Horticulture103: Introduction to Plant Science

This guide will help you do your research to find sources for your three reports about plants: Plants Used for Food, Medicinal Plants, and Poisonous Plants.

The library is here to help you along the way! If you have a research question, use the Get Help from a Librarian tab to start a chat or schedule a research appointment.

Any time you're doing research, please be sure to read your assignment carefully so you find the types of sources your instructor requires. Check with your instructor if you have questions about your assignment.

Use the tabs on the left to locate books, database articles, or internet sources.

What Is Your Information Need?

As with any research project, the first step is to identify the kind of information you need. Knowing what kind of information you need will help you plan your research, use the right search tools, and locate relevant sources.

Information need: Find sources to address the pieces of information you need to include in your plant reports, including:

• Common name and scientific name
• Growing and harvesting times
• Growing conditions: light, soils, moisture, special concerns
• Cultivars

Search Tools

Where are you most likely to find the information you need?

Search Engines (internet browser like Google): Popular sources like news and magazine articles, government sources like USDA.gov, primary sources. Sources may be behind a paywall, including sources from Google Scholar.

Library Databases: eBooks, scholarly sources, popular sources like news and magazine articles, reference sources, statistics, and more. Full text is available for thousands of database sources.