General Topic: Science and Society

• Science and agriculture--genetically modified foods
• Science and medicine/health--genetics, cloning, vaccination
• Science and energy--sustainability, solar power
• Science and the environment--global warming, recycling
• Science and education--standardized testing, intelligent design
• Science and war--nuclear technology
• Science and religion

Sample research questions to help you frame your paper topic

• What is the role of both the scientist and non-scientist in society?
• Examine the impact of a scientific event or innovation on your own life.

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries are good places to begin your research and get an overview of your topic. They can provide you with a basic introduction and terminologies related to the topics that interest you. Furthermore, these sources often contain a bibliographical list of sources you can further consult. The printed reference guides located at main refernce desk and sciences engineering reference desk contain titles of reference materials. Here is a sample list of reference materials. Some of these can be checked out if the location is Main Library only.

• The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science,   Sciences Engineering Library, Reference Area Q125 .O86 2003
• Science, Technology, and Society: an Encyclopedia,   Main Library HM846 .S43 2005
• Social Issues in Science and Technology, Sciences Engineering Library  Reference Area Q175.5 .N49 1999

Building your Search Terms

To compile a list of articles on your topic you will need to develop a set of search terms (or keywords) to use when searching these databases. Keywords are derived your research questions and topic. These words represent the main ideas of your research topic. The encyclopedias and dictionaries can also provide you with additional terms that you might have overlooked.

Finding Articles

Now that you have a list of search terms you will need to choose the appropriate database to use. The list of databases is available from the Article Indexes & Databases. I recommend to begin your research with the databases listed below.

• Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management
• Expanded Academic
• History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSCI)
• JSTOR
• Project Muse
• PubMed
• Religion Database (ATLA)

Getting the journal articles is a two-step process. First, you need to find the articles from the databases. Second, you will need to search the UCSB library catalog, PEGASUS to determine if our library owns the specific volume and issue of the journal. The catalog record will show if the journal is available in print, electronic or not available.

Step One: Search the database Expanded Academic
Use the Keyword search to find articles on your topic

• example: KEYWORD search = death* AND whale*
• sample search result  Navy accepts blame for whale deaths, New Scientist 173.2325 (Jan 12, 2002): p15(1). (298 words)

Note: The "*" asterisk symbol is called a truncation symbol that tells the computer to retrieve any word with the root word death, whale, and cause. This means that you will get the following words deaths, deathbed, whales, causes. Use the words "AND" "OR" to combine your keywords to get the results you need.

Step Two: Search the catalog for a journal title containing an article you found from the database search in Expanded Academic

• example:   Journal Title begins with...  New Scientist
• catalog record shows:   New Scientist   Main Library: Sciences Engineering Library Q1.N46

Note: Instructions to access these databases from off campus, is available at Off-Campus Access to Research Databases.

Bibliographic Citation

Finally: To Get More HELP!
Ask for help when you need it. You will find a reference librarian at the Davidson Library main reference desk the following times: Sunday 1pm-9pm; Monday-Thursday 9am-9pm; Friday 9am-5pm; Saturday 1pm-5pm. You can also contact me Gary Colmenar at colmenar@library.ucsb.edu