Reading & Writing in the Content Areas

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

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
 

September 22, 2008

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

x7199

 

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

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

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II. 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.

NOTE: When your results list citations/abstracts only, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if we provide full text access. You might want to 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. Switch to Advanced Search

2. Results appear with the most recent article first; re-sort by relevance

3. NOTE: When your results list citations/abstracts only, click on the Find a copy link and then on Check for full text via 1Cate to see if we provide access to the journal being cited.

4. At the top of the results screen, see "Suggested Topics"

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.

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 we provide access to the journal being cited.

MLA International Bibliography

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

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 we provide access to the journal being cited.

For historical overview, see:

JSTOR Complete

 Comprised of the full text of articles in more than 500 academic journals. Unless noted, coverage doesn't 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 peer-reviewed.

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) when running a search.

    • 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
  • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase
  • 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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III. Find Books

Catalog: Use the online catalog to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), government documents, and reserve items owned 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'd like to search for a phrase of two or more words, put quotation marks around them, e.g.,"secondary school"

    This forces the system to look for that particular set of words in that specified order

    You'll 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 the subject headings screen:
    • Click on for the 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, where the Boolean search "operators" are built in for your use
     
     

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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 IV. 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 2006

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

    Ref LB1576.H234 2003
    Handbook of Research on Teaching Ref LB1028.H315 2001

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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:

Journal of educational research ISSN: 0022-0671
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 - )
available from ProQuest in ProQuest Psychology 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). Four databases provide full-text articles online, with the most extensive coverage being provided by Academic Search Premier.

Both of these links (the Journal Finder and Interlibrary Loan) 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

  • 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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