Selected Information Resources for Molecular Biology

The general arrangement of entries in this guide is alphabetical by title, with the print sources listed first followed by the electronic listings.

Selected Current Journals
Online journal list in full for Yale may be reached and searched at: Online Journals


Use Orbis, the Yale Library online catalog to identify or locate a majority of the books held. An advanced search option is available for more layered searches and these are all keyword searches. Field tags formerly useful (for holding library, for example) will not work in the search box; some are evident from the drop-down box and others (such as holding collection) are set within the limits option.


Orbis is one source for locating book-level treatment bibliographies, particularly of older references. A keyword search can be used to turn up titles on a subject such as:

The Modified Nucleosides of Transfer RNA: a bibliography of biochemical and biophysical studies from 1970 to 1979,

Kline Science Library Z6663 R


The local laboratory or experimental methods library guide to information sources is accessible online or by print at KSL.

Note: Recent book table of contents and summaries for Wiley-published book titles in molecular biology can be viewed on their web site (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/subjecttoc?SUBJ=Molecular+Biology).

Biophysics: an introduction, by Rodney M.J. Cotterill. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.
Kline Science Library QH505 C

This text is based on a course taught at Danish Technical University. See the introduction for an overview of the field.

Dictionary of Cell & Molecular Biology by John M Lackie and Julian AT Dow. Academic Press, 3rd ed., 1999.
Kline Science Library Reference QH581.2 D

A successor to Dictionary of Cell Biology. The expanded and updated title, the authors state, reflects both the growth of molecular entries and the use of the 2nd edition when it was freely available (without registration) on the Internet. Intended to be of use from high school students to professionals. On a somewhat more basic level and with some biographical entries is The Facts on File Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology. KSL Reference QH575 F33X 2003 LC .

Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology by Paul Singleton and Diana Sainsbury. John Wiley & Sons, 3rd ed., 2001
Kline Science Library Reference QR9 S
Medical Library Reference 24 QR9 S

Definitions of terms and names are found in this source. Appendices illustrate a number of cycles and biosyntheses.

The Double Helix: a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA by James D. Watson and Francis Crick. Atheneum, 1968.
Various editions and copies are available at:
Kline Science Library QP551 W
Forestry Library QD431 A2 W
Bass QH450.2 W
Medical Library QD341 A2 W

This book tells the story behind the 1962 Nobel Prize-winning Nature (April 25, 1953) article on the helical structure of DNA, written by Drs. James Watson and Francis Crick. The original article may be read in many Yale libraries.

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Grove's Dictionaries Inc./Macmillan Publishers Ltd./Nature Publishing Group, 20 volumes with index, 2002+.
Accessible electronically to Yale at URL: http://www.els.net. Online publisher is changing and access arrangements are in progress.
Kline Science Library Reference QH302.5 E

Molecular topics are considered well-represented in this encyclopedia. (A lengthier review was published in Choice July/August 2002, p. 1936.)

Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology, edited by Thomas E. Creighton. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 4 volumes, 1999.
Kline Science Library Reference QH506 +C
Medical Library Reference 19 QH506 +C74

Signed articles (some illustrated) with bibliographies on major topics within molecular biology are found in this set. Over 1,000 topical entries provided. Contributors include Yale faculty members Mark Solomon, Scott Strobel, and Robert Macnab.

Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology and Molecular Medicine, edited by Robert A. Meyers. VCH Publishers, 6 volumes, 1996/7.
Kline Science Library Reference QH506 E

Somewhat lengthier signed articles on topics within molecular medicine and structural biology are found in this source. Articles include bibliographies and some illustrations. Vivian F. Irish and Peter B. Moore, Yale faculty members, respectively contributed and advised on the development of this work.

Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, edited by Robert A. Meyers. Academic Press, 17 volumes, 3rd ed., 2002.
Kline Science Library Reference Q123 +E

The latest edition of this overall physical science encyclopedia has added articles on molecular biology. Articles end with a bibliography and references between related articles are provided. Articles are signed.

Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology by David M. Glick. Portland Press, 1997.
Kline Science Library Reference QP512 G [revised edition]

The first edition of this work is held in the reference section of the Medical Library. Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Online [accessed Sept. 7, 2004; last revised Dec. 12, 2003]

Introduction to Molecular Biophysics by Jack A. Tuszynski and Michal Kurzynski. CRC Press, 2003.
Kline Science Library QH506 T

This book, a recent addition, is part of the CRC's series in pure and applied physics.

Operators and Promoters: the story of molecular biology and its creators by Harrison Echols and edited by Carol A. Gross. University of California Press, 2001.
Kline Science Library QH506 E
Medical Library QH506 E246X 2001

A readable account of the development of this field with influence on other fields told from the perspective of the late Professor Echols (genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology). Part of this story revolves around Yale faculty members.


* * * * * online sources not mentioned in the above section* * * * *


BIOSIS Previews

The primary database of references and abstracts for the worldwide literature of the life sciences. Online coverage begins with 1969. Links to full-text articles have begun to appear.

BRENDA, the comprehensive enzyme information system, for academic use, from Dietmar Schomburg, professor at Institut fuer Biochemie, Universitaet zu Koln, Germany.

The 3rd edition in print is in press. Several volumes have been received at Kline. There have been 3 editions, with the titles Enzyme Handbook 1969, from Springer-Verlag, Enzyme Handbook, 1990-1999, also from Springer-Verlag, and Springer Handbook of Enzymes. The paper volumes, QP601 E, are being reclocated at Kline Science Library in preparation for moving off-site.
Medical Library Reference 18 for the first edition and under the same call number.

Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre or Cambridge Structural Database

A crystal structure database with search capability for organic or metal organic compounds.

Current Protocols, John Wiley & Sons.

This series provides signed step-by-step laboratory techniques across a range of science disciplines including: Molecular Biology, Protein Science, Nucleic Acid Chemistry, and Immunology. Online editions can be searched using keyword and proximity limitations. Many print editions of this series are also available in the Yale libraries.

EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Databases, from the European Bioinformatics Institute.

Europe, the USA, and Japan contribute to this searchable database of sequence data. RNA and DNA sequences.

Enzyme Structures Database

Contains known enzyme structures in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank.

GenBank

The US database of nucleotide sequences. From their web site and Nucleic Acids Research 2005 January 13:33 (Database issue):D34-D36, it is the NIH genetic sequence database, an annotated collection of all publically available DNA sequences.

Medline

The primary database for identifying and, in some cases, linking to articles in all fields of medicine. See also the related entry PubMed, below.

Methods Finder, from BIOSIS. Trial access to Yale affiliates through Feb. 2002.

A relatively new resource with no print equivalent, identifying articles and some patents related to laboratory methods and protocols. Some links to full-text documents and European patents are found here. This source has not been subscribed to by a Yale library.

The Methods in Molecular Biology and Methods in Molecular Medicine series from Humana Press are now available online as BioMed Protocols.

Many volumes in this series are available from the Medical Library and some (usually non-circulating) may be consulted at Kline Science Library. The shelf location of a particular volume can be determined by searching Orbis, the online Yale Library catalog in keyword or title or author modes.

Pedro's BioMolecular Research Tools

A popular page of links.

PIR [Protein Information Resource]

This is a protein sequence database known for its classified and annotated entries.
Protein Data Bank, from the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB)

This database is a worldwide repository for 3-D structural data on proteins.

PubMed

This source is a database considered as enhanced Medline with respect to content, however lacking the electronic auto alert update profile capability available to Yale with Medline in traditional subscription form.
Web of Science (Science Citation Index)

A general, over all fields of science, scholarly bibliographic database. There is some inclusion of abstracts and links to full-text journal articles. This database may be used for information about literature citings. Comparison with a new literature database, Scopus has appeared.

SWISS-PROT Protein Knowledgebase

A protein sequence database striving to provide more descriptions than other sources.


Selected Current Journals
The following titles were derived from a compilation of information sources: use data at Kline Science Library, Magazines for Libraries, and Journal Citation Reports [a microfiche and subscribed-to database].
Note 1: An article on interpretation sources of error for JCR appeared in Nature recently; a copy for reading is available from the KSL reference desk. * indicates online access for at least some years for Yale.
Note 2: Some years of various journals including these are being and may have already been relocated off-campus to a library site. A Monday-Friday paging service is offered by the library.


Annual Review of Biophysics & Biomolecular Structure *
Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology *
Biochemistry *
Cell *
EMBO Journal *
Journal of Biological Chemistry *
Journal of Molecular Biology *
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews *
Molecular and Cellular Biology *
Molecular Biology and Evolution *
Molecular Biology of the Cell *
Molecular Cell *
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution *
Nucleic Acids Research *
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA *
Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology


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Comments useful in the development of this guide were received from colleagues (former Yale medical librarian O. Mollel and then MB&B faculty member A. Miranker).


Created on August 15, 2001 by: Lori Bronars, Biology Selector, lori.bronars@yale.edu
203 432-6213, Kline Science Library, Yale University
Last revised on: September 18, 2008.