Library Research in Parasitology

Prepared by Anne Turhollow for Biology 588
Fall 2002

Searching for Information in Journals

Indexes or periodical databases allow you to create a custom list of articles on your topic. You will usually need to search more than one index to find all the articles you need. The traditional indexes take you backwards in time. Citation indexes allow you to trace an article or book forward in time. Once you identified an article as existing, you will then have to track it down.

Indexes to Journal Articles

Which index to start with, depends on whether your topic has an ecological or a medical bent to it. If ecological, start with Biosis; if medical, use Medline.

• Biosis Previews
• Off campus access requires current SDSU ID number
• 1998 to date
• Major index for the biological sciences
• Covers over 8,000 journals as well as conference proceedings and books
• Citations with abstracts
• Search by author, taxonomic classification, scientific name, and keywords
• Pre-1998 is found in print, Biological Abstracts, (QH 301 B37). 1970-1997 is located in the Reference Stacks, 1st Floor, Library Addition. 1926-1969 is located in the 5th Floor Periodicals Stacks, Love Library.
• ZooRecord
• Can only be accessed in Library
• 1993 to date
• Comprehensive index to all things zoological
• Covers journal articles, books, conference proceedings, obscure field station reports, etc.
• Citations only
• Earlier years are found in print Zoological Record (QL 1 Z64, 1970-1994 in Reference, 1865-1969 in 5th Floor Periodical Stacks)
• Medline
  • Off campus access requires current SDSU ID number
  • 1966 to date
  • Covers large number of references in medical and veterinary parasitology with some general parasitology
  • Journal articles only
  • Linked with the PAC
• PubMed
  • No access restrictions
  • Version of Medline from the National Center for Biotechnology Information
  • Includes links to electronic journal articles (links will only work with those titles SDSU has license to access and will be most successful if you are using an SDSU computer)
  • Includes links to DNA and protein sequences
• Agricola
  • No access restrictions
  • Major index for field of agriculture
  • Two separate databases; one for books and one for journal articles back to 1970
  • Another good source for veterinary parasitology
  • For earlier years, consult the print Bibliography of Agriculture, 1943-1992. (A 17.18: Government Publications / United States collection,3rd Floor)
• ingenta
  • Off campus access requires current SDSU ID number
  • 1989 to date
  • Indexes the tables of content from over 14,000 journals in all disciplines
  • Faculty and grad students can use for emergency document delivery.

Using Citation Indexes

Web of Science is a unique tool that allows you to perform a "Cited Ref Search" and trace a key article or book forward in time. The SDSU version (running under the Web of Knowledge software) covers 1999 to the present. This means that while you can do a "Cited Ref Search" for material published at any time, the results will only show you citing articles published in 1999 or later.

For earlier years, you will need to use the print version. Each year or range of years consists of four sections:

1. Citation Index - the section where you look an older article and find the articles that have cited it during the year or years covered.
2. Source Index - the section that gives a complete citation for the new articles listed in the Citation Index.
3. Corporate Index - where the new articles are indexed by the primary author's institution.
4. Permuterm Subject Index - a keyword index of the titles of the new articles.

The title of interest for the sciences is:

Science Citation Index

Q 158.5 S34 Reference

Locating Journal Articles

If you're lucky, the database you use will either link you directly to an electronic version of the article or at a minimum, let you know if SDSU has the journal.

Journal article citations can be identified by the fact that they end with volume and page numbers.

Bush, A. O., Lafferty, K. D., Lotz, J. M., and Shostak, A. W. 1997. Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. J. Parasitol. 83: 575-583.

To "unabbreviate" the journal title, try one of the following resources:

• Serial Sources for the Biosis Previews Database (Z 5321 B52 1994 Ref Table 12),
• List of Serials Indexed for Online Users (R 129 L66 1999 Ref Table 12) or the Medline Journal Browser at NCBI,
• or try the online database, jake (Simon Fraser version).

Once you have found the complete journal title, then enter the title into the SDSU Periodicals List to find out if the library has the journal in either print or electronic format .

Can't Find Your Journal?

1. Check your spelling.
   
   
2. If you did not wait until the last minute, fill out an Inter-Library Loan (ILL) request. This will take about one to two weeks. A copy of the article will either be mailed to your home or office or you will receive an e-mail message with a link to an online copy of the article. The service is free for students, faculty, and staff of SDSU.
   
   
3. If there is not enough time:
   
   Undergrads: repeat your search at UCSD. If UCSD has the journal, you will need to drive over and make a copy of the article.
   
   Graduate students: search ingenta and if the article is available and costs $50 or under, you can order a copy for FAX delivery. For more information, see the page on Article Delivery Service.