Biology:

Indexes are used to identify articles on a particular topic or by a particular author. Indexes often include abstracts, or short summaries of the articles. Indexes usually do not contain the articles themselves, only citations, but some indexes link to the digital full text of some articles. Some indexes indicate whether a journal is available at Dartmouth in print. Use the Dartmouth Library Catalog to best determine print and digital availability of journals.

Each index works differently. Look for online help screens to learn the index's search rules. Some indexes (MEDLINE, PsycINFO) have subject headings with thesauruses and may provide mapping to lead you to the correct terms to describe your topic. Other indexes (Web of Science, BIOSIS) require keyword searching. For keyword searching, think about synonyms, plurals, and various conjugations; learn how to truncate to look for root words with multiple suffixes and to combine terms with operators like AND, OR, and NOT.

BIOSIS
Ovid BIOSIS Previews (Biological Abstracts) provides bibliographic references to the life science journal literature. Coverage is international, and includes agriculture, biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, botany, ecology, microbiology, pharmacology, and zoology. BIOSIS is available for 1995 to 2003 only. (Licensed for use at Dartmouth/DHMC only.)

Web of Science
ISI's Web of Science (WOS) includes the Science, Social Sciences, and Arts & Humanities Citation Indexes from 1974 to present, updated weekly. Search features include cited reference searching, current awareness searching, keyword searching across all files, related records linking, and determining the number of times a paper was cited. (Licensed for use at Dartmouth/DHMC only.)

Biological and Agricultural Index
Biological and Agricultural Index (BAI) cites articles from more than 240 English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes a wide range of scientific journals, from popular to professional, that pertain to biology and agriculture. About 45% of the focus is on agriculture. This file begins with the July 1983 issue of Biological and Agricultural Index and is updated monthly. (Licensed for use at Dartmouth/DHMC only.)

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