SLA Poll of Top 100 Journals

Poll of Top 100 Biology and Medicine Journals
The BioMedical & Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) took a poll to create a list of the top 100 journals in biology and medicine as part of their Centennial project. Take a look and see if you agree or disagree with the picks. What journals do you think are the most influential?

Biology and Organic Chemistry Fun

Happy Friday! Wow, can you believe it is January 9th already? Time flies, especially when you are having fun with online science resources.

I thought we could begin with this fabulous cartoon from xkcd.com. If you don’t read this webcomic, I highly suggest you start–it is fantastic.

 

xkcd.com comic 520: Cuttlefish

Online Labs from McGraw-Hill
These online labs are Flash-based and meant to be supplemental to one of their textbooks, but can also be used as standalone resources. There are 31 virtual labs covering a wide-range of topics. These might be good additions to introductory biology labs or as homework assignments.

Organic Chemistry Animations
It is always cool to see animations of chemical compounds, but this site takes it a step further and shows organic chemical reactions that are interactive. Did I mention the animations are in 3D? This site is sure to help undergraduates in organic chemistry classes understand what is actually happening during chemical reactions. This site uses Java for the animation.

Have a great weekend. There will be more science fun coming next week; stay tuned.

Discover’s Top Stories of 2008

Hi. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and happy new year.

Top 100 Stories of 2008
This is a great list of links to the top 100 stories from Discover in 2008. It is really fascinating to read about all the advances, discoveries, and changes that have occurred in areas such as biology, genetics, environmental science, etc. Check it out to see where we’ve been and where we are going.

More science fun coming this Friday.

Happy 2009!

BioEd Online

Hi, all. Sorry for the lack of updates. The end of the quarter frenzy has taken me body, but not soul yet. So here is a great resource. I am always happily amazed at the great resources out on the web once you start looking.

BioEd Online
This site has lots of information targeted at instructors and their students. Podcasts, videos, lesson plans, activities and more are located on this site. By Baylor College of Medicine. Don’t you just love great looking websites with reliable information?

Impact, Community & Fun

Happy Friday! Today’s selection of resources includes an article on measuring the impact of science journals, an online community of scientists and a column about the new California Academy of Sciences.

How Do We Measure Use of Scientific Journals: A Note on Research Methodologies
This is an interesting look at the intersection between how libraries measure usage of scientific journals and how others measure the impact of journals. Although you might know most of this information, your students may not and this might be a good way to start a discussion about the impact of different journals and their usage.

SciLink
So, are you scared of Facebook? Don’t know a MySpace from a LinkedIn account? Do you ever wish you could just connect with other scientists? Well, SciLink is for you. It is a place to connect with other scientists, share news and gather information. Sound great? It is free to sign up for an account. So get connected and join the social network.

Pay Attention to the Noodles
For those of you who read the San Francisco Chronicle daily, you probably have read Jon Carroll’s column at least occassionally. If not, you are in for a treat. Slightly of topic, but he writes about the new California Academy of Sciences. If you want to know where noodles come in, you’re just going to have to read the column.

Have a great Friday!

Monterey Bay Aquarium, Forces of Change and More…

Four resources to peruse this weekend:

CSUEB Library’s del.icio.us account
If you want to add another del.icio.us account to your friends network, I suggest csueblibrary. We (meaning some of the librarians) have tagged online resources and tools that we find helpful and want to share with you. And, if you missed the fantastic presentation on online resources for online learning at Back to the Bay, you can still see what we went over here.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Animal Research
So, in my opinion, you’ve really not been living right if you’ve not been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Of course, I might be a little biased considering one of my very closest friends works there with the penguins and shorebirds. (By the way, if you are at the aquarium and see Monika, say hi and that you read Diana’s blog.) So, the Animal Research website is fantastic, of course. Lots of great information, links to more resources, pictures and webcasts. The penguin live webcast happens at 10:30 in the morning, just in case you are interested.

Forces of Change
Here is yet another great resource from the Smithsonian, this time from the Museum of Natural History. Different examples of climate and ecological change occurring now. Includes news articles, multimedia and some great articles.

The Paleontology Portal
It seems like a lot of paleontology resources have been surfacing in the last couple of weeks and most are great. This site is no exception. Great site, visual appealing homepage, lots of links to other resources, quality images and easy to follow articles. Great source of information for K-higher education levels.

Science Resources for Monday

I have three great resources for this Monday: The Internet Scout Report, The Biology Project and Profiles in Science.

Internet Scout Report
I am feeling pretty bad about not recommending this sooner, but better late than never. If you haven’t signed up for the Internet Scout Report, you really should! It is a fabulous resource. It is a weekly digest sent on Friday via email that talks about new resources found on the Internet. I use it as one of my resources for finding great resources to try out and then blog about here. Really terrific stuff, everything is vetted and it covers many different subject areas.

The Biology Project
Another great online repository of interactive modules for biology! This is out of the University of Arizona. A great way to supplement the textbook you assign for class or use some of the interactive activities as assignments or practice for tests. Again, why reinvent the wheel when you can get great online resources from another database?

Profiles in Science
This site is by the National Library of Medicine and includes biographies of many different scientists. What is especially great about this site is the fact that it links to primary source material from the archival collections. There are many digital versions of documents from the archival collections that can be accessed through this site. A great way of incorporating primary source documents from the archives into a course!

And, just an announcement, I am presenting at Back to the Bay on Thursday. Come and say hi. I’d love to meet you. I’m co-presenting Online @ Your Library: Digital Resources for Research and Teaching at 9am and Online Content for Online Learning at 4pm.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday. More science resources to come later this week.

Migration and New Media

Three new resources: two on migration and one on everyone’s favorite topic (or bane) Google!

Help Track Bird Migration
So this is not an advertisement for this charity site, only a guide to the many organizations that you and your students can volunteer with to track bird migration. I think tracking bird migration is a pretty cool task and considering we live in/near a major migration path for birds, it is definitely worth a look. Go fall migration! Can’t wait for the birding opportunities in the Central Valley, but that’s just me!

Monarch Butterfly Migration
Another timely resource from the Library of Congress. Great list of online resources to learn more about Monarchs and their long migration. This is the perfect time to learn more about the monarchs as they will be at Natural Bridges State Park soon and that sight is worth a trip to Santa Cruz to see. And, if you decide to go, this links to the Homepage of Natural Bridges State Park.

New Media World: Google, Links, and Popularity versus Authority by Seth Finkelstein
This is a chapter from the book The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age. New Media World’s books are available for free online and are available for purchase in paper version. This is a very relevant chapter to read, and perhaps have students read, as it dispels commonly held beliefs about Google, search engines in general and the democracy of the web. A very interesting look at the social and political ramifications of search engine results. Also underscores the need for everyone to be able to evaluate web content effectively and efficiently! Information literacy instruction, anyone?

Have a fabulous rest of your week. Again, comments welcome–especially sharing new resources!

Forensics, Open Source and Images, Oh My!

Yes, another wonderfully random assortment of great online resources related directly to science and other stuff. Enjoy.

Cooliris,Inc.
Install Cooliris and turn your computer monitor into a moving image wall. Not only does it look fabulous but it could help visualize concepts and make creative connections. Not to mention it is great fun.

Assignment Calculator from the University of Minnesota
Students will love this assignment calculator that maps out a plan based on the due date and subject of the assignment. Helpful links and tutorials that compliment the research process.

Video Tutorials for Open Source Applications
Want to learn more open source software but are intimidated? Not sure what GIMP or OpenOffice is? This link is for you. Join the Open Source Revolution (or just learn a few new tricks).

Environmental Health Perspectives
Free, peer-reviewed, online journal covering topics about environmental health. Also contains news articles.

Environmental Literacy Council
Great teaching resources for environmental science. Some of it is basic, but good overviews for students and a place to get background information for research assignments.

Forensic Chemistry Lab Manual
An entire lab manual full of ideas for forensic science labs.

E.O.Wilson: Lord of the Ants
Videos, interviews and other information about E.O.Wilson and his work.

4 New Web Resources

On today’s menu: information for a Green California, water recycling, Smithsonian National Zoo and a timeline of human development. Dig in!

Green California
California’s Department of General Services site with information on legislation passed to support green building and links to more information.

Water Recycling and Reuse
EPA’s site on water recycling and reuse in Region 9 which includes California. Good information and links to more information plus a downloadable “Guidelines for Water Reuse.”

Smithsonian National Zoological Park
Lots of information and photographs of the animals at the zoological park. Fact sheets on the various animals, plus resources for further study.

Timeline of Discovery
From the site: “Presented here, in one location, is a timeline that includes important scientific discoveries from 1840 to the present related to early humans.” Please note, requires Flash player to view.