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
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
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.