Research Guides: BIOL Biological Sciences Subject Guide: Find Books / eBooks

Find Books

Search the library catalog, OneSearch to discover materials

OneSearch provides a comprehensive gateway to explore all types of resources including books, eBooks, CDs, DVDs, streaming media, and journal articles available through the CSULB Library.

For streamlined search tips using OneSearch to locate books, and employ effective strategies, visit the "Help with OneSearch" link below the OneSearch box on the library's homepage. Discover video tutorials and practical tips to refine your research.

Explore Key Topics in Biology

Explore Key Topics in Biology

For a more streamlined search, click on the links below. The following is a list of curated, pre-made search strings in OneSearch for the top 10 Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for biology and related areas:

Biology (General) -This heading covers general biology resources, including introductory texts and overviews of the field.
Microbiology - Focused on the study of microorganisms, this area is fundamental for students interested in infectious diseases, biochemistry, and environmental biology.
Genetics - This heading encompasses resources on the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms, a crucial area for understanding biological functions and evolutionary processes.
Botany - Dedicated to the study of plants, including their structure, properties, and biochemical processes. This area is essential for research in agriculture, ecology, and conservation.
Zoology - Focuses on the study of animals, including their anatomy, physiology, behavior, and evolution.
Ecology - This heading includes resources on the relationships between organisms and their environments, a key area for understanding biodiversity, conservation, and climate change impacts.
Evolution - Encompasses resources on the theory of evolution, evolutionary biology, and the history of life on Earth.
Biochemistry - Focused on the chemical processes within and relating to living organisms, this area is fundamental for students interested in molecular biology, genetics, and biotechnology.
Molecular Biology - Covers the molecular basis of biological activity, including DNA/RNA research, gene expression, and the regulation of genetic information.
Biotechnology - This heading includes resources on the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, an important area for innovation in medicine, agriculture, and environmental science.

eBooks

eBooks: Discover and Access

eBook Databases

Premium eBook databases to support research, studying, or just reading for pleasure.

Skillsoft This link opens in a new window Also includes IT and Desktop Video collection. Full text of IT books on hundreds of different technology topics. Includes books from premier industry publishers, such as Wrox, McGraw-Hill, and Microsoft Press as well as popular book series, such as The Complete Reference, Inside Out, and Bibles. Allows up to 6 simultaneous users. Formerly called Books 24/7.
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ACLS Humanities E-Book Project This link opens in a new window Is a digital collection of over 1,700 full text searchable e-books of recommended by humanities scholars.
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Ebook Central (from ProQuest) This link opens in a new window More than 80,000 academic e-books in 16 subject categories (Formerly called eBrary)
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eBook Collection from EBSCO This link opens in a new window Full-text, searchable electronic books. Books can only be read online. However, mindful of copyright laws, texts may be printed out or copied in part using browser functions. Coverage: Most books are pre-2003. Also provides access to 3,500 older, "public domain" works that may be several hundred years old.
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Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window More than 2 million entries from hundreds of cross-searchable Oxford encyclopedias and other reference books, many of which are illustrated.
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Gale eBooks Reference Library This link opens in a new window A collection of about 900 encyclopedias and other reference books from several publishers across many disciplines that can be searched at one time.
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Libby (previously Overdrive) This link opens in a new window Popular ebooks and audiobooks that you can read and listen to through the Libby app on your personal device.
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O'Reilly Learning This link opens in a new window Over 2000 e-books from O' Reilly, Que, Sams, Addison-Wesley, Prentice Hall and Peachpit Press covering computing, databases, operating systems, programming, XML, Java and web design, as well as a broad range of business topics. Covers: Current year plus two previous calendar years.
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O’Reilly Sign in Instructions

Access the O’Reilly Learning site one of two ways:

Through the Database A-Z List
Through a OneSearch record for a specific title.

When prompted, sign-in through our authentication system using your BeachID and password.

After authenticating, you will be directed to the O’Reilly site where a pop-up box will appear. Select Institution not listed?, located below the drop-down menu.

The pop-up box will change to a new screen that prompts new users to enter their academic email and existing users to sign in.

New Users
Enter your CSULB email in the box that says Your academic email to register for a new account. O’Reilly will grant you access to their site and will send a follow up email to complete the registration process.

Existing users
Select the Already a user? option below the pop-up box to be directed to the sign in screen.

***Note: your O’Reilly account login details may not be the same as your Beach ID login/password. It depends on what you entered when originally creating the account.*** Try using the “Forgot Password” option if you already have an account, but are unable to sign in.

Free eBooks

Free eBooks available online, from classics to contemporary reads, these resources provide access to a variety of genres and subjects.

Project Gutenberg roject Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks. Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related content today.
Bookshelf From Bookshelf’s Browse Titles page you may view all of Bookshelf’s titles by title, first author/editor, publisher, publication year or type, or begin searching across the entire resource. You may browse and search across all content, or one book at a time. By clicking on a book’s cover image or hyperlinked title, you may access an individual publication’s Table of Contents page, from which you can begin browsing or searching the contents of that particular book. Search results will be displayed on a separate page and organized by relevance (see Displaying Your Search Results). For a quick look at Bookshelf and its features, also visit the Tutorials page.
National Academies Press The NAP publishes more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and medicine, providing authoritative, independently-researched information on important matters in science and health policy.
ManyBooks ManyBooks was established in 2004 with the vision to provide an extensive library of books in digital format for free on the Internet. Many of the early eBooks are from the Project Gutenberg archives, which means you will be able to find a lot of classics on the site. Over a decade later, we are still going strong in our mission to provide a valuable service to our readers. ManyBooks has grown into a platform where self-publishing authors have the opportunity to introduce their work to our community and new books are uploaded to our site daily - provided they comply to our quality standards.

Google Books

Search the full text of books scanned by Google, some are available free on the web, others we may have here in the library (Search the title in OneSearch).