Reading & Writing in the Content Areas

EDUC 350: Professors E. Kaiden & F. Shapiro-Skrobe

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

February 4, 2008

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

 

 I. Library Homepage: http://library.ramapo.edu

    Provides access to the online catalog, databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

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II. Find Books

Catalog: Use the online catalog to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), government documents, and reserve itemsowned by the library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

  • Use the default Basic Search setting to find material by entering Keywords
    • For example: search for English and teaching to locate a broad range of materials the library has on these keywords and to look for ideas for your project
    • The system will pull up many results in order of relevance. Look over the items that have five red bars, four green bars, and three blue bars: these are the most relevant for your search.
    • If you would like to search for a phrase of two or more words, enclose them in quotation marks, i.e., "secondary school"
      • This forces the system to look for that particular set of words in that specified order
      • You will get fewer, but more relevant, results
    • When you you find an appropriate title, click on the Subjects, etc. tab located at the top of a catalog record to see which Library of Congress subject headings are addressed in that particular book/film/periodical
      • Click on any of the subject headings listed to get to more material on the same topic

    OR

  • Search the catalog using Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress subject heading, for example:
    • English language--Study and teaching (Secondary)
    • Literature--Study and teaching (Secondary)
    • Mathematics--Study and teaching (Secondary)
    • Geography--Study and teaching (Secondary)
    • Functions--Study and teaching (Middle school)
    • Science--Study and teaching
      • OR specific disciplines, e.g.,

        Biology--Study and teaching

      • Technology--Study and teaching
    • Content area reading
      • May subdivide: Content area reading--United States
    • Reading (Secondary)--United States
    • Language arts--Correlation with content subjects
    • Language arts (Secondary)--United States
    • On subject headings screens:
      • Click on to see scope note for that subject heading.
      • Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms.

OR

     
  • Go to Advanced Search
    • The Boolean search terms are built in for your use
      • AND: you're directing the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
      • OR: you're directing the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
      • NOT: you're directing the system to search for material on the first term you have entered excluding any material on the second term you have entered
    • The catalog system will provide more focused results

TIPS

  • Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
  • If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc. tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
  • You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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III. Reference Material

  • The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).
  • Some useful reference titles for your projects:

    Education Index

    *Print coverage through 1996 and then 2006+

    		 Last row of reference collection; shelved alphabetically
    Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts

    Ref LB1576.H234 2003

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IV. Finding Articles (Databases)

     Some useful Databases for your projects:

ERIC: the Educational Resource Information Center database: We now have this database through two vendors:

ERIC EBSCO

and

ERIC CSA

Provides access to education literature and resources. Please Note: Open another window, go to the library's homepage, and click on Journal Finder to see whether or not you have access to the publication being cited. Check in Ulrich's (another database) to see if the periodical is peer-reviewed:ERIC has its own criteria.
Education Journals

Offers information on hundreds of educational topics and almost 400 leading journals in the field.

Please Note:

1. If article is not available in full text, click on the "Find a copy" link included in each citation, and then click on Check for full text via 1Cate to see if you have access to the journal being cited.

2. At top of the results screen, see features: "Suggested Topics" and "Browse Suggested Publications".

Academic Search Premier

 

Multidisciplinary database that contains many full-text articles. You may limit your search to "Scholary (Peer-Reviewed) Journals". Please Note: If your search results include citations or abstracts (not full-text articles), click on the Check availability at Ramapo link within each citation to see if you have access to the journal being cited.

Expanded Academic ASAP

Another multidisplinary database that contains many full-text articles.

Please Note: If your search results include citations or abstracts (not full-text articles), click on the Check availability link within each citation to see if you have access to the journal being cited.

MLA International Bibliography Bibliographic citations from 1963 to the present. Includes critical essays and journal articles.

For historical overview, see:

JSTOR Complete

 Comprised of the full text of articles in more than 500 academic journals. Unless noted, coverage does not include the most recent four or five years.
Ulrich's International Periodical Directory Provides essential bibliographic and access information about periodicals. Use this database to check if a periodical is a peer-reviewed journal.

Scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Refereed articles have been reviewed by a selected panel of experts in the discipline covered by that journal.

TIPS

  • Switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
  • Use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT and quotation marks when running a search.
  • Always check your spelling if the database results are zero
  • Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link, if available, to find the best terms to use in a particular database

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V. Journal Finder and Interlibrary Loan

  • Journal Finder: Lets you know whether or not you have access to the full text of articles in particular periodicals through our library in print, microform, or via a full-text database. This feature also appears in many of our databases.

    For example, enter Journal of Educational Research:

You'll see the following results:

available in Print Holdings Library Catalog
Print: 1938 - 1995 (v32 - v88 )
Location: Open Stacks
Notes: 1938-1977 MICROFILM)
available from EBSCO Host in EBSCO Academic Search Premier find periodical
Full Text: 1974-09-01 - present
available in Expanded Academic ASAP - Gale Group   find periodical
Full Text: 1997-01 - present
available from ProQuest in ProQuest Education Journals find periodical
Full Text: 1996-05-01 - present (v89 i5 - )

In this case, issues from 1939-1977 are on microfilm, and issues from 1978-1995 are in the Open Stacks Periodicals area (2nd floor). Three databases provide full-text articles online, with the most extensive coverage being provided by Academic Search Premier.

Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.

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VI. Bibliographies

The Open Handbook Online / Ann Raimes with Maria Jerskey

Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers: Research and Documentation Online

Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources for "Works Cited" citation style guidance

Use Citation Manuals and Style Guides (Online Reference Shelf) for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"

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VII. Web Sources

"Selected Web Links for Research"   (Scroll over Information Resources, click on "Subject Resources") to find websites for Education

To determine if a website is authoritative enough to use in your paper, see:

Evaluating Websites

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Need more help?

Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

OR

Use QandANJ.org,

a 24/7 virtual chat service that connects you with a reference librarian.
 
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