Information Sources
BIOLOGY RESEARCH WEB SITES
Compiled by Evangel University Library Staff
October 2009
Any time you use a new search engine or access more complex web sites, it is a good practice to access their
help screen(s) and any Advanced Search options. Many times there may be ways to use Boolean operators
(AND, OR, NOT, etc.) or symbols (+, -) to do complex searches, which may not be apparent otherwise.
Search Engines and Databases:
Search Engine Guide: Sciences/Biology http://www.searchengineguide.com/pages/Science/Biology/index.html It
provides major search engines plus specialized subject specific search engines
Biology Databases http://www.dmoz.org or http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Biology/.DMOZ: Open Directory Project
has links to over 32,000 biological Web sites arranged in 34 subareas and over 22,000 flora and fauna
Web sites.
Search Engines: DMOZ: Open Directory Project www.dmoz.org
Bio Notebook http://www1.pasteur.fr/recherche/BNB/bnb-en.html - A search engine that queries biology
sites.
Biopages http://biopages.com.au/ - Australian web portal and life sciences search engine.
GoPubMed http://www.gopubmed.org/web/gopubmed/ - Knowledge-based search engine for
biomedical texts. It allows users to identify experts in the biomedical field.
Life Science Search Engine http://www.brij.in/ - Optimized for effective searches related to life science
informatics and research.
NextBio http://www.nextbio.com/b/nextbio.nb - Life sciences search engine.
Novoseek http://www.novoseek.com/Welcome.action - Information extraction system that searches the
published knowledge of biomedical literature in Medline and US Grants.
Science Bucket http://www.sciencebucket.com/ - Specialized search engine that filters biology sites.
VADLO http://vadlo.com/ - Biology and medical search engine and biology research cartoons.
General Research Sites:
Infomine Scholarly Internet http://infomine.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/search?bioag This metasite provides links to sites
covering biological, agricultural and medical sciences. The sites were chosen by the librarians of the
University of California libraries for academic usefulness.
World Wide Virtual Library directory http://vlib.org Each site is maintained by a college or university department
which seeks the best academic sites for subject areas such as the Bio Sciences:
http://vlib.org/Biosciences.html
Librarian's Index to the Internet http://lii.org It recommends links to academic and authoritative sites.
Tree of Life: A collaborative Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity
http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html It is to include the entire phylogeny of life on earth online, including
the diversity of organisms, their history, and characteristics. Its Web sites are scattered around the
world. Each holds a branch or branches of the Tree of Life Project. It is not yet complete.
Refdesk.com: The Single Best Source for Facts on the Net http://www.refdesk.com This site covers hundreds
of links. Science researchers should use "Science" in the Subject Categories section.
Scientific American http://www.sciam.com This has good science information. Researchers should use the
Search Bar.
National Library of Medicine/National Institute of Health http://www.nlm.nih.gov This has free Medline access.
Click on Medline/PubMed to find the search bar. The search may be limited to Free Full Text articles by
using the Limit tab.
National Museum of Natural History: Research & Collections http://www.mnh.si.edu/rc/ This is a division of the
Smithsonian Institution.
Bio Netbook (Pasteur Institute) http://www.pasteur.fr/recherche/BNB/bnb-en.html This high-end index consists
of some 8,345 cross searchable databases and research sites.
BioTech: life sciences resources and reference tools http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/ This is to “enrich the
public’s knowledge of biology and chemistry.”
Brooks/Cole biology resource center http://www.brookscole.com/biology_d/ The Center’s site is to be
used with an undergraduate biology textbook and offers links to supporting sources offering additional
information, etc.
Kimball’s Biology Pages http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages or
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/W/Welcome.html It has selected links. John
Kimball who taught immunology at Tufts and Harvard University maintains it.
Search the Botany Slide Collection http://arnica.csustan.edu/slides/ It is maintained by the CSU Stanislaus
Biology Department.
CSU Stanislaus Botany Image Collection http://arnica.csustan.edu/botany/ The database contains 825 images.
Ergito” http://www.ergito.com/ Benjamin Lewin, the developer of the site, plans to offer “a comprehensive online
site that covers the entire life sciences…”
Ingenta: Home of Scholarly Research www.ingentaconnect.com. It provides an index to 13,530 publications
which include Biology and Life Sciences. The search is free, but if reprints are sought, there is a fee.
BUBL: Bulletin Board for Libraries http://www.bubl.ac.uk This British academic research network site, has links
to selected scholarly Internet resources..
Agriculture:
Agriculture Network Information Center http://www.agnic.org/ It covers academic links to agricultural subjects
(broadly interpreted). AgNIC is a guide to quality agricultural Internet sites gathered by the National
Agricultural Library, Land-Grant Universities, and other institutions.
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture http://chla.library.cornell.edu/ These virtual U.S. agricultural texts (books
th
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and journals) were published between the early 19 and middle to late 20 century.
Amphibians:
Amphibian Information Website http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/amphibians/ The developers of this Web site intend
to cover the world but presently offer limited information outside of the US.
Amphibia Web http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/aw/ It covers over 6,000 species of frogs, toads, newts, salamanders,
etc. worldwide. The site is in process.
Animals:
Veterinary Medicine: The World Wide Web Virtual Library http://netvet.wustl.edu/vetmed.htm “The WWW Virtual
Library Veterinary Medicine is a collection of veterinary medical Internet resources. … More links are
located on the NetVet Veterinary Resources http://netvet.wustl.edu/ homepage.”
U.S. Center for Veterinary Medicine: US Food and Drug Administration, http://www.fda.gov/cvm/default.htm ,
specializes in food additives and drugs that will be given to animals.
Animal Diversity Web http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/index.html Sponsored in part by the Interagency
Education Research Initiative, the Homeland Foundation and the University of Michigan Museum of
Zoology http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/ , this online searchable encyclopedia features a multimedia
database of thousands of species included in the Kingdom Anamalia.
Internet Resource Guide for Zoology http://infotree.library.ohiou.edu/single-records/2183.html covers zoology,
taxonomy, etc .
Animals: BUBL Link: Catalogue of Internet Resources: Zoology http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/z/zoology.htm The range of information is very broad. There are 23 major Web
sites selected for academic quality of information offered.
Mammal Species of the World (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)
http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/msw/
Mammals: BUBL: Catalogue of Internet Resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/linksearch.cfm This offers links to academic quality Web sites.
Mammals: Librarians” Internet Index
http://www.lii.org/pub/htdocs/search?search=mammals;action=show;searchtype=keywords This
provides over 285 handpicked Web sites on the Internet on mammals.
Internet Resource Guide for Zoology: free information from a trusted source http://www.biologybrowser.org/
This is maintained by Thomson Reuters’ BIOSIS and provides information usually provided by experts.
It includes links to related Web sites.
World of Copepods (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) http://invertebrates.si.edu/copepod/
World List of Marine, Freshwater, and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History) http://invertebrates.si.edu/isopod/
Bacteriology (See Microbiology below)
Biochemistry:
Cell Function and Structure: Biochemistry: Links to Related Web Resources
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/smded/CSF/linx.htm is maintained by the School of Medicine and
Dentistry, These are links to online electronic textual information on Biochemistry.
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Websites (UCLA Library Research Guides)
http://guides.library.ucla.edu/content.php?pid=57697&sid=520808 .
Molecular Biology Websites http://itc.virginia.edu/achs/molbio/servers/servers.html “Useful websites and links for
molecular biologists”
Biodiversity:
Biodiversity Collections Index http://www.biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/static/index.html “The Biodiversity
Collections Index aims to facilitate the understanding, conservation and utilisation of global biodiversity
resources by creating a single annotated index of biodiversity collections.”
Center for Conservation Biology http://ccb.ucr.edu/links.html Links to societies interested in biodiversity in US
and worldwide.
NatureServe: A Network Connecting Science with Conservation http://www.natureserve.org/ The Association of
Biodiversity Information Website focuses on the distribution and conservation status of some 50,000
plant and animal species in the U.S. and Canada.
Biomedical:
Scirus scientific search engine http://www.scirus.com/
Biomedical Portal (Science Central) http://www.sciencecentral.com/site/480688
NCIBI (National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics) http://portal.ncibi.org/gateway/ “The mission of the
National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics (NCIBI), founded in October 2005, is to create
targeted knowledge environments for molecular biomedical research that help guide experiments and
enable new insights from the analysis of complex diseases.”
Birds:
http://www.petersononline.com/ “Peterson Online” provides information and links for birders and those interested
in birds.
Librarian’s Internet Index http://lii.org Enter Birds in the search box to locate 236 Web sites selected for
academic value. When Ornithology is searched, 15 Web sites are returned.
Cells:
Cells Alive! www.cellsalive.com/ includes: cell biology, microbiology, immunology, microscopy; interactive: cell
models, mitosis, meiosis, cell cycle, cell cams, etc.
Stem Cells Portal; the online resource and community for researchers www.stemcellsportal.com/
Cells: BUBL: catalogue of Internet resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or http://bubl.ac.uk/link/linksearch.cfm Sites
chosen for academic value.
Ecology:
Ecology WWW Page (a directory of hundreds of ecology Web links)
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~brach/Ecology-WWW.html
Fish: (See also: Marine Biology below)
Fish: BUBL: Catalogue of Internet Sources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or http://bubl.ac.uk/link/linksearch.cfm This
offers links to academic quality Web sites
Fish and Fisheries Web links http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~mjb117/fishlink.htm
Fish: Librarians’ Internet Index http://www.lii.org/pub/htdocs/search?sm=;search=fish;action=show This provides
almost 500 handpicked Web sites on fish.
Genetics:
Genetics: BUBL: catalogue of Internet resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or http://bubl.ac.uk/link/linksearch.cfm
Academic quality sites concerning genetic engineering
OMIM: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/ “OMIM is a comprehensive,
authoritative, and timely compendium of human genes and genetic phenotypes. The full-text, referenced
overviews in OMIM contain information on all known mendelian disorders and over 12,000 genes. OMIM
focuses on the relationship between phenotype and genotype. It is updated daily,…”
Genetics Education Center (University of Kansas Medical Center) http://www.kumc.edu/gec/ “For educators
interested in human genetics and the human genome project”
Integrated Taxonomic Information System www.itis.gov/ “Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals,
fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.”
MendelWeb http://www.mendelweb.org/ Provides history and information needed to better understand the
origins of genetics.
Genome Project:
Genome Research journal http://genome.cshlp.org/ This includes an archive, 1991National Human Genome Research Institute: Advancing human health through genetic research (National
Institutes of Health) http://www.genome.gov Presents material from and related to the Human Genome
Project
Human Genome Project Information: Genome Glossary
http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/glossary/ A glossary of genetic terms from the
DOE Human Genome Program.
Genomics.Energy.gov http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis It includes Human Genome Project Information; Genomic
Science Program; and Microbial Genome Program.
Human Body:
Virtual Body http://medtropolis.com/VBody.asp The human body is shown with all its systems.
Atlas of the Body: Anatomy and Medical Illustrations
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/patient-education-materials/atlas-of-human-body.shtml
“Browse this atlas of the human body by major section (brain, circulatory system, muscles, respiratory
system, nervous system, or female reproductive system), or by subsections such as the hand or skull.
From the American Medical Association.” (http://lii.org )
Visible Human Project http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html “This National Library of
Medicine project consists of digitized images of male and female human cadavers which were scanned
using CAT and MRI techniques. The bodies were then frozen and sliced into paper thin sections which
were photographed digitally. The animated head-to-toe trip through the male cryosections, from the
images and animations sampler, is especially worthwhile.” (http://lii.org)
Insects:
Entomology Index of Internet Resources: a directory and search engine of insect-related resources on the
Internet http://www.ent.iastate.edu/List/ This is compiled by J. K. VanDyk (Iowa State University).
AntBase.org http://antbase.org/ Antbase now provides access to all the ant species of the world, one of the
ecologically most important groups of animals worldwide. Antbase is a collaborative effort between
scientists from around the world, … Antbase is being built and maintained at the American Museum of
Natural History (Donat Agosti) and the Ohio State University (Norman F. Johnson).”
Department of Entomology (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) http://entomology.si.edu/ “NMNH
Entomology Database Library”
Mammals: (See Animals above)
Marine Biology: (See also Fish above)
Marine Biology Web: an educational resource (State University of N.Y. at Stony Brook)
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/mbweb.html It is more narrowly focused for academic topics; while
“Scripps Institution of Oceanography” http://sio.ucsd.edu provides broader and better illustrated links.
Marine Biology: BUBL Link: Catalogue of Internet Resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ or
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/linksearch.cfm Offers links to academic quality sites related to marine biology.
Microbiology
ELA Bacteria & Microbiology http://www.elapro.net/bacteria.htm#BACTERIA Portal for Web links
Microbiology: BUBL: Catalogue of Internet Resources (bubl.ac.uk) This has had picked academic quality Web
sites.
List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature (J. P. Euzéby, SBSV) http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/
Contains Nomenclature files in English & French, Classifications, Changes, Taxonomic Categories, etc.
Mycology: DMOZ: Open Directory Project www.dmoz.org This has over 100 academic quality Web sites.
Microbiology: DMOZ: Open Directory Project www.dmoz.org This has over 400 academic quality Web sites.
All the Virology on the WWW, http://www.virology.net/garryfavweb.html , is maintained by Dr. David Sander,
Garry Laboratory, Tulane University and is comprehensive. It includes the “Big Picture Book of Viruses”
in color and with substantial information on each virus family, plus “Collections of Virology Sites.”
Virology: Librarians’ Internet Index www.lii.org List of handpicked academic quality Web sites.
Molecular Biology:
Cell and Molecular Biology Online: An Informational Resource for Cell and Molecular Biologists
http://www.cellbio.com/ “This web site is maintained by Pamela Gannon”
Molecular Biology Databases http://www.ebi.ac.uk/2can/databases/index.html
Biology Links: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Harvard
University) http://mcb.harvard.edu/BioLinks/biochem.html
Mycology: (see Microbiology above)
Neuroscience:
Neuroguide.com: Neurosciences on the Internet http://www.neuroguide.com/ “Lists the best neuroscience
resources on the Web… and … presents original neuroscience content not available elsewhere.” (It is
maintained by Dr. Neil A. Busis.)
Plants: (See also Tree Rings, and Trees below)
Virtual Library of Botany: Botany/Plant Botany http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/www-vl/ It presents
academic Web sites. A noted college or university department maintains each link.
The Plant Pathology Internet Guide Book"( Institute for Plant Diseases, Dept. of Horticulture, University of Bonn,
Germany.) http://www.pk.uni-bonn.de/ppigb It has comprehensive lists of links.
PLANTS Database http://plants.usda.gov/ covers about 45,000 vascular and nonvascular plant taxa in the US
and its territories and is maintained by the USDA. “The PLANTS Database provides standardized
information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its
territories.”
Scott’s Botanical Links (Scott D. Russell, Department of Botany and Microbiology of the University of Oklahoma)
http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/ Researchers should use the Subject Index to access links.
Transgenic Crops bulletins (Charles Hagedorn - Extension Specialist – Biotechnology)
http://filebox.vt.edu/cals/cses/chagedor/crops.html provides basic information and links for other
transgenic crop websites. (Effort is supported by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.)
University of Wisconsin-Madison Plant Systematics Collection http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/courses/systematics
Provides access to a collection of plant images representing more than 250 families and 1,000 genera of
vascular plants.
Group Invasive Species Team http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/ Was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy’s
Wildland Invasion Species Program and provided extensive information on each plant including where it
may be found and its control. (It is presently still on the Internet to furnish links to information.)
Plants, Carnivorous:
Carnivorous Plants / Insectivorous Plants (Botanical Society of America)
http://www.botany.org/carnivorous_plants/ (In progress)
International Carnivorous Plant Society http://www.carnivorousplants.org/ Note its: Carnivorous Plant Name
Database, Photo Gallery, and it Species Descriptions.
Plants, Flowering:
Flowering Plant Gateway (Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group)
http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/newgate/gateopen.htm It is maintained by Dr. Hugh D. Wilson. It
is a gateway to databases on flowering plants. It is constantly being updated and is to include all
vascular plants.
Flowering Plant Families: Images and Descriptions of Flowering Plant Families (as treated by Arthur Cronquist)
(University of Hawaii) http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/Faculty/Carr/fpfamilies.htm Images and information
of families of flowering plants.(Last updated in 2005)
Introduction to the Anthophyta: the flowering plants
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/anthophyta/anthophyta.html See its link to: Listings of Remote Catalogs.
Plant Encyclopedia (Backyard Gardener) http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantsearch.html “This
comprehensive database of over 38,000 plants can be searched using common plant names, botanical
or family names.”
Plants, Parasitic
Parasitic Plant Connection http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/ It is maintained by Daniel Nickrent, Department
of Plant Biology, SIU, and is comprehensive.
Parasitic Plants (Botanical Society of America) http://www.botany.org/Parasitic_Plants/ (In progress)
Reptiles:
EMBL Reptile Database http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/library/publications/herp_rev.html Presents the
European Molecular Biology Laboratory Reptile Database covering some 7,855 entries. Peter Uetz,
Research Center, Karlsruhe; Thure Etzold, European Bioinformatics Institute; and Ramu Chenna,
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, maintain this database.
Reptiles: Librarians’ Index to the Internet
http://www.lii.org/pub/htdocs/search?search=reptiles;action=show;searchtype=keywords This presents
over 175 handpicked Web sites on reptiles.
Reptiles: BUBL: Catalogue of Internet Resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ It offers links to academic quality Web
sites on reptiles
Taxonomy:
NCBI Taxonomy Homepage, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html, is compiled by the
National Center for Biotechnology Information and provides information on taxonomy, biotechnology,
and genetics research.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System, http://www.itis.gov/ , focuses on the biota (plants, animals, and
microbes) of North American and is a cooperative effort of Mexican, Canadian, and US scientists.
International Plant Names Index, http://www.ipni.org/index.html , is a database of the names and associated
basic bibliographical details of all seed plants. It is a cooperative product of The Royal Botanic Gardens,
The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium. It includes the "Gray Card
Index" which has existed in some form since 1891 and provides information on all vascular plants in
North, South, and Central America, Greenland, the West Indies, and adjacent islands.
Internet Directory for Botany, http://www.botany.net/IDB/, is a comprehensive index site covering botanical
information. Each alphabetical and subject list has its own search engine. Compiled by Anthony R. Brach
(Harvard University Herbarium, Cambridge / Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA,), Shunguo Liu
(SHL Systemhouse, Edmonton, Canada;) and Keith McCree (Oakridge, Oregon;).
Tree Rings:
Science of Dendrochronology Web Pages, http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/, is designed to be the Ultimate TreeRing Web Pages. It covers dendrochronology and is maintained by Henri Grissino-Mayer, Department of
Geography, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. See its Resources for
Dendrochronologists: http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/resources.htm.
Trees:
Trees: BUBL: Catalogue of Internet Resources http://www.bubl.ac.uk/ List of academic quality Web sites on
trees.
Viruses: (see Microbiology above)
Zoology: See Animals above
Zoology, Invertebrate: See Animals above