Question: Where do I find information for a report on endangered animals?
Research: The library has access to many books and databases to help begin your research.
The best place to start is with an encyclopedia such as The Encyclopedia of Endangered Species which gives endangerment status and range, the animal or plants description and biology, its habitat and current distribution and its history. Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World entries are arranged alphabetically by the English or common name followed by the scientific name, species’ status, the taxonomic classification, physical description and natural history.
Beacham’s Guide to the Endangered Species of North America provides a general description of plant and animal physical characteristics and behavior, the species’ preferred habitat, where the species is currently located and where it has been in the past, and a list of contacts.
You should also search the subject Endangered Species in the library catalog to find general books on the topic.
Look for encyclopedia & magazine articles in several library online databases. Academic Search Elite, EBSCO Animals, and SIRS Discoverer are all available from home or at a library, and are wonderful easy-to-use databases with current information on endangered animals. Search the phrase ‘endangered species’ in all of them to pull up lists of articles.
CQ Researcher is a weekly publication covering the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, insight into all sides of the issues, bibliographies & more. This is a great resource for high school students working on research papers and debate topics. You’ll get a nice overall perspective of the endangered animals issue from CQ!
There are several Web sites you can investigate. The United States Department of Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program is a great site with a wealth of up-to-date data and information. Check out their Fish & Wildlife section too – it has wonderful fact sheets on endangered species and an image library with illustrations of plants and wildlife.
The Endangered Species Coalition works on national, state and local endangered species issues and campaigns. Their site has a daily news digest about endangered species, press releases, hot topics, and reports.
You should also check out the World Wildlife Fund for breaking news on wildlife, wildlife trade, their photo gallery and a list of endangered species.
If TCCL doesn’t have books and other materials you need for your paper you can Interlibrary Loan them, which means we borrow them from another library system for you. If you choose to do this, request the materials as soon as possible because it sometimes takes several weeks for them to come in.
Once you have all materials for your paper, it’s time to start writing. If you need some help the library has many writing manuals; the Primary Source Page lists a few of them and there are several Writing pathfinders you might find useful as well.
If you have any questions, contact your local library or ask a librarian!