Animals
A  R e s e a r c h  G u i d e

This guide will help you start your research on a topic dealing with animals for your research paper or presentation.

I Reference Books I Searching the Library Catalog I Recommended Books I
I Searching Electronic Resources I Print Periodicals I Searching the Internet I
 I Recommended Web Sites I Web Evaluation I Citing Your Sources I

Reference Books
Reference books are a good place to start your research. The following list of books will help you narrow down your topic, find additional search terms, and get a general overview of your topic before you begin your research. This is not an exhaustive list, so be sure to look at the books shelved near these titles for additional books.


Animals - General

• Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia (17 vol.) – REF QL 3 .G7813 2004 
• The International Wildlife Encyclopedia (19 vol.) – REF QL 9 .B8 
• Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Animals: A Visual Who’s Who of the World’s Creatures – REF QL 605. 4. S56 1998
• Grzimek’s Encyclopedia of Mammals (5 vol.) – REF QL 701 .G7913 1990 
• Grzimek’s Student Animal Life Resource (5 vol.) - REF QL 703 .G79 2005 
• Encyclopedia of Mammals (17 vol.) – REF QL. 706 .2 .E54 1997 
• Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior (3 vol.) - REF 750 .3 .E53 2004

Symbolism

• The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols – REF AZ 108 .B78 1996
• The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols – REF AZ 108 .C4413 1996 
• Dictionary of Symbols: An Illustrated Guide… – REF AZ 108 .T74 
• Symbolic and Mythological Animals – REF GR 820 .C66 1992

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Searching the Library Catalog
Once you have narrowed down your topic, search the library catalog for additional resources on your specific topic. Here are some search tips and strategies:

1. Here are some subject headings you may use for a simple subject search (you will then want to scroll down the index for additional related headings):

Zoology
Animals
Animals—Folklore
Animals, Mythical
Animal lore
Mammals
Marine animals
Birds
Insects


2. To conduct a simple keyword search, try some of the following search terms (remember to put phrases in quotation marks & note that doing a keyword search will produce broader results than the subject search):


“animal life”
“rare animal?”
“wild animal?”


3. Browsing the library shelves is another good way to find additional resources.
Look in the QL (Zoology) section for relevant sources on animals.

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A Few Recommended Books that Circulate

• World of Animals: A Treasury of Lore, Legend, and Literature… - QL 50 .K7 
• Animals with Human Faces: A Guide to Animal Symbolism – GR 705 .R68 
• Bestiary for Saint Jerome: Animal Symbolism in European – ND 1432 .E85 F74 1980

Searching Electronic Resources for Articles and eBooks
You will find magazine, journal, and newspaper articles; essays; and full-text ebooks on animals in most of the databases at OCC Library. This is a list of the most pertinent sources. Go to the library’s Web page and click on the link “Electronic Resources” to get the full list of databases at OCC Library.
 

	Off-Campus Access: Log in to MyOCC or Blackboard to access these resources off-campus. If you are having problems logging in, please go the MyOCC Username & Password page or call MyOCC Technical Support at (714) 432-5072.

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Periodicals in Print at OCC Library
The following periodicals are found in the Periodicals section of the library and are filed in alphabetical order by title.

Audubon
International Wildlife
National Geographic
National Wildlife
Natural History
Scientific American


Searching the Internet for Web Sites
The following Web sites will help you find reliable Internet resources that are of good authority for your research paper or presentation.

Librarians’ Index to the Internet - This site was developed by librarians as a reliable and efficient guide to Internet resources. The Index is a searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 14,000 Internet resources that have been selected and evaluated by librarians.

DMOZ Open Directory Project – This human-edited directory of the Web breaks the topics into sub-topics and also provides “see also” references. Try the pathway: Arts > Literature > Myths and Folktales and Society > Folklore > Literature > Tales > Animals and Plants

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Recommended Web Sites

Yahoo! Directory: Animal and Plant Folklore
Follows the directory hierarchy: Society & Culture > Mythology & Folklore > Folklore > Animals & Plants. You can then select from the following subcategories: birds, cats, dogs, medieval bestiaries, & serpents.

Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Search the site or browse by kingdom. Includes information, pictures, specimens, sounds, and classification of animals.

The Electronic Zoo
Access links to various animal Web sites by type of animal. From the Washington University.

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Web Evaluation

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
A quick and useful guide to help you evaluate the Web pages you find for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. From Jim Kapoun’s article "Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: A guide for library instruction” originally published in the July/August 1998 issue of C&RL News on pages 522-523.

Citing Your Sources

The OCC MLA Style Sheet (APAStyleSheet.pdf) or http://www.mla.org.

The OCC APA Style Sheet (MLAStyleSheet.pdf)  or http://www.apa.org.

Citation Styles – A guide to citing Internet sources using the MLA, APA, and other formats. From Bedford/St. Martin’s site Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources.

Guides to Cite It! – Provides style guides for APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and others. From the University of Georgia Libraries.

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(JK/VO Updated 3/08)