Library Guides: Cell &amp; Molecular Biology Library Guide: Background Information

Why Use Background Sources

Reference tools are great places to start your research. Use these tools to:

Refine your research question by becoming familiar with the key issues, themes,and figures important to your research topic.
Locate short summaries, definitions, and background info which is essential for your own understanding and is useful for the introduction of your paper.
Identify and understand important and technical terminology & vocabulary which will be useful in your search for articles.
Locate references to reliable and authoritative sources
Find known information (taxonomy, species information).

Most of our background sources are available Online

Merck Index Online This link opens in a new window
For over 120 years The Merck Index has been regarded as the most authoritative and reliable source of information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals.
CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics Online This link opens in a new window
The latest edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is presented in an easy-to-read HTML format. All tables are interactive and can be sorted and customized and sections of a table may be exported or printed. Powerful search capabilities based on structure, name, formula, and physical properties are provided. Properties can be graphed in various ways and values interpolated. Pages can be bookmarked for future reference and there is a searchable PDF archive of all Handbook editions back to the 84th edition.

Dictionary of Human Developmental Biology and Embryology by Frank J. Dye
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9781118867792
Publication Date: 2017-02-21
Includes the fundamental terminology of each of these areas, the major discoveries and significant scientists that comprise the history and current development of the field, as well as a number of concepts.
Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology by Frank J. Dye
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9780470905951
Publication Date: 2015
Comprehensive reference focused on the field's terms, research, history, and people. This authoritative A-to-Z resource covers classical morphological and cytological terms along with those from modern genetics and molecular biology.
A Dictionary of Biology by Oxford University Press Staff (Created by); Robert S. Hine (Editor); Elizabeth Martin (Editor)
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9780199204625
Publication Date: 2008-03-15
Provides comprehensive coverage of biology, biophysics, and biochemistry.
Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology by Paul Singleton; Diana Sainsbury
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9781849724746
Publication Date: 2010-05-21

Encyclopedia of the Human Genome by David N. Cooper
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9781849724715
Publication Date: 2010-02-22
Encyclopedia of Neuroscience by Larry R. Squire (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: Online
ISBN: 9780080446172
Publication Date: 2009-05-28
Explores a wide variety of topics in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and other related areas of neuroscience.