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BIOB98 Supervised Introductory Research in Biology

This guide will help students in BIOB98 to facilitate science communication and storytelling, find relevant resources in library databases, and develop search strategies for their final project.

Your Questions Answered

Where can we find morphological features? 

You can find this type information on tree morphology in Books. Take a look at the Books section of the guide. For example, Trees: Their Natural History discusses tree structure.  Also, look to the Tree databases for this information too. 

What other plant databases are available? 

You can find some of the suggested plant databases in the Articles section of the guide. I've added some new resources including some Natural Resources Canada TreeSource, Flora of North America, Trees Inside Out, and more!  

Can I contact you for help with search strategies?

Yes, absolutely. You can email me at sarah.shujah@utoronto.ca to set up a research consult. 

Is one search engine better than the other?

Not really. You select databases based on the discipline. Within the discipline there may be a few relevant databases. I suggest searching at least 2 maybe even 3 or 4 different databases to see what you can find. One these searches may be in the Library Search or library homepage search too. Check out the Articles section of the Guide to find some relevant database listed like Scopus, BIOSIS, etc. 

Why is the name trembling aspen?

Good question! Look to the Tree databases or Field Guides to find this information

Do we need to cite?

Short answer is yes. If you are using sources to inform your own writing, cite where you got that information from. You can take a look at the Cite Your Sources page for more information on citation styles. 

Are there other databases to search for Indigenous uses?

You can try any of the databases listed in the Articles section including Scopus, BIOSIS. You may find more of this information also in the Books about Traditional Medicine.

Breakdown of searching in databases?

In the Articles section, under Scopus is a Tutorial for using this database that breaks it down into steps. I suggest exploring this. Also, we have a list of Library Tutorials all about breaking down the Search. 

Can I use Zotero?

If it's useful absolutely use it. It's a citation management tool that also helps to organize all the sources of information you find about your topic/tree species in one place including books, articles, websites, videos and more. Check out the Library's guide on Zotero for more information and getting set up with an account.