Science and Engineering Library

BI 108: Getting started in the library

Scientific information: where does it come from?

Scientific information evolves through a continuous process of communication among scientists. It can be classified into different types, or tiers, of literature.

Searching for articles on a topic

There are three databases that are particularly useful for BI 108:

• General Science Full Text
• Web of Science
• Pubmed

Use these databases to search keywords related to your topic.  A tutorial is available that provides more information about each database, as well as, step-by-step instruction for searching in each database.

Getting the article

Once you have used a database to find an article, the next step is to find the actual full text so you can read it.  We have both online and print subscriptions to journals, sometimes both.  Start by searching for the JOURNAL title in the eJournal Locator. If you do not find the journal, or the date you are looking for, perform a title search for the journal  in BU Libraries Web Catalog. The library's finding articles page describes the process of finding articles in more detail and provides suggestions about what to do if the library does not have the article you are looking for.

Accessing electronic resources from off-campus

Most of our eJournals and databases can be accessed from off campus using a Kerberos log-in and password.

Reserve materials

There are a large number of items on reserve in the Science and Engineering Library for BI 108. Use the reserve search feature in the library's catalog to look for BI 108 reserve materials. When checking these items out, please be sure to ask for them using the call number provided in the library catalog.

Getting help

Librarians are here to assist you!! They can be reached in person at any reference desk, on the phone, via email, or through chat. Please do not hesitate to ask us if you have questions or need help!