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English 202C: Technical Writing

Internet Resource Guide A Collection of Online Resources for Penn State Ecology Majors Brady Boyer 2/5/2015

Table of Contents Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 Internet Resource Guide Technical Databases Web of Science: Biological Abstracts……………………………………4 Scholarly Journals Ecological Society of America………………………………………………5 Government Resources Catalog of U.S. Government Publications………………………………6 Statistical Abstract of the United States………………………………...7 Professional Internet Sites ECOLOG………………………………………………………………………………8 United States Environmental Protection Agency…………………...9 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service………………………………………………10 Google Earth………………………………………………………………………11

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Preface Contents:

This guide contains invaluable resources required by ecology majors to succeed both during and after school. Many of these resources are used by professors here at Penn State and may sometimes be necessary in order to accomplish certain goals. There are a few sources that will help with finding work immediately after college. This guide contains technical databases, scholarly journals, government resources, and other professional internet sites.

Audience:

This internet resource guide is mainly aimed towards helping junior and senior ecology majors. Some of the material in the resources provided within will contain technical information that may be above the comprehension of underclassmen. Many of these resources will be mandatory for any BIO 4XX class, as well as any primary research that you may pursue.

Assumptions: This guide was created under the assumption that the readers will have a basic understanding of ecological sciences and their applications. It is also assumed that the reader will be able to navigate the internet with relative ease and that the reader will have access to Penn State internet services. A few of these sites contain journal articles that are normally hidden behind pay walls. A PSU internet connection is required in order to view these sources for free. If you are off campus, you will need to use a VPN client to sign in. Organization: This internet resource guide provides information about eight different sources under four different categories: technical databases, scholarly journals, government resources, and professional internet sites. Each entry first gives the title followed by the location, or URL, of the resource. A description follows with information on why the source is useful as well as some information on what the source contains. Finally, there are tips for each source that will answer some possible questions that a new user may have. Tips:

Readers can use the table of contents and the headings to easily find the resources they want to learn about. It will be important that the reader has access to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe Reader to be able to read some of the files that these resources provide.

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Internet Resource Guide Technical Databases

Web of Science: Biological Abstracts Location:

This service is available online for free to all Penn State students and faculty by going to libraries.psu.edu and searching Web of Science in the Databases section. Once on the Web of Science page, you can change the search from Web of Science Core Collection to Biological Abstracts.

Description: Created and maintained by Thomson Reuters, Web of Science: Biological Abstracts acts as a search engine allowing one to find journal articles of interest within the field of biology from 1926 to the present. This is a very reliable source of information with articles that have been peer reviewed by other scientists. One can search for particular scientific literature by topic, title, author, editor, year published, and more. The database will likely give thousands of results if a topic is searched, so it is advisable to refine the search from the left panel by limiting the search to major concepts, publication years, authors, concept codes, supertaxa, countries, languages or other information. Tips: 1. Since most searches will return thousands of results it is advisable to use the refine options on the left panel. 2. To read an article for free, use the Get it! At Penn State button located underneath the abstract. 3. Sources that have been cited more are usually better. Look to the right of the abstract to see how many people have cited the source. 4. At the home page one can click on add another field to make the search look for [topic] and/or/not [topic]. This will refine your results.

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Internet Resource Guide Scholarly Journals

Ecological Society of America Location:

www.esa.org/esa/

Description: The Ecological Society of America is an organization that publishes a few very important journals including Ecosphere, Ecology, Ecological Monographs, Ecological Applications, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, and the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. The ESA has been publishing since 1915 and its journal Ecology is the leading international journal in its field, publishing articles that report and interpret the results of original scientific research in basic and applied ecology. This journal is obviously extremely relevant to ecology majors and houses a wealth of cutting edge research and discoveries within the field. To view these articles from the ESA home page just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the image of the journal cover under Journals and Publications. Tips:

1. For full access to all of the archived journal articles one may need the assistance of the Penn State libraries. 2. Journals are listed in reverse chronological order of when they were published; however one can search for a specific article in the top right of the page. 3. It is advisable to click on the PDF link rather than the Full Text link because the PDFs are much easier to read and have their figures in place. 4. If one were researching a specific topic, Web of Science would be more appropriate. Using this website to view this journal is better for finding brand new information in the field of ecology.

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Internet Resource Guide Government Resources

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications Location:

http://catalog.gpo.gov/F/?func=find-d-0&local_base=GPO01PUB &clear_level=2

Description: The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is the best resource available for anyone looking to find specific documents created by the government. One can find documents from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Environmental Protection, or the U.S. House of Representatives as well as many others. For the ecology major, this resource is loaded with real-world problems that involve human-environment interactions. For example, if you wanted to know about Marcellus shale, you can access geological surveys and U.S. Senate committee meeting minutes. There is a particular geological survey titled Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale by D.J. Soeder. In order to access this document, first search Marcellus shale and then click on the title of the document. This link will provide a list of information on the resource including a hyperlink to a PDF of the document. Tips: 1. Just like Web of Science, simple searches will return thousands of results. You need to be somewhat specific in order to make searching easier. 2. If there is a specific document that you are looking for the home page has an advanced search below the simple search that will allow you to enter all necessary information.

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Internet Resource Guide Government Resources

Statistical Abstract of the United States Location:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

Description: Created and maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Statistical Abstract of the United States provides all of the data collected from the U.S. Censuses going back to the 1980s. This website provides statistical data on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Being an ecology major, you may eventually need to know the population changes of Pennsylvania. In order to find this information go to the left side panels and hover over the one labeled population, and then click on ‘Estimates and Projections—States, Metropolitan Areas, Cities.’ This will take you to a page with a list of hyperlinks. Click on the PDF file for ‘State Population—Rank, Percentage Change, And Population Density.’ This information can be used for research or other purposes. Tips:

1. The PDF files will probably be easier to read than the Excel files, although this is personal preference. 2. The appendices of the PDF files have bibliographic information.

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Internet Resource Guide Professional Internet Sites

ECOLOG Location:

https://listserv.umd.edu/archives/ecolog-l.html

Description: ECOLOG is a listserv dedicated to providing job listings and open graduate and Ph.D. student positions, as well as internship opportunities that relate to the ecological field. Most of the job and internship listings come from universities looking for anything from full-time professors and researchers to lab and field technicians. If you are a senior ecology major and you are looking for a job or want to get into graduate school this listserv can be extremely helpful. The listings are posted in reverse chronological order and even though it may not look pretty many people throughout the country use it. Tips:

1. Click on a date to see what listings there are from that week. Scroll down through the table of contents to see titles and contact information for each position. 2. Click on the title of a position to see the description that the poster created. 3. There is a search the archives link at the top of the home page to search for specific job listings. 4. Do not sign up for a list, the site will bombard you with emails.

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Internet Resource Guide Professional Internet Sites

United States Environmental Protection Agency Location:

http://www.epa.gov

Description: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in charge of policy making in regards to environmental protection for the nations resources. Although the agency has been captured by industries it is still a reliable source for information on any regulations and standards that you may need to know. Their website is heavily geared towards the general public, so you can use this site as an example of how to discuss ecology with non-science majors. To find a policy or standard go to the link at the top of the page called Laws and Regulations. The link will bring a pull down menu of different ways to search for laws. The site filters through the links by having you go through a series of pages. Eventually, it will lead you to what you’re looking for. Tips:

1. This site will be useful for laws and regulations but I would advise not to rely on it for scientific information. 2. The sort of scientific information this site gives will truly show how best to communicate complicated ideas with people that don’t fully understand or people who don’t have the desire to learn.

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Internet Resource Guide Professional Internet Sites

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Location:

http://www.fws.gov

Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is tasked with the duty of actively protecting and restoring ecologically important areas throughout the country. This website provides a little bit of scientific information, however it is mainly targeted towards explaining what is being done in the field. It is also a great way to inquire about any potential job openings. Let’s say that you want to find an office near Penn State and contact them. First, scroll down to the large map of the U.S. and click on Pennsylvania. The hyperlink will take you to a page with a list of all the FWS offices in PA. If you wanted to contact one particular station, click on its name and the site will show you their station type, contact information and mailing address. Tips: 1. While this site is not as focused on education, it is quite like the EPA website in that it provides very little scientific information. Most likely this site will be used to see what the government is doing to fix a number of problems. 2. You could search a topic from the home page, however it would be better to click on one of the subject headings at the top of the page and then search within that topic to lessen search results.

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Internet Resource Guide Professional Internet Sites

Google Earth Location:

https://www.google.com/earth/ (This must be downloaded.)

Description: Google Earth is a well-known application used by many different people casually and it may seem strange to have it listed, however it is extremely useful. As you probably know, Google Earth is a three dimensional map of the entire Earth (as well as the Moon and Mars). This site has proven to be extremely useful when planning trips to conduct primary research. The site can allow you to see the layout of an area a little bit before you go there yourself. It is also possible to have Excel randomly generate sampling sites for you because Google Earth provides GPS coordinates for all locations. Locations can be easily searched with the search bar and the map can be moved around with the mouse cursor. Tips: 1. It is possible to measure the distance between potential sampling sites by going to the top of the screen and clicking Show Ruler. 2. You can choose coordinates from Google Earth for sampling sites and enter those coordinates into a GPS so that you have them ready before you even leave. 3. Google Earth can help you determine if a site is appropriate based on the level of forest fragmentation that surrounds the site. GIS can make this easier as well. 4. You can always go back to a simple map view by going to the top and clicking View in Google Maps.

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