Rangeland Resource Science Literature Searching - Research Tools

Research Tools for Searching the Rangeland Resource Science Literature

     

Reference Materials

Reference materials serve a variety of purposes and can sometimes be used effectively in a literature search strategy. Many can be used as starting points which lead to original research appearing in the "primary" literature. Reference materials can be used to:

Following are reference materials of interest to the range scientist and manager.

Literature Guides

Discuss the organization of research literature and list reference materials in rangeland resource science.

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Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Provide definitions of discipline-specific terminology and/or general introductions to topics and concepts in range. Some include references to the "primary" literature.

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Directories

These are commonly alphabetical or subject listings of people, organizations, or places. See also the Internet Directories section.

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Scientific Reviews

Scientific reviews or "state-of-the-art" reviews critically survey a narrow topic and identify and evaluate research which has appeared in the "primary" literature. Extensive bibliographies of cited "primary" literature are commonly included. Scientific reviews typically appear in annual publications entitled "Annual review of ...", "Advances in ...", as well as in journals, especially those which have "review" as part of the title.

There are several ways to locate scientific reviews:

  1. Many annual review series have cumulative indexes.
  2. Individual review papers are commonly included in indexes. Create a search using the keyword "review" as part of your search strategy.
  3. The "Annual Review of ..." publication series has a cumulative index which will Search All Available Annual Reviews Content from 1984 to the present.
Annual reviews of interest in range include:

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Bibliographies

Bibliographies are compiled lists which gather together known research on a specific topic. They are generally more useful for retrospective rather than current searching. Listed below are two major restrospective range bibliographies and several other selective specialized bibliographies.

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Treatises and other Comprehensive Works

These are scholarly works and databases that contain extensive information or summarize the state of knowledge of broad topics in rangeland resource science. They tend to be broader in scope than "scientific reviews" and are well documented with frequent references to important "primary" literature.

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Handbooks and Manuals

Handbooks commonly contain data and descriptive information that has been compiled from the "primary" literature and organized into tables or expository articles. Many basic and factual questions can be answered from handbooks. Manuals usually contain procedures for experimental analysis in the field or laboratory. For a list of manuals and handbooks from natural resource agencies in the Western U.S. see Bibliography of Manuals and Handbooks from Natural Resource Agencies (Docs I 49.18:N21).

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Geospatial Resources: Atlases, Maps, GIS, Imagery

See Geospatial Resources for a categorized list of print and digital geospatial resources available in the HSU Library or on the Internet

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Laws and Regulations

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Statistical and Data Compilations

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Images and Sounds

One can use a combination of general and specialized Internet search engines to find images on the web. See Search Engines for Images, Multimedia, & Video (HSU Library Digital Media Center) for a list of specialized search engines. However, search engines fail to index the content of the "invisible web", especially information contained within databases. The following sources are either specialized databases or sites devoted to images or sounds in range.

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Environmental Reviews, Assessments, & Plans

Environmental reviews typicaly contain an analysis of environmental issues with accompanying statistical data. For more encompassing reviews see the Environmental Reviews listed in the HSU Library Environmental Science research guide. Reviews, assessments, and plans specific to range include:

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Library Catalogs and Subject Classifications

Library catalogs are generally used to locate monographic (book) materials. These may be either "primary" publications--conference proceedings, technical reports, theses, and dissertations--or "secondary publications--textbooks, treatises, handbooks, and other types of compacted publications derived from the "primary" literature.

HSU Library

In the HSU Library two research tools are available to assist in identifying monographic materials by subject--the Library of Congress Classification System and the HSU Library Catalog.

Library of Congress Classification System. The general book collection in the HSU Library is organized on the shelves by subject using this classification system employed by most academic libraries in the United States. (In addition most special collections - "Periodicals," "Reference," "Map and Atlas," and "Indexes and Abstracts" - all follow this same subject arrangement.) The Library of Congress Classification Outline (Library of Congress) gives a general overview of the entire classification system. Listed below are the major classification areas where oceanography literature is likely to be found:

GB Physical Geography
651-2998 Hydrology, water
906 Watersheds
GV Recreation
193-200.5 Outdoor recreation
HD Land, agriculture, industry
101-1395 Land (including real estate and land tenure)
216-243 Public lands (including grazing)
1405-2206 Agriculture (including agricultural economics, water rights)
1635-1641 Pasture lands
QH Natural history; general biology
540-549 General ecology
QK Botany
75-77 Herbariums
91-97 Classification
100 Poisonous plants
101-474.5 Phytogeography (including floras)
475-497 Spermatophyta
641-673 Plant anatomy
710-899 Plant physiology
901-938 Plant ecology
QL Zoology
81.5-84.77 Wildlife conservation
101-345 Geographical distribution
351-355 Classification and nomenclature
671-699 Birds
700-739.2 Mammals
750-991 Animal behavior, morphology, anatomy, and embryology
S General Agriculture
560-575 Farm management, farm economics
591-599 Soils
622-627 Soil conservation
631-667 Fertilizers and soil improvement
671-760 Farm machinery and engineering
900-972 Conservation of natural resources
 
SB Plant culture
114-117 Seeds
119-124 Propagation (including breeding)
193-207 Forage crops (including ranges and range watershed, pastures, harvested roughage)
481-485 Parks and public reservations
611-615 Weeds
617-618 Poisonous plants
621-795 Plant pathology
993-999 Noxious and useful animals
SD Forestry
411-425 Conservation and protection
426-428 Forest reserves (including grazing)
SF Animal culture
85 Range Management
95-99 Feeds and feeding, animal nutrition
105-109 Breeds and breeding
191-219 Beef cattle
277-318 Horses
371-379 Sheep, wool
381-395 Goats
399-401 Semidomesticated (including deer, muskox, reindeer)
SH Fisheries and fish culture
171-199 Fish diseases, pests and environmental pollutants
200-324 Fisheries in particular waters
325-329 Fishery management and conservation - general
330-345 Fishery technology and commercial fishery methods
346-364 Fishery management and conservation - individual species
SK Hunting
295-305 Big game hunting
311-335 Bird hunting
351-579 Wildlife management, game protection
601-605 Dude ranching
TD Environmental engineering
420-427 Water pollution

Library Catalog. The HSU Library Catalog can be searched by author, title, or subject. Since subject searching is often the most difficult, the following general suggestions and specific approaches for conducting a subject search are given:

  1. General Suggestions for Subject Searching
    1. Use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Materials indexed in the catalog are assigned an average of 2-3 subjects selected from 245,000 possible LCSH headings. Library of Congress Subject Headings explains how these work. Consult the red five-volume print set on the first floor of the Library to identify LCSH subject headings. The print set will do the following for you:
      1. list subject and geographical headings along with any associated subheadings
      2. give a hierarchy of related subjects: NT= Narrower Terms; BT= Broader Terms; and RT=Related Terms
      3. give the Library of Congress Classification for many subjects [For a correlation between LC classification and LCSH see Classified Library of Congress Subject Headings (ref Z 695 U48 W55)]
      4. provide "see" references from subjects not used to the valid subject (UF= used for)
    2. Follow the "Rule of Specificity." Choose subjects which come closest to what you are searching. Books are indexed under the specific subjects which represent each book's subject content. Broad subjects often fail to retrieve desired information.
    3. As you identify specific references in the catalog, note the LCSH subject headings under which they are indexed and use the hot link to find other related items with the same subject.
    4. Since most libraries in the United States use a standardized cataloging and indexing system developed by the Library of Congress you can develop a search through multiple catalogs using a common strategy. Only the software interfaces will vary.

  2. Specific Approaches for Biological Concepts
    1. Searching for material on specific organisms. At the organism level subjects follow common rather than scientific nomenclature in most cases. At the Family and Order levels a combination of common and scientific nomenclature is used. Check LCSH for correct nomenclature. Remember the "Rule of Specificity" when searching.
    2. Searching for material on the biology of organisms. There are many hundreds of specific subjects which treat the anatomical, physiological, behavioral, and evolutionary aspects of organisms. Use LCSH to find specific subjects. In some cases subjects are subdivided by major taxonomic divisions e.g., "Digestive organs - Mammals." There are also standard "pattern" subdivisions that can appear under any taxonomic term. See the subject "Fishes" in LCSH for a listing of these subdivisions which can apply to all animals, e.g., "Mammals - Behavior."
    3. Searching for material on a specific geographic area. A subject-oriented book which emphasizes a particular geographic area will be listed in most cases under the subject then subdivided by the geographic area, e.g., a book on the geology of Humboldt County will be listed under "Geology - California - Humboldt County." Books which contain a geographic treatment on a specific organism are listed under at least two subjects:
      1. the organism nomenclature, e.g., "Roosevelt elk"
      2. a higher level taxonomic term with a geographic subheading, e.g., "Mammals - California"
      What this means is that you can find, e.g., under "Mammals - California" all studies on specific mammals in California.
    4. Searching for material on ecological concepts and techniques. Use LCSH as a guide to the many specific subjects used. Look under "Ecology" in LCSH for an extensive list of specific ecological subjects.

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Other Library Catalogs

Individual and multi-library catalogs can be used to identify "secondary" and some "primary" literature held in libraries around the world. The Library's Interlibrary Loan Service can be used to borrow most materials found in other libraries. See the Library's Other Libraries link for access to other general library catalogs. Specific library catalogs of interest to fisheries include:

In addition the following print catalogs to older literature are available in the HSU Library.

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Internet Subject Directories

The Internet contains a mixture of popular and scholarly information. Many government agencies and organizations have extensive information on the Internet. There are two major approaches to locating material on the Internet. The more specific approach is to use "search engines," e.g., Alta Vista, to search by specific keywords for a narrow topic. The more general approach is to use "subject directories" to browse through categoried lists of subjects until one finds the information desired. Major "search engines" and "subject directories" are listed on Internet Search Tools (HSU Library). Guides to Specialized Search Engines (SearchAbility) lists over 35 search engines/directory guides that collectively list thousands of search engines and directories. The following individuals, organizations, and universities have compiled "subject directories" related to range.

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Send comments and suggestions about this page to: Robert Sathrum
Latest Entry: May 2, 2006
Links Last Checked: December 15, 2003