BLY 549 Scientific Writing for Biologists

This LibGuide was created to support Dr. Major's Scientific Writing for Biologists course. 

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Here is what you will find in this guide

Library Searching - Library searching does not work like a Google Search. Learn the difference here.

• Keywords - how do you choose keywords and find better keywords?
• Gemini for Keywords - struggling to find the right keywords? Learn how to leverage the AI tool Gemini to assist.
• Boolean Operators - a successful library/database search must use Boolean Operators correctly.

Database Searching - now that you know the basics of searching, find out how to put it together here.

• Google Scholar - how to use Google Scholar and how to connect it to USA Library to take full advantage of your access.

Citation Mining - citation mining is using a resource to find more resources. These techniques will help you find past work, more current work, and related work.

• Backward Citation Mining - learn how to mine through those bibliographies.
• Forward Citation Mining - learn how to find people who have cited your favorite research article.
• Research Rabbit - learn how to use this free AI tool designed to help with literature reviews

Zotero - What is Zotero? Why are you using it? How do you get your references in it?

• Getting Started - how to download Zotero, set it up, and add resources.
• Problems with Zotero Connector - see these tips to try and troubleshoot.
• Citation Management - how to use Zotero to manage, edit, and change your citation type.
• Reading and Annotating - opening your resources in Zotero and taking notes right in the app.
• Adding Citations - how do you actually add citations and a bibliography to your paper? Learn here!

NotebookLM - What is Notebook LM? What does it do?

• Where is it? - how do you find NotebookLM?
• Getting Started - how do you create a new notebook?
• Adding Resources - how do you add resources to Notebook LM?
• Asking Questions - how do you query NotebookLM about your sources?

Help & More - Having trouble logging in off-campus? Wondering how to use Interlibrary Loan? Have a general question or an in-depth research question? This page will help to point you in the right direction.