EDLD 7120: Professional Field Experience Seminar Class Guide
Overview
The resources listed here have been selected for the work you are doing in this class as well as for future research in your doctoral program. This is by no means a complete list of resources you might need to consult. Please ask for assistance if you have any trouble locating information on your topic.
Keep in mind that you should keep track of key words and terms that retrieve relevant information. Keywords which work successfully in one source may or may not work well in another source. You may have to try multiple terms to find what you are looking for.
The sources on this list have some full text, but not everything is available in full text online. You will need to use the Interlibrary Loan service to get materials not available in full text.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. michele.behr@wmich.edu Phone:269-387-5611
Journal Articles
The following is a selective list of databases that index scholarly journal articles in the field of Education.ERIC The Educational Resources Information Center indexes and abstracts over 2,000 journals and more than 450,000 reports in education and related fields. Some documents are available full text, the rest are on microfiche in the Education Library. Covers 1966-present. Updated monthly.
This is the FirstSearch version, also available from CSA and from the US government. Tutorial This is the most comprehensive database in the field. This is usually the source you'll want to look at first. Most ERIC Documents published since 1993 are available in full text. I recommend the CSA version, particularly if you are using RefWorks for your citations.
Education Abstracts Indexes more than 700 English-language periodicals in education. Coverage: 1983 to the present, abstracts from 1994. Updated weekly. A much smaller database that ERIC, but it has been kept more up to date recently.
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.) A very good source for any psychology related topic.
Scopus
Scopus is a very large abstract and indexing database primarily covering scholarly literature in science and social science. Use this to get extensive inter-disciplinary access to journal articles and also to find out which articles are being cited by other scholars. Scopus includes 14,000 peer-reviewed titles from more than 4,000 international publishers. Coverage from 1995. Tutorial
RefWorks Info: Scopus will export marked citations directly into your RefWorks account. (You will be prompted to login.) Very good source for conference proceedings and for more international sources. Set up an account to receive alerts directly to your e-mail account.
ABI/INFORM Global An index of over 1,800 publications with abstracts, and full text from over 700 of these titles, selected from newspapers, trade publications, and journals on business including, for example, administration, economics, computers, finance, human resources, management, and marketing. Full-text of Wall Street Journal articles available from 1984. Otherwise coverage is from 1971 to the present with some older material available. Updated daily. A good source for business or administrative topics. Allows you to limit or sort by peer reviewed sources.
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. A good general purpose source. Uses the same interface as ABI / Inform Global and the Dissertations database. You can search all three at the same time if you like.
Web of Science Web of Science from the ISI Web of Knowledge contains three major databases covering all areas of knowledge: Science Citation Index Expanded (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1956-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present). The literature can be searched by subject, author, journal title, and author's address. Cited Ref. Search allows users to search for articles that cite a particular author or work. Please LOGOFF when finished, so others may use the database. Tutorial
RefWorks Info: For Import Filter, choose "ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)". For Database, choose "Web of Science".
Journal Citation Reports Presents statistical data that provides an objective way to evaluate journals and their impact and influence in the global research community. Online training is available here .
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 browse this is the best place to check. If you looking to identify articles on your topic from a variety of sources use one of the previously listed resources.
Books/Electronic Books
The following list includes sources for locating books on your topic. Remember that books may be requested through the Interlibrary Loan service. The WMU Libraries also have access to tens of thousands of e-books.
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 also use the "Libraries" icon to see if any local libraries have the book you are interested in.
Books To search for books of a particular title or by a particular author use Quicksearch or Basic Search in WestCat, WMU's online catalog. To locate books at WMU about a particular topic use Keyword searching in WestCat. Books that are available electronically as e-books will have a link to the title.
Dissertations
Dissertations are often valuable sources of information on a topic. Often if you can find a dissertation related to your topic you can check the literature review and bibliography to locate other material relevant to your needs.Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) Indexes virtually all doctoral dissertations and many masters theses produced in the U.S. since 1860 and many from foreign schools as well. Abstracts available from 1980. Full text for most dissertations available from 1997. Some authors choose to not make their dissertations available. Print and microfilm copies are offered for a fee, but check out Interlibrary Loan before paying for a copy.
Tests and Measurements
Mental Measurements Yearbook Contains overviews, descriptions and one or more reviews of many English-language standardized tests of educational skills, personality, psychological traits, and related areas. Entries also give references to the print edition (s). Please logout. You can use this source to help you locate tests and other similar tools. If you want to use one the tests reviewed here you often have to purchase it.
Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan
If the material you need is not available full text electronically you may request it using the WMU Libraries Interlibrary Loan Service.
Interlibrary Loan
Set up a username & password here to submit automated requests from online indexes. Allow up to 2 weeks for materials to arrive. Once you set up your account you will use the same procedure for requesting materials at WMU as you will for materials we borrow on your behalf from other libraries.
Citing Sources
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 sources should answer basic questions about citing sources. You may also need to consult the full manual for types of sources you can not find here.
RefWorks
This citation management software allows you to import citations directly from electronic indexes and create and manage your own bibliographies. Use with word processing software to cite and format references easily in a variety of writing styles. You will have to set up an individualized account the first time you use RefWorks. An excellent tutorial is available in RefWorks under Help. Tutorial You will need to invest some time in setting this up and learning to use the software. However in the long run it will save you a lot of time and aggravation.
Ask A Librarian
Michele D. Behr, E-mail: michele.behr@wmich.edu
Phone: 269-387-5611
Last updated: October 2006