Sciences. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1970.
Sterling Memorial Library Reference QH13 G73 1970
Kline Science Library Reference QH13 G7 1970 The 1961 edition is in the stacks.
Designed for biologists in those fields in which they are not experts. Now useful as an historic treatment of topics in pure biology including: development, ecology, genetics, botany, zoology, biophysics, and biochemistry. Some biographical entries are also found here. Entries are signed.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Genetics, Genomics, and Proteomics. Wiley-Liss, 2nd edition, 2003.
Kline Science Library Reference QH427 R43X 2003 (LC)+
The editor of the first edition added considerably to the number of entries and illustrations and taken both user and reviewer comments into account. An interesting book bibliography is provided ending with a page of sample signatures.

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 16 volumes of text plus 1 index. Detroit: Gale., 2003.
Kline Science Library Reference QL7 G7813X 2003
Discusses the life and natural history of animal groups. Illustrations are expanded. Volume and a cumulative index are provided. The first edition, published 1972-5, is in the KSL stacks.

IMAGES
Additional sources for images, especially those Internet-accessible, will be added here in a future update.

Index to Illustrations of the Natural World: Where to Find Pictures of the Living Things of North America. Compiled by John W. Thompson. Syracuse: Gaylord, 1977.
Kline Science Library Reference Z7998 N67 +T45
An index to illustrations, photos in journals.

Index to Illustrations of Living Things Outside of North America: Where to Find Pictures of Flora and Fauna. By Lucille Thompson Munz and Nedra G. Slauson. Hamden, Conn : Archon, 1981.
Kline Science Library Reference Z7998 N67 +M85

BIBLIOGRAPHIES or GUIDES

Information Sources in the Life Sciences. Edited by H.V. Wyatt. 3rd ed. London : Butterworths, 1987.
QH303.6 I54 1987 Kline Science Library and Sterling Memorial Library

Using the Biological Literature: A Practical Guide. By Diane Schmidt, Dlizabeth B. Davis, and Pamela F. Jacobs. 3rd ed. New York : Marcel Dekker, Inc., 2002.
Kline Science Library Reference QH303.6 D38X 2002 (LC)

A Guide to the Zoological Literature. By George H. Bell and Diane B. Rhodes. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1994.
Z7991 B43X 1994 Kline Science Library Reference Office

Guide to Reference and Information Sources in Plant Biology. by Diane Schmidt, Melody M. Allison, Kathleen A. Clark, and others. 3rd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.
Kline Science Library Reference Z5351 G85X 2006 (LC)
The 2nd edition was published as Guide to Information Sources in the Botanical Sciences.
Kline Science Library Z5351 D38 1996

Maintained by Lori Bronars
Life Sciences Librarian & Reference Services Coordinator
Biology Selector
Kline Science Library, Yale University
lori.bronars@yale.edu
Page revised: April 9, 2007 .