Research Guides: Education: Isern class supplements

Welcome!

Introduction to
Library Research on
Educational Barriers

The purpose of this research guide is to help students in Jeannie Isern's ENGL classes find credible and college-level information sources. This guide suggests useful research tools, search techniques, and evaluation methods.

Library databases & search tips

Reference Books (encyclopedias which give you a broad overview of a topic)

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Encyclopedias and other reference books on a variety of subjects
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books covering all subjects
Salem Press This link opens in a new window
Collection of reference books in the areas of careers, medicine, psychology, literature, cultures/counties, history, and science

Overviews

In addtion to encyclopeida databases, other databases may give you an overview or summary of a broad topic:

eLibrary This link opens in a new window
Collection of magazines, newspapers, books, transcripts, plus thousands of images, maps, & audio/video items
NOTE: Use Edge or an MS Web browser to access. Does not work with Chrome.
Gale Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Connect students to the information they're looking for with tools that make discovery fast and easy. This premier periodical resource provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources.

Controversial Topics

Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Information on controversial social issues with viewpoint essays, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, and full text magazine and newspaper articles
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Includes diagrams, graphs, charts, and other info. useful for presentations.

Browse EDUCATION topics to find reports on subjects like these:

Youth mental health
College costs
Student loans
Student debt
School safety
Higher education
Bullying & cyberbullying
STEM gender gap
Guns on campus
Hunger in America
Native American youths

Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals)

ERIC This link opens in a new window
Index to journal articles, reports, books, and other information sources in the fields of education, child development, and education related topics

[If you find items which are not full-text, request them through interlibrary loan or contact a librarian for help.]
ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Index to articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers. Includes some multimedia: videos, blogs, and more.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Index to articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers
Accessibility features of library databases: EBSCO Databases

Beyond the Library Databases: Open Access Sources
Free onlin article databases which contain academic and professional information sources

Search tips: Library databases

As you begin your research think about the search words you'll use. For example, when searching for information on ADHD you might also try "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.". Keep a list of your search words and add to it as you find new words.
When searching, use quotation marks to keep phrases together: "learning disabilities", "academic achievement", "school funding"
If you have too many results when using the library research databases try changing the search fields. Here's an example from Academic Search Complete that shows the search fields changed to Subject Terms. In other words, retrieved articles must really be about that subject, rather than just mentioning the words in a minor way.

WWW test for evaluating information

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WWW Test

Ask these questions to decide if an information source is credible, especially when Googling.

Who is the author? Is the author an expert?
What is the information about? Is it objective or biased? Is it based on careful research?
When was it written? Is it appropriately up-to-date?

Note: Evaluating information can be difficulty. If you're not sure if a source is credible and acceptable for your assignment, ask a librarian or your instructor for help in thinking through the WWW questions.

Domain Searching

Try limiting your Google search to a particular domain (such as .edu or .gov which are restricted domains). You may find more reliable information. Here are a couple of search examples:

"school funding" AND "academic achievement" AND site:.edu
"first generation college students" AND site:.gov

Finding Credible Sources on the Open Web

For tips on how to find credible information on the Open Web see this SCC Library Research Guide:

Education: Isern class supplements