SEARCHING FOR PERIODICAL AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

PERIODICAL DATABASES AND INDEXES

Periodicals Room – The COS Library subscribes to 34 paper indexes and approximately 450 magazines that are located in the Periodicals Department on the first floor of the COS Library. General Science Index is especially useful in locating scholarly periodical articles on scientific topics.  In addition the Library subscribes to a number of databases over the Internet that will provide FULL-TEXT articles and subject  bibliographies. These databases are searched using keywords and/or subject headings.  The InfoTrac Database will be especially useful for a number of your research topics.  Additional databases include:  LA Times, Academic Abstracts, Lexis/Nexis and SIRS and can be accessed through the COS Academic Electronic Resources Web Page at:  http://www.cos.edu/library/electronic.htm The Library Web Site is available on computers in the Library Periodicals Room (second floor) and the Learning Center (first floor).  To access the periodical databases from home requires a login and password for each database.  These are listed on the Electronic Resources Handout that can be picked up by COS students at the Library Information Desk.

How Do I Find Magazine Articles is a Tutorial that you will find very helpful

Pamphlet File – Located on the first floor of the library at the end of the circulation desk,  these files contain pamphlets from federal and state government entities, and clippings from local newspapers on a wide variety of subjects.

SEARCHING THE WEB

COS LIBRARY WEBSITE

http://www.cos.edu/library/index.htm

•  COS Library Web Site by Topics – Science at  http://www.cos.edu/library/subject/sciences.htm – Has many links to topics on endangered species, ecology, the environment, etc.  

• COS Library Web Site by Topics - Health  at http://www.cos.edu/library/subject/healthsci.htm  - Has many links to topics on disease, women's and men's health and gateways to databases such as MEDLINE.

• Quick Information  and Reference Sources  - click on Almanacs, Dictionaries,  or Statistics to find factual information on the Internet.

SEARCH ENGINES

Search Engines Sponsored by Academic Institutions - at http://www.cos.edu/library/subject/search.htm - These search engines will lead you to websites with more academic credibility than commercial search engines.

Scirus - for scientific information only. Responding to the need for focused, comprehensive and reliable overviews of relevant scientific information, Elsevier Science has developed the powerful Internet search tool Scirus. Scirus distinguishes itself from existing search engines by concentrating on scientific content only and by searching both web and journal sources. It enables scientists, students and anyone searching for scientific information to chart and pinpoint data, locate university sites, and find reports and articles in a clutter-free, user-friendly and efficient manner.

A sampling Internet resources helpful in choosing a topic and useful for your Research Project are:  

• The Electronic Zoo - http://netvet.wustl.edu/ssi.htm
• CRS Reports from CNIE - http://www.cnie.org/nle/crs_intr.html - The Congressional Research Service (CRS),  part of the Library of Congress, prepares its reports for the U.S. Congress. CRS products undergo review for accuracy and objectivity and contain nontechnical information that can be very useful to people interested in environmental quality (such as air pollution, waste management and water quality) and natural resources (such as agriculture and grazing, biodiversity, energy and forestry).
• EPA Guide to Environmental Issues  -http://es.epa.gov/oeca/guide/contents.htm - Covers such topics as surface and ground water, pesticides, hazardous  and solid waste, public health, public safety, health and environmental risks, enforcement and major environmental laws.
• Hot Topics in Food Safety - http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/agentinfo/hot/index.html Covers a multitude of subjects such as GMO (genetically modified organisms), irradiation, food borne illness, pesticides, chemicals and food additives.  
• MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine - MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Preformulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.
• Popular Topics on the Environment and the Natural World from Naerctica http://www.nearctica.com/popular.htm This site provides links to a number of topics such as butterflies, biomes, global warming, ozone depletion, and zoos.  
• Student Guide to the Human Genome Project
• The Tree of Life Phylogeny - http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html - The Tree of Life is a project containing information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their history, and characteristics. The information is linked together in the form of the evolutionary tree that connects all organisms to each other.  The web pages are linked one to another in the form of the evolutionary tree of organisms, with the pages branching off from a group's page being about subgroups.   For example, the links from the page on frogs leads one to pages on individual families of frogs, and eventually up to some individual species of frogs.
• WebMD News Center - A good source developed to keep physicians current in the every changing field of medicine.  A wealth of information on diseases and treatment.

SEARCHING FOR IMAGES