When you are doing research on a topic, you will often require a quick definition of a term, a specific fact, or condensed, detailed information about particular topics. Examples of Dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks and manuals covering biology topics include:
Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology
A four volume set covering Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, archaebacteria, cyanobacteria, and actinomycetes.
REF: QR81.B46
eLS: Citable Reviews in the Life Sciences (Online) (full text up to 2018)
Formerly The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, this resource "... offers comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the life sciences for students, lecturers and researchers alike."
Encyclopedia of Biostatistics (Online)
This revised edition includes coverage for bioinformatics, clinical trials, computation, genetics, Bayesian methods and applications, modeling the spread of diseases, and measurement of health care status.
E-Book
Encyclopedia of Entomology (Online)
Topics include life histories of individual species, pest control, various orders of insects, insect classification, and morphology.
Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology: From Genome to Environment (Online)
This in-depth resource is divided into three volumes: vol 1- Senses, Supporting Tissues, Reproduction, and Behavior; vol 2- Gas Exchange, Internal Homeostatis, and Food Uptake; vol 3- Energetics, Interactions and the Environment, Lifestyles, and Applications.
Encyclopedia of Life (Online)
The Encyclopedia of Life is a collaborative effort led by several leading scientific institutions to develop an online database of individual web pages for each of the 1.8 million known species on Earth.
Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia 2nd ed 2003 (Online)
"A completely revised and updated version of the original work published in Germany in 1960, this edition incorporates recent developments in the animal world as noted by prominent advisors and contributors from the scientific community."
Handbook of the Birds of the World
REF: QL78.H236
When the final volume of this 16 volume set is completed in 2011, this reference will be the "... first work ever to illustrate and deal in detail with all the living species of birds." There is also an associated website called the Internet Bird Collection which includes video and sounds.
Handbook of Plant Biotechnology (Online)
“ … provides extensive coverage of the field including articles on plant genetic modification; applications of plant biotechnology to crop improvement in agriculture, production systems for pharmaceutical proteins, ethics and safety issues, public perception and public relations; scale-up, and testing and legislation”.
E-Book
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (St. Louis Code)
"Adopted by the Sixteenth International Botanical Congress, St. Louis, Missouri, July-August 1999"
http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/nomenclature/code/SaintLouis/0000St.L…
Life on Earth: An Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution
Primarily for undergraduates, this resource begins with an in-depth description of biodiversity, its importance, and the threats to biodiversity. Articles address the relationship of biodiversity to ecology, habitat destruction, and the effect of human interaction on the environment.
E-Book
Using the Biological Literature: A Practical Guide 4th ed.
For undergraduate and graduate students, this guide contains a comprehensive list of sources for all the main fields of the biological sciences, arranged by subject area and subdivided by form of material.
E-Book
Compiled by: Dawn Hooper, B.Sc., M.L.S.
Former Data & Research Services Librarian
Date Revised: June 2017