Life Sciences Research > 4: Supporting Data, Documents & Artifacts

4A: Types of Resources

Data (such as facts or statistics), documents, artifacts (objects) and biographical information related to your topic will provide support, evidence or credence to your research thesis or claims. The best source for your project will depend on what type of information you are researching. For example, biographical information provides context to a subject's life. Data and statistics illustrate trends or provide support for ideas. Artifacts provide visual evidence for your findings. It is important to distinguish between the two basic types of information: primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources are from the time period you are researching (from the historical context). These sources can include artifacts, statistics, autobiographies or newspapers. Primary sources often form the foundation for a research project. Examples are: your own compilation of statistics, lab experiment results, dissections, correspondence between researchers, patent records, etc. Secondary sources may also form a foundation for research, but more often these sources provide additional support for your ideas. They include Web pages, articles, or contemporary books. The key distinction between primary and secondary sources is that secondary sources interpret primary sources. Textbooks, biographies, and book reviews are good examples of secondary sources.

4B: Examples

AccessScience (McGraw-Hill) [*** OSU authentication required]
http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://www.accessscience.com/

The online version of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, containing 7,000 articles, 115,000 definitions, and biographies of more than 1,200 key scientists. AccessScience is updated with 3 or 4 breakthrough science and technology stories every week.

Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series
http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/notehome.php

Drawings and encyclopedia-type entries for more than 100 animals found in Alaska. Included are big game, birds, fish, marine mammals, fur bearers, small game, amphibians, and reptiles. From the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

American Kennel Club
http://www.akc.org/

Besides information about the AKC, there is a lot of helpful information about different breeds of dogs including characteristics, training required, general care, and whether or not they are good with children. Good information about buying a puppy and finding breeders is also available.

NatureServe
http://www.natureserve.org/index.htm

Encyclopedic information on over 65,000 plants, animals and ecological communities in the United States and Canada.

Netfrog: The Interactive Frog Dissection
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/

An interactive site designed to teach high school students the anatomy of a frog as well as how to dissect it.

PAN Pesticides Database
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/

The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Pesticide Database Web site brings together a diverse array of information on pesticides from many different sources to make a one-stop location for current toxicity and regulatory information for pesticides.

Plantfacts
http://hcs.osu.edu/plantfacts/

Provides images, videos, a glossary, an FAQ and even a targeted search engine for finding information on plants, pests, plant diseases, history of horticuture and horticultural literature.

4C: How to Find More

USA.gov
http://www.usa.gov/

The official U.S. Government portal to over 30 million pages of government information, services, and online transactions. It is a source for finding government documents, reports, and statistical data from a variety of federal sources. Search by key word or use the topical index to browse your way through the documents.

Google Book Search
http://books.google.com

A beta search tool with scanned pages from thousands of all types of books contributed to Google by publishers and libraries. Your keywords can be searched within the full text of books. Only a limited number of pages can be viewed online for books under copyright restrictions. In these cases, see if OSU or an OhioLINK library own the book for borrowing. Books that are no longer under copyright restriction can be read and printed in their entirety online.

NetLibrary***
http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://www.netlibrary.com/

A collection of electronic books available to the OSU Libraries community by means of subscription. These books can be read online or portions may be printed out. They are electronic versions of books that have also been published in print.

Oxford Reference Online ***
http://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/

A resource (available to the OSU community by means of subscription) of about 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of these books.

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