Library Research in Economic Botany

Prepared by Anne Turhollow for Biology 460
Fall 2004

Searching for Information in Books

Finding Books

Library catalogs are the main tool for locating the books and many government reports. They do NOT list individual journal articles or most book chapters. The PAC is the main system for identifying books at the San Diego State University Library. It is also interlinked with two union catalogs. Circuit is a union catalog of SDSU, UCSD, USD, and CSUSM. Link+ is a union catalog for many of the CSU campuses plus a number of private California colleges. Books may be borrowed from any of these libraries via the catalogs. Books can be searched by author, title, or subject.

Below are examples of citations to books and book chapters, how to tell the difference, followed by instructions on how to find them using the PAC.

Book Citations

Mooney, H. A., and Drake, J. A., 1986, Ecology of Biological Invasions of North American and Hawaii: New York, Springer.

Book citations can be identified by the fact they end not with page numbers, but with a place of publication and publisher. Book chapters are similar but have two titles instead of one. (See below.) You can search the PAC either by the book's title or by its authors .

Book Chapter Citations

Simberloff, D., 1981, Introduced insects: A biogeographic and systematic perspective, in Mooney, H. A., and Drake, J. A., editors, Ecology of Biological Invasions of North America and Hawaii: New York, Springer-verlag, p. 3-26.

Book chapter citations can be identified by the fact that they have two sets of titles and authors. The first set refers to the chapter; the second set to the entire book. Use the second set to look up your book by either title or editor in the PAC.

Searching by Subject

Some subject headings to search under include:

• Botany, Economic
• Fruit Culture
• Food History
• Materia Medica, Vegetable
• Medicinal Plants
• Plants, Cultivated-Origin
• Plant Introduction

Not at SDSU?

If the book is not at SDSU, there are three options:

1. First check to see if the book is available at one of the other San Diego area university libraries by using Circuit. If so, request the item. Circuit deliveries usually take overnight.
   
   
2. If it is not available through Circuit, then check Link+. If it is available, request the item. Delivery with Link+ generally takes 3-5 days.
   
   
3. If it is not available through either of these systems, then fill out an ILL form. ILL will find out which library in the US (or the world, if necessary) has the book and borrow it from them. It usually takes one to two weeks for delivery.

You will be notified when titles requested are available for pickup at the Circulation Desk under the dome.

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