Biological sciences: Key resources

Includes:

-The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Cochrane Reviews)
-The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
-The Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (Methodology Reviews)

Help and guidance
You can find training materials and videos by registering with the Cochrane Library Training Hub (requires an e-mail address).

Please note: By accepting the licence you are agreeing to the terms and conditions listed in the End User Licence Agreement (EULA).

Map data of Great Britain comprising ten datasets:

-Ordnance Survey Digimap (including Scottish Improvement Service data)
-Historic Digimap
-Geology Digimap
-Marine Digimap
-Environment Digimap
-Aerial Digimap (including Aerial Extra data and Lidar Digimap)
-Global Digimap
-Society Digimap
-Verisk Digimap (formerly Geomni)
-agCensus Digimap

Data can be downloaded to use with appropriate application software such as GIS or CAD, or as maps generated by Digimap online using the Roam facility.

Using Roam you can:

-View maps of any location in Great Britain at a series of predefined scales
-Print maps at a variety of scales and sizes
-Add your own annotations

Coverage details:

-Ordnance Survey Digimap offers MasterMap - the most detailed current map dataset
-Ordnance Survey Digimap includes Digital Terrain Model data for download.
-Ordnance Survey Digimap includes Scottish Improvement Service data, 37 datasets from Scottish local authorities, available for download only.
-Historic Digimap provides access to 1:10 560, 1:2500 and 1:1250 data from 1846-1996; two maps of the same area can be compared on screen at once.
-Geology Digimap provides access to bedrock and Quaternary geological maps at scales of 1:625 000, 1:250 000 and 1:50 000.
-Marine Digimap includes hydrographic charts and marine themes data
-Environment Digimap includes land cover data for 1997, 2000 and 2007 from the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology.
-Aerial Digimap includes aerial imagery in a single seamless coverage, captured since 2000, at 12.5 cm resolution (nationally) and 5 cm (selected areas).
-Aerial Digimap includes access to Lidar Digimap - download Lidar data for use in GIS and CAD applications.

More about Digimap 

Help and guidance
Digimap help can be found in the Digimap Help Centre, including links to help you get started and help for GIS/CAD users. Digimap Help pages can be accessed without logging in to Digimap.
Guides, exercises and case studies can be found on the Digimap learning materials page
Short videos about aspects of using Digimap can be found at EDINA Digimap Youtube channel 
For help and guidance on licensing and copyright see the Digimap copyright & licensing page. 

Current awareness
To keep up to date with what is happening with Digimap, follow Digimap on Twitter or Facebook, or look at the Digimap Blog

Covers food science, technology and nutrition including:

-food additives
-biotechnology
-food safety
-food science
-functional and novel foods
-nutrition
-packaging

Patent coverage includes European and World (PCT) patents and individual country patents from 17 major countries.

Help and guidance
Web of Science Training Portal

It is unclear which publishers are included in Google Scholar, so it shouldn't be used as your only source for a comprehensive literature search. For references to reliable, academic sources search our Summon discovery service or databases covering your subject.

Link to our full-text
You can set your preferences on Google Scholar to show links to full-text articles in all of our e-journals.

1) Click on the three lines on the top left of the home screen.
2) Select 'Settings'.
3) Select 'Library Links' on the left of the screen.
4) In the search box type 'Reading' and select the 'Reading University Library - Full-Text @ Reading' option.
5) Save your settings.

When you do a search, look for a 'Full-Text @ Reading' link to the right of references in your results list. This indicates that we have a subscription which will give you access to the article. Click on this link to access the full-text.

If the 'Full-text @ Reading' link does not appear next to a reference it indicates that it isn't covered by our subscriptions and you probably won't be able to access the article.

If you are off-campus you will need to login to access the articles. You will usually be prompted to login as soon as you click on the link to the article. If this doesn't happen you will need to look for an institutional or Shibboleth login link once you reach the journal's website. For more guidance see Accessing e-journals.

Google Scholar Button
Google have produced a plugin for Chrome, Firefox and Safari which allows you to easily search for and cite articles. Highlight the title of an article in the page you are reading and then click the Scholar button and it will search for the article on Google Scholar in a pop up window. To get a formatted reference for a search result press the quote button next to it and the reference will appear in three different styles.

To make the most of this tool set up the University of Reading as a 'Library Link' using the instructions above.

Our subscription does not include: Electrochemical and solid-state letters; Journal of electronic materials; The Institute newspaper and Engineering management review articles for which IEEE does not hold the copyright.

Help and guidance
IEEE search help - Guides on how to search, refine your results, save your search and set up alerts

Includes:

-Beilstein Database - covers organic chemistry from 1771 to date. Based on Beilstein's Handbuch der organischen Chemie. It contains over 8.2 million structures, 10 million reactions (making it the world's largest reactions database), 20 million property records and 50 million hyperlinks. It also gives references to journal articles from 1980- present including abstracts and links to full text for articles Reading readers are entitled to access.

-Gmelin Database - covers inorganic and organometallic compounds from 1772 to (presently) 1995. It contains all the structural, factual, and bibliographic data cited in the Gmelin Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. The database currently comprises over 1.5 million compounds, including glasses, alloys, ceramics, minerals and coordination compounds, and 1.3 million reactions.

-Patent Chemistry Database - Organic chemistry and life science patents from US (since 1976), World and European patent publications (since 1978).

Help and guidance
Help using Reaxys is available via the Reaxys Support Centre, and there are also training videos available.

SciFinder is a key resource for chemistry-related research. Use it to find substance and reaction information and literature. Specifically you can use it to: identify a chemical substance and its related chemical structures; find chemical names, find regulatory information, and properties, including CAS Registry Numbers®; find reaction schemes; and view step-by-step experimental procedures, detailed conditions, and product yields. It gives references to journal articles and patents.

Also useful for researching in related areas such as: agricultural science; biomedical sciences; engineering; food; geological sciences; materials science; medical sciences; and physics.

More about SciFinder 

Help and guidance
SciFinder support and training

You can rotate, flip, zoom in/out and highlight models, as well as hide, isolate, fade and peel away structures and layers.

There are thousands of medically accurate anatomical structures and hundreds of thumbnails with pre-set views of body systems. The platform also provides pronunciations and detailed definitions for all structures, and quizzes for self assessment.

Modules included:

- Human Anatomy Atlas
- Muscle
- Physiology & Pathology

Help and guidance
For guidance see the Visible Body Help Centre for FAQs and user guides for each of the modules.

Full-text archive of journal articles covering most subjects. Covers 1880s up to a 'moving wall' usually of between 2 and 5 years. Each journal title has its own 'moving wall'.

We subscribe to the following JSTOR packages: Arts & Sciences I-XI, Biological Sciences, Health & General Sciences and Ireland Collection.

We also subscribe to the 19th Century British Pamphlets collection.

Help and guidance
JSTOR help page for searching

Covers ca.1000 BC to the present.