FCS 6010: Basic Research Methods and Design Class Guide

Overview

These resources should be most useful to you in researching your chosen topic for this class. Please contact me if you have questions or need further assistance accessing or using these resources. Michele.behr@wmich.edu, 269-387-5611

You will need to locate a variety of resources on your topic for this assignment and for your Research Proposal.

As you are searching multiple sources it will be helpful for you to keep track of keywords and subject terms that help you locate relevant materials. But keep in mind that terms that work well in one database may not work as well in another database.

Finding Books

WestCat WestCat is WMU's online library catalog. It can be used to identify books, journals, videos, sound recordings, and slides that the University Libraries have in their collections. WestCat can be searched by title, author, subject heading, or keyword. SEARCH TIP: Use the Guided Keyword search method to find books on your topic.

WorldCat Comprehensive catalog of books and other materials in libraries around the world. Contains millions of records in hundreds of languages. Nonbook materials include (among other publication formats) the titles of journals and magazines, manuscripts, maps, electronic resources, websites, computer programs, musical scores, films, slides, sound recordings, conference proceedings, and videotapes. Items located through WorldCat must be requested through Interlibrary Loan unless they are also listed in the WMU libraries catalog, WestCat. You may restrict your search to just books. This will retrieve citations for print books as well as e-books.

Finding Journal Articles

The following indexes should provide good coverage of articles for your topic. However, depending on your topic, you may not find a lot of information here. Please feel free to ask if you are not finding what you want and I can point you in the direction of an index that might better serve your needs.

ProQuest Research Library Indexes popular magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers and trade publications in a wide range of subject areas, including business, education, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Full-text available for over 2,500 journals. Coverage from 1971.

Social Sciences Abstracts Indexes over 600 periodicals in anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, feminist studies, geography, human services, international relations, law and criminology, police science, political science, population studies, psychology, public administration, public health, social work, sociology, urban studies, and related social science subjects. Coverage: indexing from 1983 and abstracts from 1994. Updated weekly.
Details

PsycINFO Psychological Abstracts BF 1 .P65 (General Stacks)
Covers world-wide literature in psychology and related disciplines. Journal articles, technical reports, books, book chapters, and dissertations are included. Coverage: 1887-present. Updated weekly.
Use the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms for subject words: BF1 .P65x 2007 (Education Lib. and Waldo Ref.)

Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) The Social Sciences Citation Index is a multidisciplinary database that indexes more than 1,725 journals spanning 50 disciplines, and selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. Disciplines include: anthropology, history, industrial relations, information & library science, law, philosophy, political science, psychiatry, psychology, public health, social issues, social work, sociology, urban studies, women's studies. Because the information about each article includes the article's cited reference list (or bibliography), you can also search the databases for articles that cite a known author or work. Coverage is from 1956 to present. Please LOGOFF, so others may use the database.

Journal Finder Find electronic and print journals available at WMU. Search for a journal title, look for a specific article if you have a citation, or browse through the A - Z list of online journals, magazines and newspapers at WMU. If you know the name of the journal you want to search, thos source will help you locate it. If you are looking for articles from a variety of scholarly sources on a topic, use one of the previously listed sources.

Government Information

GPO Monthly Catalog (Government Printing Office) An index to US government publications, including reports, hearings, debates, records, judiciary materials, and documents issued by executive departments, such as the Defense, State, Labor, and the Office of the President. Online coverage from 1976 - present. Updated monthly.
Print: Z 1223 .A13 - .A18 (Documents, Ref.) 1895-1995

WestCat/Library Catalog
WestCat is one of the historic names for WMU's official online library catalog. This catalog is used to identify books (including online books), government documents, journals, videos, sound recordings, slides and other items that the University Libraries has in its collections. WestCat can be searched by title, author, subject heading, keyword, call number, and more. WMU is a selective depository for government documents from both the federal and state government. Most government documents at WMU can be located through WestCat.

Google - Uncle Sam. Another way of limiting web searches to .gov and .mil sections. Includes pretty much any web page with a .gov or .mil address. Also includes some state government agencies.

LexisNexis Government Periodicals Index Indexes approximately 170 magazines and newsletters published by U.S. government agencies in a great variety of subjects with research value. Links to full text are provided when available. Coverage: 1988-present. Updated quarterly.

Using Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan
Set up a username & password here to submit automated requests from online indexes. Allow up to 2 weeks for materials to arrive. You will use the same process for requesting materials in paper from WMU. You need your Bronco NetID and WMU e-mail address to set up an account.

Writing Style Guides

APA Style Guides (American Psychological Association ) APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue)
APA Style (Guide for Citing Sources from Ohio State)
Electronic References - APA Style. These links should answer most of your questions about formatting your bibliography. For some kinds of citations you may need to consult the full APA manual.

Ask A Librarian

Michele D. Behr, E-mail: michele.behr@wmich.edu
Phone: 269-387-5611
Last updated: October 2006