Biology Subject Guide

For subject assistance contact: Nick Lonergan, 717-245-1838.

The Library of Congress Classification System, which is the call number system utilized for locating and organizing library resources, breaks Biology down into primarily these areas:

Q is general Science
QH is specifically Natural History - Biology - Science
QH 501-531 is Life - Natural History - Biology - Science
Look at the Library of Congress Classification System Outline for more information.

Related Biology subfields:

More research help:

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Marine biology
Botany
Ecology

What is Plagiarism?
Citation Styles
Evaluating Resources
What is a Scholarly Journal?
Primary vs. Secondary Resources

Reference Resources

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Atlases, Thesaurus, and more...

How to search the library catalog:

Combine terminologies: Biology and dictionary
Use general language: Forestry and encyclopedia
Limit the location to reference by clicking on "Specialized Searches" then "Reference Books."

Examples of reference resources we own:

Swash, A and Rob Still. (2005). Birds, mammals, and reptiles of the Galapagos Islands. New Haven: Yale University Press.
REF QL694. G2 S83 2005

Helms, John A. (1998) The dictionary of forestry. Bethesda: Society of American Foresters.
Reference SD126 .D535 1998

Encycopedia of scientific principles, laws and theories.
Ed. Krebs, Robert.

Online Access

(The Oxford) Encyclopedia of evolution. (2002) ed. Pagel, Mark D. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reference QH360.2 .O83 2002

Oxford dictionary of biochemistry and molecular biology. (2000) ed. Smith, A. D. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reference QP512 .O94 1997

Grzimek's animal life encyclopedia. (2004) Grzimek, Bernhard. Detroit: Gale. Reference QL7 .G7813


Biology Department Webpage

Updated January 27th, 2012