This guide suggests resources and strategies for research on horticulture.

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |  Criticism & Reviews  |  Primary Sources  |  People  |  Organizations  |  Web Resources  |  Additional Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

North American horticulture : a reference guide (R  635.02573 N811 1992)

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

Dictionary of horticulture (R  635.03 D5614)
Dictionary of Plant Sciences
The Facts On File dictionary of botany (R  580.3 F1198)
Handbook of vegetable pests

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page (http://library.semo.edu/find/articles.asp).

To find historical/source materials, use the following print sources:

Agricultural Index
Biological & Agricultural Index
Biological Abstracts

To find recent articles and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Premier
Gardening, Landscape, and Horticulture Collection (Gale)
Agricola
BioAgIndex
Jstor

 

Use the Kent Library Catalog (http://library.semo.edu/find/books.shtml) to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Arboriculture
Gardening
Greenhouses
Horticulture
Hydroponics
 

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal chart  to get you in the right subject areas or try the following:

List call# areas here.
635 Garden crops (Horticulture)

Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic related information.

American Horticulturists Society
Institute of Horticulture
 

Kew Royal Botanical Gardens
List of botanical gardens and arboreta from the American Horticulturists Society
Missouri Botanical Gardens

For a list of Web searching tools, see the Find: web resources page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.shtml).