Aquarium Science Information

As a student in OCCC's Aquarium Science program, you need to find and information all the time. This web page lists some of the places to look for scientific and trade information as well as gives you tips for evaluating and using the information you find. The basic resources will help with all your classes. A few more specialized resources are listed by the classes where you may need them.

If you get lost or overwhelmed, contact Janet Webster, the librarian at the Hatfield Marine Science Center 's Guin Library (867-0108), or Charlie Piquett , the librarian at the Oregon Coast Community College (574-7126).

Contents

Quick Tips

Finding Information

Books

Articles

Web Resources

Evaluating what you find

Citing information for your projects

Resources for Classes

AQS 100: Introduction

AQS 270: Fish & Invertebrate Health

Quick Tips

• Evaluate your sources. Don't assume everything you find is true, accurate or timely.
• Keep track of the sources you find so you can document them accurately in your papers.
• If you don't get results using one approach, try another. Do not assume that nothing exists on the topic.
• Not everything is in the computer.
• Ask for help from a librarian if you get stuck or confused.
• Don't put all of your research off until the last possible moment. It won't be much fun.

Finding Information

Books

You have to start somewhere and it's simplest to start with what's nearest. In this case, that is the OSU Libraries collection at the Guin Library. Search the OSU Libraries catalogue to find books, conference proceedings, government documents and reports that OSU owns. You can also search the OCCC Library catalogue for material. You can search either by author, title or subject either by browsing or using keywords.

Useful subjects for aquarium science include these:

• Aquarium fishes
• Aquariums plants
• Marine animals - diseases
• Ornamental fish trade

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Articles

If you cannot find enough information in books or encyclopedias, try finding relevant articles by using article databases. The catalogue lists the titles of the journals we own, but not the individual articles. These databases are useful for aquarium science. You can often link to the full text of the article by clicking on the WebBridge or the PDF icon.

• Academic Search Premiere
• This is a broad index to articles in all subjects. It has many of the general science journals. It is available through the Community College as well as OSU.
• Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts
• This index provides abstrcats of the international literature dealing with the science, technology and management of marine, freshwater and brackish environments.
• Agricola
• Data provided by the U.S. National Agriculture Library comprises the most comprehensive coverage of agriculture literature, and the aquarium trade is a growing part of agriculture.
• Fish and Fisheries Review
  Coverage includes studies of individual species, diseases and parasites, economics, genetics, habitats, management practices and techniques, natural history and general research.

Many of the aquarium science journals that you typically refer to are not indexed in the databases mentioned above. Well-written, reliable and freely available aquarium science journals include ReefKeeping and Advanced Aquarist . You can access other useful magazines through the OSU Libraries subscriptions. These include Practical Fishkeeping (SF456 .P71), Freshwater and Marine Aquarium (SF456 .F7) and Tropical Fish Hobbyist (SF457 .T76).

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World Wide Web

While at times chaotic and unreliable, the Web provides intriguing pieces of information. Search engines vary so check out several before despairing over too few or too many hits. Here are three sites that are useful portals to aquaculture information.

• AquaNIC (Aquaculture Network Information Center)
• National Agriculture Library
• Fishing for Information (United Kingdom site)

Sources of basic information on aquatic species are found on a variety of web sites. Here are two that are particularly good for taxonomic information.

• Fishbase is produced by WorldFish with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. It's an excellent source for basic information on fishes of the world.
• UBio is simply a way to find the scientific name or names for an animal. It combines many lists of names so name changes and controversies are revealed. It is a project of the Woods Hole Ocenographic Institute.

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Evaluating What You Find

Evaluating any information resources, including web ones, is essential. Here's what to look for whne evaluating the reliability and usefulness of a resource.

• Who is the author?
• Who published it?
• Who is the audience?
• Is it accurate? This can revolve around currency, authority of the author, and breadth of coverage.
• When was it published or last updated?

There are different types of information that you will find as you search. Each has a place in your research. It's helpful to learn to recognize different types so you know when to use which one.

• Peer reviewed information:
  This is material that has been submitted to a formal review by one or more experts in the field. It is found in the core journals in your fields. Many books also would be considered peer reviewed, especially if they are published by a reputable firm.
• Governmental information:
  Most reports and papers generated by the U.S. government as well as other countries are not peer reviewed. Rather, they represent the work of the people on that particular project, and can also represent a point of view in line with current policy. It's important to look at the introduction to these reports to see if there are special circumstances for the report that may represent a different approach or viewpoint.
• Non-governmental organizations' information:
  This is a growing area of information especially on the Web. It is produced by a wide variety of non-profit groups, task forces, and quasi governmental bodies. An example of such an organization is the American Fisheries Society. Exercise caution here as opinion can be quite blatant.
• Popular press:
  Newspapers and current new magazines are obvious examples in this cataegory.
• Trade information:
  Trade publications can have a wealth of information in them. Often, you'll find the latest trend or equipment discussed here.

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Citing Information

When you start to write your papers, you need to accurately cite your sources. This means that in the text you need to identify where you found your information, who you are quoting, and who made the maps you use. The brief citations in the text link to your complete references at the end of your paper. Click here for help with citing information. Below are some basic tips for preparing your references.

Essential information for a journal article citation:

Authorship

Title of article & subtitle

Name of journal, & the part or supplement number where pertinent

Volume number

Inclusive page numbers

Year of publication

Month or number if volume is not paged consecutively

Essential information for a book citation:

Authorship

Title & subtitle

Edition number if not the first

Name of editor or translator if pertinent

Place of publicationPublisher

Year of publication

Volume number

Pages if specifically cited

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Resources for Classes

AQS 100: Introduction

Here are resources that will be helpful for the different topic headings for your species presentation. Some are described above as well.

• Names and basic biological information: Fishbase
• Life history and culturing: Try one of the fish databases or a web search.
• Images: Google's image search

AQS 270: Fish & Invertebrate Health

Besides the resources described above, you will need to use more scientific journals to find information on fish and invetebrate health. These are only available through the library, some electronically and some only in print. Aquaculture, is probably the most important research journal with articles on many topics; you can browse it, but it is more efficient to use on the indexes to find relevant articles. The same is true for these journals: Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (available online through OSU), Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (available online through OSU), Journal of Fish Diseases (available online through OSU), and Fish & Shellfish Immunology (only available in print at Guin).

You may also want to use Medline, a database produced by the National Library of Medicine. It provides access to millions of citations in medical and biological journals including veterinary science materials.

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Questions?

Janet Webster

Guin Library

Hatfield Marine Science Center

Oregon State University

(541) 867-0108