Zoological Society Library Staff and Collection Overview

Linda Coates, associate director of Library Services, and Kaitlyn Means, assistant librarian, manage the Zoological Society of San Diego's unique collection of resources. They have created a Zoo and Conservation Web Portal to integrate the Zoological Society’s collections with important outside resources: conservation organizations (AZA, IUCN, CBSG), other zoos, veterinary medical resources, and the many quality Web sites and bibliographic databases that provide animal, plant, and wildlife information. In addition, they maintain the Society Archives.

Special online resources created by Library staff:

• Library Fact Sheets: A growing number of carefully researched fact sheets have been created for key animals (species that are the focus of conservation projects or featured in major exhibits).

• ZOONOOZ Index (1926–present): This ongoing index provides keyword access to the authors, titles, subjects, and zoo personalities that have appeared in this important Society publication (not online at this time).

• Zoo History Time Line: A list of important Society events, people, and animals from 1916 to the present.

• Zoo and Conservation News: Abstracts of news articles from around the world are posted on a weekly basis. Information on endangered species from the Federal Register is also included. This publication is distributed as an RSS feed to staff.

• Index of Staff Articles: Articles written by Society researchers, veterinarians, and curators that have been published in the scientific literature. This database contains approximately 2,000 entries.

• Index/catalog of Society Archival Objects: This database has approximately 400 entries with digital photos.