| PubMed |
PubMed was created by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The PubMed database includes all of MEDLINE as well as some additional articles. Particularly useful features include:
- An easy-to-use interface -- type a keyword, author, whatever in the box and go. It also supports Boolean logic and wild cards.
- “Limits”, which allows you to restrict a search to certain fields (such as Title or Title/Abstract), certain article types (such as Review articles), certain languages or years, etc.
- “History”, which saves your search strategies for one hour and allows you to combine searches
- Direct links to full text of many articles
Essentially all cell biology and biochemistry articles are indexed in PubMed, so it’s a good place to start. Here a couple of examples of search strategies:
- Suppose you want to find an article that’s primarily about succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), as opposed to one that just mentions SDH in passing:
- Because SDH may be called either “Succinate dehydrogenase” or “Succinic dehydrogenase,” type in the search box either “(succinic dehydrogenase OR succinate dehydrogenase)” [without the quotes] or “succin* dehydrogenase” [without the quotes].
- Click the “Limits” tab, and use the pull-down menu to restrict the field to “Title/Abstract”.
- Such a search will return over 6,000 references, so you might repeat the search, restricting the field to “Title”.
- Suppose you want to find an article that has information about competitive inhibitors of SDH, but you’re concerned that the inhibitor may not be mentioned in the abstract:
- Perform the search outlined in (1).
- Do a new search with “Limits” unchecked and “competitive inhibitor” [with the quotes this time -- you want a phrase] entered in the search box.
- Click the “History” tab, and combine your two searches by putting “#1 AND #2” (or whatever the numbers are) in the search box. Be sure that the “Limits” tab is unchecked.
|
| Web of Science |
Web of Science is the electronic version of Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index. Notable features include:
- Useful for finding the most important (heavily cited) articles and books in the sciences and social sciences.
- Can be used to find articles citing a known work on your topic.
- Can limit searches to certain types of articles, such as reviews -- see “Restrict search by languages and document types:” on the General or Advanced Search screens.
- “Get this item” links will show you if our library has an article and allow you to link to it directly if it’ is available electronically.
Web of Science is not as user-friendly as PubMed; however, it can be invaluable for (1) finding articles that have cited another article, and (2) finding articles that aren't indexed in PubMed, especially articles in the ecological or agricultural literature.
|
| Electronic Journal List |
List of journals to which the Claremont College Libraries have electronic subscriptions. |
| Interlibrary Loan |
What do you do when the Claremont College Libraries don’ have what you need? Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) or Ingenta (see below). Through ILL, you can obtain a photocopy or pdf file of a journal article at no cost. It typically takes 1-2 weeks for delivery of most items, so plan ahead. Click here to access the ILL online order form. |
| Ingenta |
Ingenta provides a user-driven document delivery service. You find it, you order it, and you receive it. The Libraries pay for it! Articles are delivered either electronically (available immediately) or by fax (within 48 hours). Students in Bio41C may use the Biology Department fax number 909.621.8878. Ingenta is faster than ILL, but many articles are not available through Ingenta. Ingenta allows you to order an article from a journal IF:
- You see the
 symbol.
- AND The Libraries do not own the journal.
- AND The article does not cost over $40.
ingenta requires you to establish your own profile on their system. Therefore, you will be asked to login on the Ingenta “Welcome” page. Use only the first 9 digits of your Colleges' ID number for this login. Then you will be asked to assign your own password. Choose one that you will remember. |
| Biology Librarian |
Help! You can’t find the article you need. You can’t access an article even though we have a subscription. Get help from the Library Subject Specialist for Biology -- Jason Price, x18437, jason.price@libraries.claremont.edu. |