Biology Resources in the Electronic Age

Citation

Dorrington, L. (2005), "Biology Resources in the Electronic Age", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 91-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330510578912

According to the introduction this book is a “one‐stop source […] to find authoritative information on topics covered in the biology curriculum”. The curriculum in question is the National Science Curriculum taught in American schools and universities. It is aimed at “students, teachers, parents and librarians who want to be sure that the information a Web site provides is accurate and age appropriate”. The author is Associate Professor of Science Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Monmouth University, New Jersey, USA.

This book is one of a series in Science Resources in the Electronic Age. It is divided into five chapters. Chapter One is a general introduction to the internet, including search engines, information on different formats, search strategies and evaluation tools.

Chapter Two is the main section, some 230 pages out of 286 devoted to the Internet and specific web sites. Within the chapter there are two short sections on general sciences resources and general sources of biology information. The remaining section contains specific web sites grouped in broad subjects, arranged alphabetically as listed in the contents. Each resource entry gives the resource title, URL, Grade Level, best search engine, keywords and a review of the site. The resources provide information on both animal and human biology topics.

The web sites vary; they include some very basic sites such as a single “page/article” giving background information. A few journals are included, such as Science and Nature, although there is no access to the full‐text articles for which payment is required. The remaining sites are those primarily provided by individuals or educational and academic institutions. The Grade Level is indicative of the age of the target audience. The reviews vary in length – some just a few lines, most half a page, a few others a full page or more, with content details, navigation tips and further links. The sites have been located and reviews written by students at the author's institution.

The final chapters cover web sites for Biology Supplies, Museums, Science Centres, Summer Programmes, and Careers. There is a short Glossary and Index.

As expected of a book written for an American audience, most of the web sites are American in origin. Some reviews give details of the owner/author of the web site whilst others do not. It was not possible to check all the sites but some of the links are no longer active and it was laborious typing in some of the long URLs. If I were a student searching for background information on a biological topic, say for a school project, I would rely on using a good metasearch engine such as Metacrawler (see www.metacrawler.com/) or portals such as BIOME (see http://biome.ac.uk) and use the links provided from the sites retrieved – I certainly wouldn't think of looking through a book such as this. Teachers and librarians might find it useful when considering links to put on their own institutional or library web site or to recommend to students. It is also difficult to judge what is missing. In the Anatomy section, the US National Library of Medicine Visible Human Project is not listed, nor are there sites for animal species other than the crab!