Reading Call Numbers
How to Read a Call #!
I've got a call #, now what?
Click the link below for more information.
Books, Articles and More!
Vanderbilt University Library Search
Selecting the best search scope for your research needs:
Everything vs. Library Catalog vs. Articles
| Search Scope | What is included? | When should I use it? |
| Everything |
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| Library Catalog |
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| Articles |
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For a more detailed explanation of your search scope options consult What am I searching?
Keyword vs. Subject Searching
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Step 1: Start your search process by brainstorming a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question. |
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Step 2: Use these keywords for your initial searches. Step 3: Use the Subject Heading links in the Library Catalog record to refine your search. |
The following databases will help you find articles on your topic:
- AGRICOLA This link opens in a new window
National Agricultural Library's catalog. Publications and resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including animal and veterinary sciences, entomology, plant sciences, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, farming and farming systems, agricultural economics, extension and education, food and human nutrition, and earth and environmental sciences.
- Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new windowIndex to journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies. Includes materials published in English and European languages from the late 19th century to the present. Compilation of the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Anthropological Index and Harvard University's Anthropological Literature databases.
- AnthroSource This link opens in a new windowArchive of all journals, newsletters, and bulletins of the American Anthropological Association.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, serials, maps and other related materials covering topics on the role of scientific discovery in society and culture, and the historiography of scientific disciplines from prehistory to the present.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowInternational journals in medicine, public health, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and the preclinical sciences. Information from allied health, biological and physical sciences, humanities and information science as they relate to medicine and health care.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Scientific, business, technical and medical journals and books, including pre-pub and open access content. The back file of the Business collection is an invaluable archival source for business research.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Citation database from journals and international conference proceedings. Cross-search of the Web of Science Core Collection, BIOSIS Previews, and the SciELO Citation Index (Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa).
- ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Search all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
What is 
?
FindIt@VU provides direct links from a database citation to the fulltext of the article (if available) and other supporting resources.
- Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL).The Biodiversity Heritage Library has digitized a tremendous amount of printed books pertaining to botany and natural history.
- Botany Collections - Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryDigital records of the United States Herbarium include photographed herbarium sheets, images, and botanical drawings of collected specimens from the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842) to the present.
- Brit: Native American Ethnobotany Database.This database contains 44,691 items related to food, drug, and dye plants produced by Indigenous cultures in North America.
- Hunt Institute for Botanical DocumentationThe Hunt Institute’s botanical collections are presented, including digitized copies of materia medica, such as their 19th-century Bencao gangmu purchased by Rachel Hunt in 1939.
- Plant Humanities LabThe Plant Humanities Lab collects a number of visual essays produced with Juncture and Github that highlight plants in their cultural and historical contexts.
