BIO161 - Mendel's Peas Lab

Biological Abstracts

1. Launch Biological Abstracts
2. Begin by searching on some of your keywords - starch branching enzymes and peas
3. Examine your results for clues as to how you can pick other keywords
4. Biological Abstracts includes a complex array of potential search categories
1. Organisms  - names (Pisum sativum), family names (Leguminosae)
2. Major Concepts - important subjects or categories (Enzymology)
3. Chemical or Biochemical Compounds - for example, starches (amylose, amylopectin)
5. Refine your searching through combinations of these specialized keywords

Google Scholar

Another method for finding scholarly articles about a topic is to use a database that can trace the bibliography citations in articles in order to find similar articles. For this process, you will use the an academic tool that Google has produced called Google Scholar.

1. Launch Google Scholar
2. Search on relevant keywords (starch branching enzymes peas)
3. Examine relevant articles
1. Freely available full-text
2. Full-Text @ My Library
3. Click title link to view abstract on publisher's website
4. Look for other citation searching features on publisher's website
4. Find later research that cites your study
1. Cite By feature
5. Find related research (through citation analysis)
1. Related Articles feature