Before you get started, you might want to take a look at The Evolution of Scientific Information, which maps out the scientific publication process (NOTE: This chart was taken from a book published in 1979. Notice anything missing?)

There is also a resource from the UCLA libraries called the Flow of Information that might help you understand the process.

Once you understand the "flow of information," a quick survey of the literature will help you get a sense of what has been done before, what questions you need to answer & how you should go about conducting your research. This survey will give you a good foundation for when you begin your research, including terminology and methodology. It could also help you explore new topics as your thesis evolves. NOTE: Don't forget informal communications, (invisible college) and newsfeeds:

Your faculty should have on hand, or know of, key primary papers that will help you get started. There are two other resources that can help you to begin your research:

1. Reviews

Review publications contain articles that review the research already done in a given area. A review article can give you critical retrospective of a particular topic, and provide you with an extensive bibliography.

To identify review articles, most databases allow you to search by article type (review) or limit your search to reviews. Reed Library also subscribes to annual reviews and review journals. You can browse the annual reviews by title, or you can search by topic.

2. Theses

Many student projects are based on previous projects, so using older theses may be a good way to begin your research. It is worth noting that it is best not to copy the style or format of previous theses unless suggested by your faculty.

If you don't already know of a thesis on your topic, you can check the Biology Thesis List or search the catalog.

NOTE: If you know the title or author of an earlier thesis, it will be easy to find in the catalog. If you don't have a particular thesis in mind, you can do an author search on the division name: Reed College (Portland, Or.) Division Of Mathematics And Natural Sciences. Biology. This will give you a list of theses that were turned in under that division name. You can also do a keyword search on Biology and immediately limit your search to Thesis.

If you are looking for theses on a particular topic, such as kudzu, just do a keyword search on kudzu and limit to thesis. Easy!

3. "The Web"

Yes. You read that right! The general public likes to think that librarians hate Wikipedia & Google Scholar! We don't! We love them! In fact, I use them often. There are plenty of times when I just need a quick fact or ideas for search terms.

The reason I don't talk about them in these sessions is because most of you use them already. Don't get me wrong, I could show you some great tricks for using Google Scholar, and other resources, more effectively. But, for these sessions, we want to focus on resources that you might not already know about.

Contact: Linda Maddux, Science Librarian & Janis Shampay, Biology Professor