This weblet is intended to get you started thinking about the literature search portion of your work in Bio 280 --about how to proceed to find the materials you need, given the fact that there is no single source that will give you everything. It's important to recognize that your literature search is a process that leads from a few general terms into a research literature of great complexity. You'll find it very advantageous to keep careful track of the paths you follow. The text below walks you through a plausible sequence of searches, but they aren't necessarily the best or the only approaches possible to the subject. And perhaps needless to say you need to find and look at (skim, read, assimilate) a lot of material that you'll discard as not relevant, or at least as not central to the work you are doing.

Our subject is genetic imprinting --though the Scientific American article is titled "Parental imprinting", and the third paragraph specifically says that the phenomenon in question is "called genome imprinting"; as we'll see, another term that shows up in the literature is genomic imprinting.

We'll begin with ANNIE, figuring that it's a likely source:

a W (keyword) search for 'genome imprinting' yields this:

GENOME       is in 27    titles.
IMPRINTING   is in 10    titles.
Both "IMPRINTING" and "GENOME" are in 0 title.
 Therefore "GENOME" is discarded.
 
There are 8 entries with IMPRINTING.
Do you want to see items found? (y/n)
Sure, let's look:
 You searched for the KEYWORD: genome imprinting             W&L CATALOG
 8 entries found, entries 1-8 are:                      LOCATIONS
     1  Attachment of the young: imprinting and other d LEYBURN
     2  Genomic imprinting : papers presented at a meet LEYBURN
     3  Imprinting                                      LEYBURN
     4  Imprinting and cortical plasticity : comparativ LEYBURN
     5  Imprinting and early learning                   LEYBURN
     6  Imprinting; early experience and the developmen LEYBURN
     7  Kin recognition                                 LEYBURN
     8  Olfactory imprinting and homing in salmon : inv LEYBURN
A glance through these 8 quickly tells us that the main usage of "imprinting" has to do with parental identification --ducklings following their mother, not what we're conccerned with-- but the second item does seem relevant:
 TITLE        Genomic imprinting : papers presented at a meeting of the 
                British Society for Developmental Biology at the 
                University of Manchester, April 1990 / edited by Marilyn 
                Monk and Azim Surani.
 PUBLISHER    Cambridge, [England] : Company of Biologists, c1990.
 DESCRIPT     155 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.
 SUBJECT      Gene expression --Congresses.
    LOCATION               CALL NO.                       
1 > Leyburn Library        QH450 .G466 1990 
Yes, we'd probably want to look at that one, if only to check out the bibliographies accompanying the papers. But it is the collected papers from a conference, and thus isn't likely to be a very good starting place.
So let's try PAO (Periodical Abstracts Online) with our stable of terms:
 You searched for the WORD: genome imprinting         PERIODICAL ABSTRACTS
 
 AUTHOR       Peterson, Karen.
 TITLE        Imprinting the genome : Imprinted genes, imprinting genes, 
              and a hypothesis for their interaction.
 
 APPEARS IN   Annual Review of Genetics 1993, v27, p. 7-31.
 
 SUMMARY      Genetic and molecular evidence is presented for the 
              existence of imprinted endogenous genes.  The next step in 
              imprinting research is to identify and isolate imprinting 
	      genes.
 
 SUBJECT      Genetics.
              Genes.
 
 Holdings: ANNUAL REVIEW OF GENETICS 
1 > Leyburn Library      QH431.A1 A54                                        
   LIB HAS: 1(1967)-                       
OK --Annual Reviews come in VERY handy for access to literature on a subject, since their purpose is to summarize what's been done. Clearly this one is a must-read, and its date (1993) means that its contents will be reasonably current. Its bibliography (135 items) is a fertile source for terminology, and the text itself
...summarize(s) the evidence for imprinting of both introduced and endogenous genes. The evidence leads to a model for the imprinting process and to predictions of how imprinting is involved in the expression of many disease phenotypes. We also make predictions about the function of imprinting proteins and discuss the ongoing search for imprinting genes. Finally, we consider the evolution of imprinting and its implications for the developing embyo. [pg. 8]

 You searched for the WORD: genetic imprinting        PERIODICAL ABSTRACTS
 2 entries found, entries 1-2 are:           APPEARS IN          DATE
     1  Genomic Imprinting in Hereditary Glom Lancet            Dec 89
     2  Genetic Imprinting Suggested by Mater Nature            Nov 89
-----
 AUTHOR       van der Mey, Andel G L.
 TITLE        Genomic Imprinting in Hereditary Glomus Tumors : Evidence 
              for New Genetic Theory.
 
 APPEARS IN   Lancet 1989, n8675, Dec 2, p. 1291-1294.
 
 SUMMARY      A study showed that familial glomus tumors are inherited almost
                exclusively via the paternal line, a finding inconsistent 
		with autosomal dominant transmission.  Genomic imprinting 
		may have considerable implications for genetic counseling 
		with respect to glomus tumors and also for the understanding 
		of other hereditary diseases.

W&L does not own this periodical.  Consult a librarian about availability.
(incidentally, The Lancet is now available via Lexis/Nexis)
----
 AUTHOR       Nicholls, Robert D.
 TITLE        Genetic Imprinting Suggested by Maternal Heterodisomy in
                Nondeletion Prader-Willi Syndrome.
 
 APPEARS IN   Nature 1989, v342n6247, Nov 16, p. 281-285.
 
 SUMMARY      Research has concluded that a gene or genes in region 15q11q13
                must be inherited from each parent for normal human
                development.  Individuals with a mutation in a specific gene
                such as in Prader-Willi syndrome are compared to those with
                normal genetic structure.
 
 Holdings: NATURE 
1 > Leyburn Library      PERIODICALS                                         
   LIB HAS: 46(1892)-51(1894/95),53(1895/96)-103(1919),183(1959)-  
These two are perhaps useful, though not very current; we learn some handy facts and bits of terminology to add to our searching strategy.
 You searched for the WORD: parental imprinting       PERIODICAL ABSTRACTS
 7 entries found, entries 1-7 are:                APPEARS IN          DATE
   1  Allele-specific parental imprinting o Proceedings of the Nation May 94
   2  Parental imprinting studied by allele Proceedings of the Nation Nov 92
   3  Genomic imprinting : Parental origin  Alcohol Health & Research Jan 92
   4  Embryological and Molecular Investiga Nature                    Jun 91
   5  Parental Imprinting of the Mouse H19  Nature                    May 91
   6  Parental Imprinting of Genes          Scientific American       Oct 90
   7  Genomic Imprinting Determines Methyla Nature                    Jul 87p
Ahah! not only do we find the Sci Am article, but there are also several more recent items:
                                                                 
Record 1 of 7
 AUTHOR       Chaudhuri, Sumita.
 TITLE        Allele-specific parental imprinting of drz1, a
                posttranscriptional regulator of zein accumulation.
 
 APPEARS IN   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
                States of America 1994, v91n11, May 24, p. 4867-4871.
 
 SUMMARY      Parental imprinting is the phenomenon of unequivalent gene
                function based on the transmission from the female or male
                parent.  Parental imprinting has been discovered on an allele
                of the drz1 locus that posttranscriptionally regulates the
                accumulation of 10-kDa zein in the maize endosperm.
 
 Holdings: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED  
1 > Leyburn Library      PERIODICALS                                         
   LIB HAS: 61(1978)-    
-----
 AUTHOR       Singer-Sam, Judith.
 TITLE        Parental imprinting studied by allele-specific primer extension
                after PCR : Paternal X chromosome-linked genes are 
                transcribed prior to preferential paternal X chromosome 
                inactivation.
 
 APPEARS IN   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
                States of America 1992, v89n21, Nov 1, p. 10469-10473.
 
 SUMMARY      A study sought to determine whether the paternal allele of 
                the X chromosome-linked gene for 3-phosphoglycerate kinase 1 
                (Pgk-1), which is located near the center of X chromosome 
                inactivation, is transcribed prior to differentiation of 
                extraembryonic lineages.  Results obtained by use of a 
                reverse transcrption/ PCR-based method which allows the 
                quantitative measurement of allele-specific RNA are discussed.
-----
 AUTHOR       Kirkness, Ewen F.
 TITLE        Genomic imprinting : Parental origin effects on gene 
               expression.
 
 APPEARS IN   Alcohol Health & Research World 1992, v16n4, p. 312-316.
 
 SUMMARY      Certain genes seem to be imprinted, meaning that they can be
                differentially expressed depending on whether that gene is
                derived from the male or the female parent.  This phenomenon
                and the mechanisms that produce it are discussed.
 
 SUBJECT      Research.
              Genetics.
 
 Holdings: ALCOHOL HEALTH & RESEARCH WORLD 
1 > Leyburn Library      PERIODICALS                                         
   LIB HAS: 14(1990)-   
-----
 AUTHOR       Ferguson-Smith, A C.
 TITLE        Embryological and Molecular Investigations of Parental 
                Imprinting on Mouse Chromosome 7.
 
 APPEARS IN   Nature 1991, v351n6328, Jun 20, p. 667-670.
 
 SUMMARY      Mouse embryos with duplications of whole maternal or paternal
                genomes show reciprocal phenotypes and do not develop to 
                term. Now, the incorporation of cells with the paternal 
                duplication into chimaeras, resulting in a striking growth 
                enhancement of the embryos, has been discovered.
 
 AUTHOR       Bartolomei, Marisa S.
 TITLE        Parental Imprinting of the Mouse H19 Gene.
 
 APPEARS IN   Nature 1991, v351n6322, May 9, p. 153-155.
 
 SUMMARY      An RNase protection assay that can distinguish between H19
                alleles in four subspecies of Mus is used to demonstrate that
                the H19 gene is parentally imprinted with the active copy
                derived from the mother.
-----
AUTHOR       Reik, Wolf.
 TITLE        Genomic Imprinting Determines Methylation of Parental 
                Alleles in Transgenic Mice.
 
 APPEARS IN   Nature 1987, v328n6127, Jul 16, p. 248-251.
 
 SUMMARY      Mouse embryogenesis research suggests that modifications are
                imprinted onto the chromosomes during gametogenesis.  
                Genomic imprinting in transgenic mice is discussed.
 
Quite a harvest, even for something as limited as Periodical Abstracts Online, which has only about 1500 peridoicals in its database. The Kirkness article looks like it would be fairly general, while most of the others are clearly from the research literature, and might be difficult to read without a good deal of background.
We can expect to do better in UnCover, which indexes some 15,000 journals. Here are some results:
GENOMIC  2266 ITEMS        UnCover
GENOMIC + IMPRINTING    78 ITEMS
 
GENOMIC + IMPRINTING    78 ITEMS  UnCover
 
   1 Szabo, Piroska E.                   (Genes & development.  08/01/95)
     Biallelic expression of imprinted genes in the mouse...
 
  2 Chaillet, J. Richard                  (Genes & development.  05/15/95)
     Regulation of genomic imprinting by gametic and embr...
 
  3 Vu, T. H.             (The journal of clinical endocrino... 05/01/95)
     Insulin-Like Growth Factor II in Uterine Smooth-Musc...
 
  4 Schachter, M.              (Neurology.                       05/01/95)
     Clinical evidence of genomic imprinting in Tourette'...    **FAX 1HR*
 
  5 Chatkupt, S.          (Journal of the neurological scien... 05/01/95)
     Parents do matter: genomic imprinting and parental s...
 
  6 Latham, Keith E.                   (Developmental biology.  04/01/95)
     Stage-Specific Induction and Regulation by Genomic I...
 
  7 Guillemot, F.                            (Nature genetics.  03/01/95)
     Genomic imprinting of Mash2, a mouse gene required f...

  8 Thomas, James H.      (Proceedings of the National Academy  01/17/95)
     Genomic imprinting proposed as a surveillance mechan...
 
  9 Stoll, C.                           (Annales de genetique.  1995    )
     No evidence for genomic imprinting in liveborn Down
 
 10 Cassidy, Suzanne B.    (Environmental and molecular mutag... 1995    )
     Uniparental Disomy and Genomic Imprinting as Causes       **FAX 1HR*
 
 11 Junien, Claudine                   (Kidney international.  11/01/94)
     Genetics of Wilms' tumor: A blend of aberrant develo...
 
 12 Goshen, R.                        (Fertility and sterility.  11/01/94)
     The role of genomic imprinting in implanatation.
 
 13 Weksberg, Rosanna      (American journal of medical genet... 08/15/94)
     Letter to the Editor: Wiedemann-Beckwith Syndrome: G...
 
 14 Rainer, S.            (Journal of the National Cancer In... 07/06/94)
     Erratum: Genomic Imprinting, DNA Methylation, and Ca...

(etc.)
-----
PARENTAL  2759 ITEMS        UnCover
PARENTAL + IMPRINTING    36 ITEMS
 
PARENTAL + IMPRINTING    36 ITEMS  UnCover
   1 Li, Xuri                                        (Oncogene.  07/20/95)
     Expression, promoter usage and parental imprinting s...
 
  2 Polychronakos, C.                          (Diabetologia.  06/01/95)
     Parental imprinting effect at the INS-IGF2 diabetes
 
  3 Margaritte-Jeannin,   (American journal of human genetics.  05/01/95)
     Testing Parental Imprinting in Insulin-Dependent Dia...
 
  4 Chatkupt, S.          (Journal of the neurological scien... 05/01/95)
     Parents do matter: genomic imprinting and parental s...
 
  5 Sapienza, Carmen       (American journal of human genetics.  12/01/94)
     Parental Origin Effects, Genome Imprinting, and Sex-...
 
  6 Pedersen, R.A.                           (Nature genetics.  12/01/94)
     Parental imprinting of the Mas protooncogene in mous...
 
  7 Singh, P.B.                      (Journal of cell science.  10/01/94)
     Molecular mechanisms of cellular determination: thei...

  8 Riccio, Andrea          (The journal of biological chemist... 09/30/94)
     Parental imprinting of rat insulin-like growth facto...
 
  9 Chaudhuri, Sumita      (Proceedings of the National Academy  05/24/94)
     Allele-specific parental imprinting of dzrl, a postg...
 
 10 Ekstrom, T. J.                        (Hormone research.  1994    )
     Parental Imprinting and the IGF2 Gene.
 
 11 Ekstrom, T. J.                               (Hormone research.  1994 )
     Parental Imprinting and the IGF2 Gene.
 
 12 Xu, Yongqin                (Biochemical and biophysical resea... 12/15/93)
     Functional Polymorphism in the Parental Imprinting o...
 
 13 McFadden, D. E.                                (Human genetics.  11/01/93)
     Parental origin of triploidy in human fetuses: evide...
 
 14 tada, T.                                   (Genetical research.  10/01/93)
     parental imprinting on the mouse X chromosome: effec...
-----
IMPRINTING + GENETIC    17 ITEMS
 
IMPRINTING + GENETIC    17 ITEMS  UnCover
   1 Zerres, K.                 (Nephrology, dialysis, transplanta... 1995 )
     On genetic heterogeneity, anticipation, and imprinti...     **FAX 1HR*
 
  2 Cassidy, Suzanne B.        (Environmental and molecular mutag... 1995  )
     Uniparental Disomy and Genomic Imprinting as Causes         **FAX 1HR*
 
  3 Zheng, Chang-Jiang         (American journal of medical genet... 06/01/94)
     Allelic instability in mitosis can explain "Genome i...
 
  4 Furtado, Sarah             (American journal of medical genet... 05/15/94)
     Investigation of the Potential Role of Genetic Impri...
 
  5 Asherson, P.                (The british journal of psychiatry.  05/01/94)
     Imprinting and anticipation. Are they relevant to ge...
 
  6 Cattanach, B. M.           (Journal of inherited metabolic di... 1994    )
     Genetic imprinting in the mouse: implications for ge...
 
  7 Hochberg, A.                               (Medical hypotheses.  10/01/93)
     Genetic Imprinting in Human Evolution: The Decisive

  8 Forejt, J.                                           (Cell.  08/07/92)
     Genetic Analysis of Genomic Imprinting: An Imprintor...
 
  9 Austin, Katherine Du       (The Pediatric clinics of North Am... 04/01/92)
     Nontraditional Inheritance.
 
 10 Pearce, Gavin P.                                     (Genetics.  04/01/92)
     Population genetic models of genomic imprinting.
 
 11 Farrar, Lindsay A.         (The American journal of human gen... 03/01/92)
     Inverse Relationship between Age at Onset of Hunting...
 
 12 Gregory, C.A.              (Human genetics.                  ... 11/01/91)
     Somatic recombination rather than uniparental disomy...        **FAX 1HR*
 
 13 Farrer, Lindsay A.                      (Archives of neurology.  06/01/91)
     Association of Decreased Paternal Age an Late-Onset
 
 14 Mann, J.R.                                               (Cell.  07/27/90)
     Androgenetic Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Are Pluripot...

 15 Sved, John A.              (American journal of human genetics.  03/01/90)
     Population Genetic Consequences of the Fragile-X Syn...
 
 16 van der Mey, A.G.L.                                (The Lancet.  12/02/89)
     Genomic Imprinting in Hereditary Glomus Tumours: Evi...
 
 17 Sapienza, C.                                      (Development.  09/01/89)
     Epigenetic and genetic factors affect transgene meth...
With these searches in UnCover we've clearly found more than we can use, so we can be choosy. Looking through the titles in these sets can greatly expand the understanding of the research landscape (what species? what recurring terms? what journals appear?)

Several immediate questions:


Another approach would be to use some of the vocabulary to create new searches. In UnCover we could try some compound searches: imprinting AND syndrome, for example. Or these using MEDLINE via FirstSearch: Other combined searches would suggest themselves if we looked through the article titles in more detail.
So now we'll try some databases that do have abstracts, from the set available through FirstSearch and Lexis/Nexis. We'll also take a quick look at NSF grants and OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man).