Reference Books: Print & Online
Finding Information from a Reference
Reference materials are compilations; a "reference" connects a researcher to background information in a way that is intended to be found quickly when needed. Reference materials can be dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies, handbooks and guides, catalogs, atlases and maps, directories, almanacs – even the internet.
Using OU Libraries' Catalog
Although the library guide you currently read is considered a reference material, the following lists are not comprehensive. Check the OU Libraries Discover catalog to connect to even more resources. Think about the keywords you would use to search the catalog; for general books containing definitions of terms or overviews of a subject, search for your keywords plus "encyclopedia" or "dictionary." Want reference assistance? Reach out to the STEM Services team at libstem@ou.edu.
Looking for a reference on citation style? Visit the Citations page of the guide.
Finding Books in the Library by Call Number
Books are located in Bizzell Memorial Library in the following call number locations.
Library of Congress Call Numbers for Plant Biology:
| Call Number Range | Topic |
|---|---|
| QK 1-989 | Botany |
| QK 640-707 | Plant Anatomy |
| QK 710-899 | Plant Physiology |
| QK 900-989 | Plant Ecology |
| QH 1-278.5 | Natural History |
| QH 301-705 | General Biology |
| QH 359-425 | Evolution |
| QH 540-549.5 | Ecology |
| S | Agriculture |
| SB | Plant Culture |
| SH | Aquaculture |
What's new about the catalog? See if the library has a copy of your class's textbook!
Textbooks on Reserve and course reserve materials are now searchable by course code (ex. HIST 3403), course name (ex. Modern Israel), title (ex. Quiet Street), or author. Some materials are searchable by professor last name (ex. Seidelman). Students can search the catalog or the new Textbook Search Scope (located under the Search Scope drop-down menu).
Biology and Biodiversity
- Encyclopedia of LifeSubmit trait data for specific organisms
- Encyclopedia of Life SciencesPublication Date: Annual UpdateOnline encyclopedia of the biological sciences. Full text available.
- Biology Simulations"Fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations."
Plant Biology
Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical TermsCall Number: Bizzell Reference QK 10 .H53 2000Publication Date: 2000
Units, Symbols, and Terminology for Plant Physiology by Call Number: QK 710.5 .U55 1996ISBN: 019509445xPublication Date: 1996"Principles are outlined and covered in readable text. Some chapters include formulas and definitions of specialized terms, while others include recommendations for suitable units. The appendices offer guidelines on presenting scientific data, such as principles of grammar, oral and poster presentations, and reporting on data from experiments that utilized growth chambers. "
- Plant Anatomy DatabaseThe plant anatomy image database was started in the early 2000’s with the visit of professor Alexander Lux from Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia who was a Fulbright scholar in the professor Thomas Rost laboratory at UC Davis. His digital photos were taken at UC Davis and were supplemented by Rost and his students and post docs over the years. The image database is searchable, by plant organ, plant scientific and common name and is free to download, for non-profit use, by anyone with appropriate attribution to the source.
- Index HerbariorumDatabase of herbaria collections. Entries include acronym, physical location, URL, contents (e.g., number and type of specimens), founding date, as well as names, contact information, and areas of expertise of associated staff.
- TropicosDatabase of plant names. Records include images, botanical specimens information, and citations to the primary literature.
Taxonomy
- PLANTS Database (USDA)"The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories."
- LCVP, The Leipzig catalogue of vascular plants, a new taxonomic reference list for all known vascular plants"an updated and much improved reference list of 1,315,562 scientific names for all described vascular plant species globally"
- The International Plant Names IndexThe International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated primary source citations of seed plants, ferns, and lycophytes.
- Angiosperm Phylogeny WebsiteThis website offers phylogenetic information and also serves as a general reference guide to plant families. While the website focuses on angiosperms, there is some coverage of all land plants.
- Recognizing Plant Families of the WestAn extensive 215-page field guide created to identify 54 of the most prolific plant families in the West. This beautiful guide offers the basics to plant identification, vocabulary, and over 1,000 beautiful images to assist in recognizing the diagnostic features of each plant family. Each plant family includes a description of general taxonomic, ecological, economical, and ethnographic information. This easy-to-follow plant guide is a must-have for any botanist, field specialist, or hobbyist.
- Flora of Oklahoma ProjectThe website for the Flora of Oklahoma (2015) contains references to many past Oklahoma flora projects.
Shinners and Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas by Call Number: QK 188 .D55 1999 (Bizzell Stacks and Oklahoma Biological Station stacks)ISBN: 1889878014Publication Date: 1999
Keys to Lichens of North America by Call Number: Bizzell Stacks QK 586.5 .B76 2016ISBN: 9780300195736Publication Date: 2016-01-12
Lichens of North AmericaCall Number: Bizzell Stacks QK 586.5 .B76 2001Publication Date: 2001Lichens are not actually plants, but a mutualism between fungal and photosynthetic partners. They are included here as they are often mistaken for plants and are included in the OU Bebb Herbarium.
Genomics & Bioinformatics
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Genetics, Genomics, and ProteomicsCall Number: QH 427 .R43 2003Publication Date: 2003eBook and Reference Book
Microarrays for an Integrative Genomics by Call Number: QP 624.5 .D726 K686 2003ISBN: 026211271XPublication Date: 2002"Functional genomics - the destruction of the genome to determine the biological function of genes and gene interactions -is one of the most fruitful new areas of biology. The growing use of DNA microarrays allows researchers to assess the expression of tens of thousands of genes at a time."
- Gene Ontology Resource"The Gene Ontology (GO) knowledgebase is the world’s largest source of information on the functions of genes. This knowledge is both human-readable and machine-readable, and is a foundation for computational analysis of large-scale molecular biology and genetics experiments in biomedical research."
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolutionary Thought by Call Number: QH 360.2 .C36ISBN: 9780521195317Publication Date: 2013-02-28An encyclopedia covering the history of evolutionary biology.
Evolution by Call Number: QH 366.2 .F87 2017 TEXTBOOKSISBN: 9781605356051Publication Date: 2017"Suited for an undergraduate audience, the text emphasizes the interplay between theory and empirical tests of hypotheses, helping to familiarize students with the process of science."
Evolution by Call Number: QH 366.2 .Z526 2013 TEXTBOOKSISBN: 9781936221172Publication Date: 2012"Science writer Carl Zimmer and evolutionary biologist Douglas Emlen have teamed up to write a textbook intended for biology majors that will inspire students while delivering a solid foundation in evolutionary biology. "
The Princeton Guide to Evolution by Call Number: QH 367 .P85 2014ISBN: 9780691149776Publication Date: 2013"Edited by a distinguished team of evolutionary biologists, with contributions from leading researchers, the guide contains some 100 clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics in seven major areas: phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society. [...] this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, scientists in related fields, and anyone else with a serious interest in evolution."
Ecology by Call Number: QH 541 .B415 2006ISBN: 1405111178Publication Date: 2006"Easy to use, lucid and up-to-date, and is the essential reference for all students whose degree program includes ecology and for practicing ecologists."
Ecology by Call Number: QH 541 .R53 1990ISBN: 0716720779Publication Date: 1990A classic textbook covering ecological concepts.
Foundations of Ecology by Call Number: QH 541.145 .F68 1991ISBN: 0226705935Publication Date: 1991"Forty classic papers that have laid the foundations of modern ecology. [...] Six original essays by contemporary ecologists and a historian of ecology place the selections in context and discuss their continued relevance to current research." Great for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students.
Arguing for Evolution: An Encyclopedia for Understanding SciencePublication Date: 2011
Encyclopedia of Ecology by Publication Date: 2008Entries by field experts covering a wide range of ecological topics.
Global Climate Change
A critical approach to climate change adaptation: discourses, policies, and practices by ISBN: 1351677136Publication Date: 2018"This edited volume brings together critical research on climate change adaptation discourses, policies, and practices from a multi-disciplinary perspective. [...] challenges established perspectives of climate change adaptation by taking into account issues of cultural diversity, environmental justice, and human rights, as well as feminist or intersectional approaches."
- Tribal Climate Change Profiles"Tribes across the United States are leading the way with innovative efforts to address climate change through adaptation and mitigation strategies. The Tribal Climate Change Profiles are intended to be a pathway to increasing knowledge among tribal and non-tribal organizations interested in learning about climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts."
Handbook of Weather, Climate and WaterCall Number: QC 864 .H363 2003Publication Date: 2005eBook and Reference Book
Encyclopedia of Global Environmental ChangeCall Number: GE 149 .E443 2002 (Off-site Storage)Publication Date: 2002eBook and Reference Book
- Tribes & Climate Change"Provides information and resources tailored to helping Native people gain a better understanding of climate change and its impacts on their communities and resources. Here you'll find basic climate-change information; profiles of tribes in diverse regions of the U.S. who are coping with climate change impacts; audio files of Native people discussing the issue from traditional perspectives; and resources you can use to develop climate change adaptation strategies. We also offer in-person and web-based trainings and technical assistance to build climate change adaption planning capacity among tribes."
Resource Management
The World's Protected Areas: status, value, and prospects in the 21st CenturyCall Number: S 944.5 .P78 W695 2008Publication Date: 2008Reference Book- Tribal successes protecting the environment and natural resources byPublication Date: 2007"Highlight[s] the diversity of innovative Tribal practices that will serve as models of success to other Tribes in implementing natural resource and environmental programs."
The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century by Call Number: E 93 .F515 2012 (Donald Pray Law Library The Strickland Collection of Native Peoples Law)ISBN: 9781607321484Publication Date: 2011"updated through the first decade of the twenty-first century and contains a new chapter challenging Americans--Indian and non-Indian--to begin healing the earth. This analysis of the struggle to protect not only natural resources but also a way of life serves as an indispensable tool for students or anyone interested in Native American history and current government policy with regard to Indian lands or the environment."
Encyclopedia of Biological InvasionsCall Number: Bizzell Reference QH 353 .E53 2011Publication Date: 2011
American Indians and the National Forests by ISBN: 9780816531998Publication Date: 2016"The untold story of how the U.S. Forest Service and tribal nations dealt with sweeping changes in forest use, ownership, and management over the last century and a half. Indians and U.S. foresters came together over a shared conservation ethic on many cooperative endeavors; yet, they often clashed over how the nation's forests ought to be valued and cared for on matters ranging from huckleberry picking and vision quests to road building and recreation development. All national forest lands were once Indian lands. Tribes' modern-day interests in their ancestral lands run the gamut, from asserting treaty rights to hunt and fish to protecting their people's burial grounds and other sacred places to having a say in ecological restoration."
Water Security Across the Gender Divide by ISBN: 3319640461Publication Date: 2017"Examines water security as a prime example of how the economic, socio-cultural and political-normative systems that regulate access to water reflect the evolving and gendered power relations between different societal groups."
- Tribal energy resources : reducing barriers to opportunity : hearing before Congress 2018."testimony [...] will highlight the biggest challenges tribes face when they want to develop their own valuable energy resources."
- Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals"ITEP strengthens tribal capacity and sovereignty in environmental and natural resource management through culturally relevant education, research, partnerships and policy-based services."
Textbooks for Multiple Courses
Plants and Society by Call Number: QK47 .L48 2016 TEXTBOOKSISBN: 9780078023033Publication Date: 2015"A multidisciplinary approach to studying the relationship between plants and people. [...] Plants and Society covers basic principles of botany with strong emphasis on the economic aspects and social implications of plants and fungi." Available on reserves.
A Tour of the Flowering Plants by Call Number: QK 495 .A1 S6 2006ISBN: 9781930723481Publication Date: 2006-01-01
The Botany of Desire by Call Number: QK 46.5 .H85 P66 2001ISBN: 0375501290Publication Date: 2001"In telling the stories of four familiar plant species that are deeply woven into the fabric of our lives, Pollan illustrates how they evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings -- and by doing so made themselves indispensable."
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Call Number: GT 2850 .P65 2007ISBN: 9780143038580Publication Date: 2007"What should we have for dinner? Ten years ago, Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and [...] demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species."
Recommended (Not Required)
Plant Systematics by Call Number: Bizzell Memorial Library Main Stacks, Reserves (QK 95 .S566 2006 TEXTBOOKS), and onlineISBN: 9780080922089Publication Date: 2010"A foundation of the approach, methods, research goals, evidence, and terminology of plant systematics are presented along with the most recent knowledge of evolutionary relationships of plants and practical information vital to the field."
The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms by Call Number: Bizzell Memorial Library Reference Collection (QK 10 .H53 2000)ISBN: 0521790808Publication Date: 2000"Arranged in two sections: the glossary, which provides clear definitions for over 2400 of the most commonly used botanical and horticultural terms, and illustrations, which can be cross-referenced to the glossary. The illustrations section comprises over 120 large format pages packed with accurate, well labelled line drawings that complement the definitions."
Flowering plants: Eudicots (sapindales, cucurbitales, myrtaceae) by ISBN: 9783642143977Publication Date: 2010"This volume, the tenth in the series, comprises modern treatments for the families and genera of the eudicot orders Sapindales and Cucurbitales. [...] The family treatments include descriptions of the families and the genera, genera classification keys, discussions of relationships and data on their morphology, reproductive biology, distribution, ecology and economic importance."
Systematic Botany of Flowering Plants by Call Number: Bizzell Memorial Library Stacks (QK 495 .A1 S64813 2004)ISBN: 1578083737Publication Date: 2004"The principle objective of this book is to describe a range of families of flowering plants in a sequence corresponding to current phylogenetic classification based on the most recent results of molecular systematics. The selection of families is large and comprises families of temperate European flora as well as tropical flora. They are integrated in their respective orders and keys are given to help the reader recognize them. Each family is richly illustrated, the identifying characters being shown as clearly as possible."
Ethnoecology by Call Number: GN 476.7 .E75 1999ISBN: 0820320676Publication Date: 1999"Examines subjects ranging from pastoralism to the use of medicinal plants to show that understanding the knowledge system of any people is essential to understanding their relation to their environment."
Ethnobiology and Biocultural Diversity by Call Number: GN 476.7 .I68 2000ISBN: 0820323497Publication Date: 2002"Covering a wide range of ecosystems and world regions, the papers center on global change and the relationships among traditional knowledge, biological diversity, and cultural diversity."
The Power of Feasts by Call Number: GT 3930 .H39 2014ISBN: 9781107042995Publication Date: 2014"Explores recurring patterns in the dynamics of feasts as well as linkages to other aspects of culture such as food, personhood, cognition, power, politics, and economics. "
The GMO Handbook by Call Number: QH 442.6 .G657 2004ISBN: 1592598013Publication Date: 2004"A comprehensive and accessible survey of the best current accomplishments of GMO research in all their complexity and ramifications." Available online or in the stacks.
The Cultural History of Plants by Call Number: SB 71 .C86 2005ISBN: 0415927463Publication Date: 2004Describes "the role of plant in social life, regional customs, the arts, natural and covers all aspects of plant cultivation and migration and covers all aspects of plant cultivation and migration. The text includes an explanation of plant names and a list of general references on the history of useful plants."
How to Search for Information on Insects
For insects in general, there are so many different species (even in a given family, there may be hundreds of thousands to millions!) that searching for larger groups, like the genus, family, or order, can help. So, I would start using just the family name, which will end with the suffix -idae. (Info on how these different names are ordered is here.) When searching for the family in the catalog doesn’t bring up much, go to the order. Often if something is about the family or order and they don’t say it’s specific to whatever species, it may be relevant to your species.
Words to look for about the insect's habits will include "life history", "natural history", "behavior/behaviour", "habitat", "ecosystem", "ecology", and "evolution". Words to look for in the titles or subjects that may get you more drawings are “morphology”, “taxonomy”, “keys”, and "identification" for external anatomy. (Keys are a formal way of identifying animals and plants that involves choices, so these choices often require illustrations.) Borror and Delong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects has many technical drawings of various insect families and will have citations that may refer you to more detailed works on your insect's order. Scholarly articles on insects in the same order, family, or genus may include drawings of the anatomy, especially if the article is about taxonomy, morphology, or identification.
For the insect's internal organs, check out a textbook like “The Insects: an outline of entomology” which we have on reserve. You can also search with the subject heading insects for more textbooks. Since you are looking for more drawings, many of the older textbooks may have good illustrations as well. Internal organ diagrams will usually be for insects in general; only very well-studied organisms like grasshoppers or honeybees MIGHT have a drawing specific to that family or order.
Using Multiple Names in One Search
You may want to search for multiple names at once (family, a species or variety name, or order). "Smooth Operator" – a library tutorial video – will describe how to use the "OR" operator to chain together multiple names in a search. The "Reference Basics" tab contains a link to the OU Libraries catalog, and you can find library databases under "Searching for Sources" in the left-hand menu.
Identifying a Specimen for the Design Project
Your specimen for the design project is purchased online. To correctly and accurately identify an insect to species, it helps (and sometimes requires) having geographical context – that is, where on earth the insect was collected originally. For your specimen, please match the insect to the list that came with the set for your class. If you are having trouble identifying it (some specimens are not in great condition and the illustrations on the list are not great either), I recommend expanding your search to orders. The specimen list probably will not state the order (if you're not sure what an order is, please have a read of the first paragraph under "How to Search for Information on Insects" about how animals are classified), so search the names of your candidate insects in Google or another search engine and see what orders they belong to. That should help you narrow down your search. If you haven't figured it out after an hour or two, please contact your science librarian Claire and she can help.
How to Search for Information on Growing Plants
There are so many different species of plants (even in a given family, there may be hundreds, or hundreds of locally adapted varieties (or "cultivars") for cultivated plants) that searching for larger groups, like the genus, family, or order, can help. (Info on how these different names are ordered is here.) For "domesticated" and cultivated plants like vegetables, start with the scientific name or common name(s) of the species and narrow down to cultivar or region if needed. For wild plants, start with the scientific name and expand as needed to include genus or family. Often if something is about the family or order and they don’t say it’s specific to a particular species, it may be relevant to your species. Search terms or key words to look for about growing plants can include include "germination", "dormancy", "stratification", "disease", and "companion planting".
Words to look for in the titles or subjects that may get you more drawings are “morphology”, “taxonomy”, “keys”, and "identification" for the whole plant or its parts. (Keys are a formal way of identifying animals and plants that involves choices, so these choices often require illustrations.) You can also look under the search term "plants" under material type "books" for more books and textbooks. Since you are looking for more drawings, many of the older textbooks may have good illustrations as well.
Using Multiple Names in One Search
As I mentioned under How to Search for Information, you may want to search for multiple names at once (family, a species or variety name, or order). "Smooth Operator" – a library tutorial video – will describe how to use the "OR" operator to chain together multiple names in a search. The "Reference Basics" tab contains a link to the OU Libraries catalog, and you can find library databases under "Searching for Sources" in the left-hand menu.