BIOL 551 - Taxonomy of Flowering Plants

What is Search It?

Search It is a discovery tool that covers the K-State Libraries physical resources (e.g., books, videos, periodicals) as well as millions of online resources.

How do you access Search It?

You can access search it directly from K-State Libraries' home page. 

Click the spyglass icon to get into Search It

Searching for sources about a particular species:

• Enter the species' name inside quotation marks. Also, enter any common names and use capital OR to link them e.g., "helianthus annuus" OR "common sunflower"

• To find books, click the show more link under the resource type facet on the left side of the screen

• Then click Books

Searching for flora:

• In the top row type flora* and change the drop-down to Title. In the second row, type plant* OR botan* and change the drop-down to Subject. Use the third row for key terms describing the region of interest. For example, if you were interested in Kansas, type midwest* OR kansas OR plains. 

Searching for sources discussing morphology, taxonomy, classification or anatomy of plants:

• In the top row type morphol* OR taxon* OR anatom* OR classif*  and change the drop-down to Subject. In the second row, type plant* OR botan* and change the drop-down to Subject. Use the third row for key terms describing the region of interest. For example, if you were interested in Kansas, type midwest* OR kansas OR plains.

When a resource is available online through Search It, below the title of the resource there will be a notice, Available Online.

To access the resource, click "Available Online", then on the detail page in the View Online section, there will be one or more links. When you click a provided link, one of the following will happen:

• You may be asked to login with your eID and password to access the resource.
• The resource may load in the tab.
• The resource may load in a new window.
• A menu of options for accessing the resource may appear.

When a physical resource is owned by K-State Libraries and is not currently checked out, below the title of the resource there will be a green label Located at, followed by the library location and call number. In the Find it at the Library section, see more information such as how many  copies are available.

• Due to the Hale Library fire, many items are unavailable. Weigel Architecture Library in 0081 Regnier Hall may have some relevant materials because they support the landscape architecture program.
• K-State students, faculty, and staff may use Interlibrary Loan to obtain materials from other libraries.

When a physical resource is owned by K-State Libraries but is currently unavailable. Click the the title of the resource to see options for requesting it.

The Find it at the Library section of the detailed information about the resource will provide access to K-State Libraries' Interlibrary Loan Service. If you are a current K-State student or employee, you can use that service to request the item.

Google Books allows you to search the full-text of millions of books. Since you are searching the full-text, you can be very specific. 

Tips for searching in Google Books:

• Specify phrases using quotation marks
• Use OR to broaden a search
• To specify that a word or phrase should appear in the title of the book, type intitle: directly in front of the word or phrase. For example, intitle:sunflowers
• Add subject:botany if your results do not seem relevant

Example:

Viewing Google Books

The amount of the text you will be able to see varies from book to book. Some books are viewable in their entirety for free. Some only have free previews (about 20% of the book), some only have snippets, and some have no visible content.

You can filter by visibility after you perform a search. To do so, click the Any view drop-down

If you are willing to use our Interlibrary Loan service (which you should be as it is free), then chances are good that you could get your hands on any book that is not extremely rare. WorldCat is a great database to use to discover what books are theoretically available.

Navigating to WorldCat:

1. Go to the the libraries' home page.

2. Click the Research & find drop-down menu and select Databases.

3. Click the letter W (since it is the first letter of WorldCat)

4. Scroll down and click the name WorldCat

Searching WorldCat for sources about a particular species:

1. Click Advanced Search.

2. If you are looking for sources about a particular species, use the top row to enter the genus and any single word common names for the species. Place an asterisk at the stem of each term. Link terms with OR. For example, if your species is helianthus annuus, the common sunflower, you would enter the following:

3.  Click the Search button at the bottom of the screen and examine your results. If you obtained a large number of results, click the Searching tab at the top of the screen and use the second row to enter the species name and any specific words used as names for that species. Place an asterisk after each term. Link terms with OR. For example, for the common sunflower, we would enter the following:

Searching WorldCat for flora:

1. Use the advanced search screen (see step 1 above).

2. In the top row type flora* and change the drop-down to Title. In the second row, type plant* OR botan* and change the right drop-down to Subject. Use the third row for key terms describing the region of interest. For example, if you were interested in Kansas, type midwest* OR kansas OR plains. 

Searching WorldCat for sources discussing morphology, taxonomy, classification or anatomy of plants:

1. Use the advanced search screen (see step 1 above).

2. In the top row type morphol* OR taxon* OR anatom* OR classif*  and change the drop-down to Subject. In the second row, type plant* OR botan* and change the drop-down to Subject. Use the third row for key terms describing the region of interest. For example, if you were interested in Kansas, type midwest* OR kansas OR plains.

Finding Books:

1. Search for book title in Search It to find the book's call number and location OR
2. Make an interlibrary loan request for books not in K-State Libraries' collection.