Library/Research Refresherfor M.Ed students

March 2011

Table of Contents

A. Finding relevant databases, articles and sources1. Education Subject Guide 4. ProQuest Theses and Dissertations 2. Sociology Subject Guide 5. E-Book databases3. Social Science Citation Index

B. Advanced searching in databases1. Concepts 4. Refining and broadening a search 2. Boolean operators 5. Subjects3. Search terms

C. Accessing article full-text1. Article/Citation Locator 3. Permanent links2. DOI (Digital Object Identifier) 4. When you’ve tried everything…

D. Inter-library loan and distance borrowing1. Register for RACER 3. Register as a distance borrower 2. Search and request in RACER

A. Finding relevant databases, articles and sources1. Education Subject Guide▪ Use a variety of databases2. Sociology Subject Guide▪ Try databases in related fields3. Social Science Citation Index▪ Use a citation index to find related articles4. ProQuest Theses and Dissertations Search this database of theses and dissertations4. E-Book databases Search chapter titles and full-text Go back to: Table of Contents

1. Education Subject Guide

Go to the EducationSubject Guide▪ CBCA Education –

Includes Canadian content

▪ ERIC – Largest Education database

▪ Wilson Education – 79 journals not covered by ERIC

▪ AACE Digital Library – Focused on education and technology

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2. Sociology Subject Guide

The SociologySubject Guide is also useful for research in education▪ Academic Search

Premier is a general database that has education content

▪ Try Social Science Citation Index (see next slide)

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3. Social Science Citation Index

What can you do with a citation index?▪ Search for a specific

article, and…▪ Easily find all the

articles it cites▪ Find all the articles

that have cited it▪ Search for a specific

scholar and find his/her articles, as well as related scholars

Click on the video to see an example

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4. ProQuest Theses and Dissertations

Search the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database▪ Click on the link

above or find the database in the Indexes and Databases A-Z list

▪ Contains over two million dissertations and theses, with significant education content

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5. E-Book databases

Go to the E-Book collections link on the library home page▪ Start with

Scholarsportal ebooks and Springer E-Books

▪ You’ll be searching not only book titles, but book chapter titles and sometimes full-text

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B. Advanced searching in databases

1. Concepts▪ Break up your research question into concepts2. Boolean operators: AND, OR3. Search terms▪ Phrases and word endings4. Refining and broadening a search▪ What to do when you have too many or too few results5. Subjects▪ Use subjects supplied by the database, and search for

them in the thesaurus

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1. Concepts

Break your research question into concepts▪ How are online

learning objects being used to teach elementary mathematics ?

▪ Think of terms that could be used to express these concepts

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onlineonline learning objectslearning objects

mathematicsmathematicselementary elementary

onlinedigitalvirtual

onlinedigitalvirtual

primaryelementary

primaryelementary

learning objectsmanipulatives

tools

learning objectsmanipulatives

tools

mathematicsmathematics

Concept #1 Concept #2

Concept #3 Concept #4

2. Boolean operators: AND, OR

Combine concepts with OR / AND

▪ Use OR between words/phrases that mean the same thing

▪ Use AND between words/phrases that represent different concepts

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mathematicsmathematics

Online OR digital OR virtualOnline OR digital OR virtual

elementary OR primary elementary OR primary

AND

“learning objects”“learning objects”

3. Search terms

Combine your search terms, and use these techniques:

▪ Enclose phrases in quotation marks

▪ e.g. “classroom management”

▪ Search for different word endings and alternate spellings using an asterisk

▪ canad* retrieves Canada, Canadian, Canadians, etc.)

▪ wom*n retrieves women and woman

Click on the video to see an example

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4. Refining and broadening a search

Too many results?▪ Try limiting the

publication year (e.g. articles published after 2005)

▪ Try searching for an important concept (e.g. “mathematics”) in the title or subject field

Too few results?▪ Try adding more

alternate terms to your search (e.g. “learning object*” OR manipulative*)

Click on the video to see an example

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5. Subjects

Subjects (also called descriptors) are assigned to articles▪ When you find

relevant articles, look at the subjects to see if you want to use any in your search

▪ Type one of your search terms into the database’s thesaurus to find related terms Click on the video to see an example

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C. Accessing article full-text

1. Article/Citation Locator & Journal search▪ Search all of UOIT’s databases for the article you want2. DOI (Digital Object Identifier)▪ Search for an article using its DOI4. Permanent links▪ Share articles using permanent links5. When you’ve tried everything…

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1. Article/Citation Locator & Journal search

Unable to find full-text for the article you want?▪ Go to the

Citation Locator page

▪ Fill in as much information as you have (e.g. author, journal title, volume, issue) – and search

▪ If full-text is not found, search for the journal and navigate to the appropriate issue

Click on the video to see an example

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2. DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

If you have an article’s DOI (digital object identifier), it can save you searching time▪ Go to the

Citation Locator▪ Fill in the DOI field –

that’s all the information you need

Click on the video to see an example

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3. Permanent links

Share articles using the permanent link provided by the database▪ Don’t copy and paste

from the address bar; that link generally won’t work

▪ Go into the article record and look for a “permanent” or “persistent” link to copy (it may be called something else)

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4. When you’ve tried everything…

If you’ve tried the Citation Locator and journal search, and still haven’t found full-text:

▪ request the article through inter-library loan (jump to that slide)or▪ contact a librarian for assistance

▪ Kate Gibbings (kate.gibbings@uoit.ca)▪ Other librarians

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D. Inter-library loan and distance borrowing

1. Register for RACER▪ RACER is the inter-library loan system2. Search and request in RACER▪ Request articles, books, conference proceedings, etc. 4. Register as a distance borrower▪ Use the request form and have items to mailed to your

home

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1. Register for RACER

RACER is the Inter-library loan system▪ Fill in the form to

register▪ Don’t know your Library

PIN? Call or email the Library and we will give it to you (this is not the same as your MyCampus password or Network ID).

▪ Once your registration is confirmed via email, login to RACER

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2. Search and request in RACER▪ When you’ve found

what you’re looking for, submit your request in RACER

▪ Make sure to choose a pickup location (North Campus Library, Education Library, or Social Science Library)

▪ Can’t make it to campus? Register for distance services and we’ll mail the material to you (see next slide) Click on the video to see an example

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3. Register as a distance borrower

Distance borrowers can have materials mailed to their homes▪ You must live more

than 50 km from campus

▪ Send an email to Karin Downie (karin.downie@uoit.ca)

to register for the service

▪ Make all requests using this form (that includes inter-library loans!)

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