Literature on rattlesnake roundups

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DracoRJC
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Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by DracoRJC »

Hey all,
I'm doing a project for my college environmental conservation class, and I need about 5 (preferably) peer-reviewed primary sources on rattlesnake roundups, and any subject within that topic is fine. Even something on rattlesnake population ecology or conservation works. I have found 5 already, but its hard to access much of the literature without paying for it, if the articles not too old for me to use in the first place. I hate to ask for glorified homework help on here, but I know you guys know your stuff :)

Thanks in advance,
Ryan
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umop apisdn
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by umop apisdn »

In the essence of not having forum members do your college work for you, how about you list the publications you're seeking access to and see if anyone would be kind enough to send you a copy. Or you could request a copy from the authors themselves.
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Kyle from Carolina
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

A tip regarding the articles that ask for you to pay...If you cannot access them for free via the online databases or print journals at your university library, they likely have an inter-library loan option where your home institution can find and retrieve for you a PDF version of the article for FREE from another institution. The only downfall is that it can take a few days to a couple of weeks so not a good choice if you've procrastinated but it's a great way to get ahold of obscure articles.
-Kyle
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DracoRJC
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by DracoRJC »

umop apisdn wrote:In the essence of not having forum members do your college work for you, how about you list the publications you're seeking access to and see if anyone would be kind enough to send you a copy. Or you could request a copy from the authors themselves.
I wasn't trying to take the easy route but I am legitimately having trouble finding literature and my professor has not been of much help.

However, I could actually use help in tracking this one down! I can't seem to find a free version of it online.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 ... 43#preview

Thanks again
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azatrox
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by azatrox »

In the essence of not having forum members do your college work for you,...

Wow...so you're going to imply that someone you don't even know is trying to slack and let others do his work for him, only because he comes to a public forum and requests assistance locating articles pertaining to a subject that has been covered ad nauseum on this forum by a plethora of people....ummm....really?

As anyone that has written college papers can attest, sometimes you need help locating references so that you can get started...once help is provided, you're usually well on your way.

Pardon me for saying so (or don't...your choice) but coming off like this to someone you don't even know for asking a legitimate, pertinent question on this forum about a relevant subject is exactly the kind of crap that's driven so many people away.

Smooth moves.

-Kris
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umop apisdn
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by umop apisdn »

Alright, so maybe I'm king of stating things poorly the first time around. It was not my intent to imply that DracoRJC was trying to get people to do the lit search for him. When I did lit searches as an undergrad, I know how difficult it was, since I had to actually go to the stacks and thumb through printed journals to find the articles I needed. Obviously, we've come a long way since then. But that's not to say that learning a proper and thorough electronic literature search isn't worth learning. I don't know if you've ever TA'ed an undergrad class that had to write a paper with citations on primary lit before, but I can tell you that a jaw-dropping number of students have no idea how to do so, and it only hurts them in their future studies to not gain thorough experience gaining access to the primary literature.

Some titles would have at least shown that some work has been done. I have journal access and would have been glad to help (still am), but I know there's something to learn from struggling a little to get it on your own first. But I'll agree, my first sentence came across as accusatory. For that, I apologize. But I don't know who would agree with me that asking for specific publications over a shotgun request is the appropriate way of a college student asking for help. If you went to a library, stood in front of a librarian and said you needed help getting literature on a topic like rattlesnake roundups, do you think they would say, "wait here a sec," and come back with printed articles, or do you think they would provide recommendations and assistance in finding said articles? Which do you think the student has more to learn from?

So, my sincerest public apology for any harshness that might have come across in my original response, Draco.

And azatrox, you can say whatever you want or believe whatever you want to believe. That's the wonder of the internet for you. And pardon me for saying so (but no, really don't), but coming off like this to someone you don't even know for offering legitimate, pertinent, on-topic advice does nothing to the further the subject at hand. If you have issues, rather than airing your issues publicly, in the future you might try taking it to PM before the public finger-pointing.
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azatrox
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Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by azatrox »

Issue's real simple from my perspective...Guy asks for a little help (while mentioning that he's already been doing his search on his own), and he basically gets accused of slacking in his work....It's not about what I believe or want to believe....I called it like I saw it, and that's that. Had your response started a little more constructively, then maybe this would be a non-issue. Regardless, you didn't mean to come off like you did, so no harm no foul. Props to you for setting the record straight.

Rest assured, whatever issues exist are issues that I'd pretty much deal with in the same manner with everyone. Nothin's personal, as you and I don't know each other...Just felt that your approach was out of line due to what it implied, so I said so.

Onward and upward.

-Kris
teter247
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Joined: July 28th, 2010, 9:12 am

Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by teter247 »

Aside from genital measuring going on here...

Go to "Google Scholar" and search for Rattlesnake Roundups. Most of those results should be peer reviewed articles. If you can't get access to them there you can try using one of your school computers to do the search as they likely have bought access to databases like JSTOR, etc... which will you give you many papers for free.

If you can't access them that way, you will at least be able to read the abstracts and determine if the paper is relevant. This will include the title and list of authors with email addresses. You can email the lead (1st) author for a .pdf copy of the paper and they typically ablige rather quickly.

I'd say that was an easy way to give this guy a little help without overly assisting him wouldn't you schlong schlingers agree?

TH
WW**
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:32 am

Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

Post by WW** »

It's been said several times, but it really can't be overstressed:
NEVER hesitate to email the author of a paper for a pdf. The email address is almost always available before you hit the paywall, and most researchers will be absolutely delighted that someone wants to read their paper, irrespective whether it's a schoolkid, a pensioner, an academic or a hobbyist. Remember: scientists earn precisely $0.00 for the papers they publish (in fact they often end up paying page charges for the privilege), so sending you a pdf costs them $0.00 and around 20 seconds at most. And funnily enough, we write the papers in the hope that they will be read and useful to someone, so go on, email and ask for that pdf!
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