BIOL V03 Lab Library: Internet only Encyclopedia

Our knowledge of the many life-forms on Earth - of animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria - is scattered around the world in books, journals, databases, websites, specimen collections, and in the minds of people everywhere. Imagine what it would mean if this information could be gathered together and made available to everyone – anywhere – at a moment’s notice. This dream is becoming a reality through the Encyclopedia of Life.

Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.

MicrobeWiki is a free wiki resource on microbes and microbiology, authored by students at many colleges and universities. Curated pages such as those linked to the Taxonomy Index are reviewed and updated by microbiologists at Kenyon College. Student pages authored independently, or for coursework, are not monitored further. Interested readers are encouraged to add information, after registering a free account.

The peer-reviewed open-access encyclopedia, where knowledge is curated by communities of experts.

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites in the world, but it is not without problems. Anybody can write and edit Wikipedia entries. This means that you can't always count on the site for factual information. You also can't cite Wikipedia as a source for most student research papers. Nevertheless, Wikipedia is worth visiting because it is free and it can lead you to more valuable and reliable sources of information.