Research Guides: Biological Sciences: Find Web Sites

Biological Sciences Resources

Listed below are general Biological Sciences Web sites.

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
"America’s oldest natural history museum and a world leader in biodiversity and environmental research."
ActionBioscience
"... provides articles by scientists, science educators, and science students on issues related to seven bioscience challenges: environment, biodiversity, genomics, biotechnology, evolution, new frontiers in science, and bioscience education."
ARKive
"Welcome to ARKive, a unique collection of thousands of videos, images and fact-files illustrating the world's species."
BEN - BioSciEdNet
"The BEN Portal provides access to education resources from BEN Collaborators and is managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Over 14,191 reviewed resources covering 77 biological sciences topics are available."
Biodiversity Heritage Library
"The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries that cooperate to digitize and make accessible the legacy literature of biodiversity held in their collections and to make that literature available for open access and responsible use as a part of a global 'biodiversity commons.'”
BioInteractive
"Free resources for science teachers & students."
BioMed Central
"BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All original research articles published by BioMed Central are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication. BioMed Central views open access to research as essential in order to ensure the rapid and efficient communication of research findings.
Cell: An Image Library
Encyclopedia of Life
"The Encyclopedia will be an online reference and database on all 1.9 million species currently known to science and will stay current by capturing information on newly discovered and formally described species. The Encyclopedia of Life will help all of us better understand life on our planet.
GetBodySmart:
A "...fully animated and interactive eBook about human anatomy and physiology."
Hastings Center
"A nonpartisan research institution dedicated to bioethics and the public interest since 1969."
Myelin Project
"The Myelin Project aims to accelerate research on myelin repair. Myelin can be destroyed by hereditary neurodegenerative disorders such as the leukodystrophies, and by acquired diseases such as multiple sclerosis. All together, demyelinating diseases affect more than two million people worldwide."
NOVA
PBS's prime-time series NOVA presents this beta site containing thousands of resources covering everything from string theory to the evolution of flight to how the Pyramids were built.

PubMed Central (U.S. National Institutes of Health) -- Free Database This link opens in a new window
"PMC is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM)."

Virtual Cell Animation Collection
Features animations of cellular functions, explanations of cell structures, and exploration of a virtual eukaryotic cell.

Botanical Sciences Websites

eFlora
Checklists of plants from around the world.
Gymnosperm Database
Contains "information on the classification, description, ecology and uses of . . . conifers and their allies."
International Plant Names Index
"The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes. Its goal is to eliminate the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names. The data are freely available and are gradually being standardized and checked. IPNI will be a dynamic resource, depending on direct contributions by all members of the botanical community."
Native American Ethnobotany
A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants.
Native Plants Database
"Search for 7,687 native plants by scientific or common name or choose a particular family of plants."
Online Plant Guide
Showcases materials authored, gathered and catalogd by neil Odenwald, Ph.G. and Thomas Pope, Ph.D.
USDA Plants Database
"Provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories."

Science Websites

Dean's Corner -- Translating the Endless Wonderment of Science: a Prescription for Public Health

Beyond Google

Even though Google is capable of finding a great many Web sites, the task of wading through and evaluating these sites can be quite daunting. This page is meant to save you time by presenting recommended Web sites that have been evaluated by librarians.

Remember, for any Web site you find, it is always important to decide whether or not it is trustworthy. Try answering some of these questions to help you decide:

Can you identify the author of the web site and the author's credentials?
Is there a clearly defined purpose for the site? Are they trying to sell you something?
Do you see biased language, recognize an inflammatory tone, or detect a particular agenda?
Can you verify the Web site's information in separate, independent resources?
Are there spelling or grammar errors?
Has the website been updated lately?

Click the link below for more information about evaluating resources, including explanations of website domains, such as .edu, .gov, .org, .com, .net, and so on.

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