FYS100K - Perfect Children-Reproductive Technology and the New Eugenics (Heller): Understanding Your Topic

Although books are not usually primary resources for scientific topics, they may give a good overview and bibliography.

Use the following databases listed on the library's resources page to look for books:

DON'T USE WIKIPEDIA IN YOUR RESEARCH.

DO USE WIKIPEDIA FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND TO UNDERSTAND YOUR TOPIC.

DON'T USE WIKIPEDIA AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR JOURNAL ARTICLES.

DO USE WIKIPEDIA FOR POSSIBLE REFERENCES AT THE END.

Browse a subject-specific encyclopedia. A good encyclopedia can provide beginning researchers with the following:

• an overview of a topic and how it fits into the broader picture,
• the various aspects of a topic to help broaden or narrow the area of research,
• the vocabulary associated with the topic to help identify appropriate keywords to use at the computer,
• the names of important people, companies or places involved with the topic,
• a bibliography to lead to other relevant items on the topic, including major studies, books, articles and researchers.

Some good examples are:

• Credo Reference includes articles from 816 reference books
• Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 5 vols. [Ref 174.2 E56R3 2004]
• Encyclopedia of the Human Genome (part of online reference site CREDO Reference)
• The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. 2 vols. [Ref 616.042 G152 2002]
• MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, includes over 4,000 articles about medicine and allied fields.