GENERAL RESOURCES

• General Science Index. New York: Wilson, 1978–. An index designed for the nonspecialist, covering about 190 major research publications and popular science magazines. Available in print and electronic formats. Some libraries may subscribe to an electronic version that includes abstracts and full text of selected articles.
• Science Citation Index. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1961–. An interdisciplinary index to nearly 6,000 science journals. The index, updated weekly, provides citations and abstracts. It can be searched by author or keyword and allows searches by cited source, an efficient way to trace the influence of a piece of research. The electronic version, part of the Web of Science, has a powerful “related records” search, which identifies articles that cite one or more of the same sources.

• EurekAlerthttp://www.eurekalert.org A regularly updated source for information about research advances in science, medicine, health, and technology. The site includes links to other science sites, access to databases, and a searchable archive of news releases. Content for the site is screened by an advisory committee of journalists and public information specialists. The site was founded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• National Science Digital Libraryhttp://nsdl.org Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this site offers hundreds of collections of digitized material about math and science, intended to enhance science education at all levels. Users can search or browse collections or submit a question to a panel of experts.
• Science.govhttp://www.science.gov A portal for science information from the U.S. government. The site includes cross-searching of 30 databases as well as links to science pages contributed by 12 federal agencies. It offers an advanced search as well as a browsable directory of resources by topic.
• Scirushttp://www.scirus.com A search engine that focuses on science materials only. It searches both free Web content and several databases that include abstracts to published research, including Medline, Science Direct, and NASA Technical Reports. The site is sponsored by Elsevier, a major science publisher.

• Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Ed. Charles Coulston Gillispie, 14 vols. New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1970–2000. With supplements. Profiles scientists from early to modern times, considering both their lives and technical aspects of their work. Each biography is followed by a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. For basic biographical information on living scientists, consult American Men and Women of Science, published by Thomson Gale.
• McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Offers concise, up-to-date definitions of technical terms beyond those found in a standard dictionary.
• McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 9th ed. 20 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. A specialized encyclopedia covering scientific topics in detail. Technical discussions are fully illustrated with charts, diagrams, and photographs.