Research in Education
Encyclopedias
Books
IndexesEducation Index ERIC Articles & Databases Locating Items
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Encyclopedias and handbooks present articles about most major topics in education. Such a review article can save you time by quickly providing succinct, historical definitions of terms and concepts as well as an overview of a topic, often including references to the major books and articles in a subject area. Consult the following handbooks at an early stage of your research:
- Encyclopedia of Education 2nd ed. (2003) is online from NetLibrary and Gale
- Encyclopedia of Educational Research 4 vols. (ref LB 15 E48 1992)
- Greenwood Dictionary of Education (ref LB 15 G68 2003)
- International Encyclopedia of Education (ref LB 15 I569 1994)
- Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education (ref LB 17 F57 2001)
- International Encyclopedia of National Systems of Education (ref LB 43 I584 1995); a related 2002 ed. is online at Gale and NetLibrary
- Handbook of Research on Teaching (ref LB 1028 H315 2001)
- Encyclopedia of School Psychology (ref LB 1027.55 E523 2005)
- Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (ref LB 1028.3 H355 2004)
- Handbook of Educational Psychology (ref LB 1051 H2354 2006)
- Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children (ref LB 1119 H25 2006)
- Handbook of Research on Curriculum (ref LB 1570 H264 1992)
- Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts (ref LB 1576 H234 2003); and online from ebrary
- Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning (ref LB 1584 H275 1991)
- Handbook of Research on Teacher Education (ref LB 1715 H274 1996)
- Alternative Teacher Certification (ref LB 1771 A47 2007)
- Standards and Schooling in the U.S., an Encyclopedia (ref LB 2822.82 S82 2001)
- Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education (ref LC 1099.3 H35 2004)
- Encyclopedia of Special Education (ref LC 4007 E53 2007)
- Handbook of Learning Disabilities (ref LC 4704 H364 2003)
- Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning (ref LC 5211 E52 2004)
- Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (ref MT 1 N48 2002)
- Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts (ref PE 65 E47 1994)
- Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning (ref Q 181 A1 H35 1994)
- Second Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning (ref QA 11 S365 2007)
See also Explorations in Learning and Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database for summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction and History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century.
BOOKS
You may now want to find some of the books listed in one of the encyclopedias. Ideally you will also find a very recent book on your subject, and it will have a bibliography of other books and journal articles. Check the Library Catalog to find known authors and titles as well as to browse by subject. Here are some useful subject headings to find material about the teaching of a particular content area:
|
Art--Study and teaching (Elementary) Early childhood education Educational technology English language--Study and teaching (Secondary) Environmental education Group work in education Mathematics--Study and teaching (Elementary) Multicultural education |
Music--Instruction and study Physical education and training--Study and teaching Portfolios in education Reading (Elementary) Science--Study and teaching (Primary) Social sciences--Study and teaching (Elementary) Special education |
INDEXES
Now that you have some background information on your subject, you are ready to explore the journal literature. There are two indexes specifically for education.
Education Index. 1929-2002 (abstr L 11 E45) This index provides subject and author indexing to about 200 journals and selected yearbooks in all areas of education. It includes book reviews. Education Index is now available as part of the OmniFile Full Text Mega database, but the print volumes are still useful as a clue to how topics have been labeled and treated over time.
ERIC. 1966-to-date. This is a comprehensive index to journal articles, documents, and some books. It is very important to have a clear idea what you are searching for when you use ERIC simply because the database is so large, over 1 million records. A Search Strategy Worksheet outlines a four-step process for creating a strategy for searching ERIC effectively. The official ERIC Web Page is freely available, but does not provide either the search capabilities or the links to fulltext for journals that are included in vendor versions. There has been continuous discussion about the "new" ERIC - this is tracked by the ALA EBSS ERIC Users Committee.
Vendor versions of ERIC (FirstSearch ERIC, CSA ERIC, Ebsco ERIC) also provide specialized services including alerts and saved searches; see the "Current Awareness" section of Library Services for Graduate Students for more information.
Articles & Databases: Education. This includes core and related databases.
LOCATING ITEMS
The Library has many of the journals indexed in Education Index and a smaller percentage of those indexed in ERIC (remember that ERIC is a comprehensive index). Check the Journal & Newspaper Finder to see if we have either print or online access to the journal. If the Library does not own or have access to a particular journal, you may request a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan; this free service normally takes 1-2 weeks. Linking to fulltext of articles is facilitated through the software called SFX.
To locate items from ERIC it is essential to note whether the item has an "EJ" (journal) or "ED" (document) number at the top of the record in the database. EJ numbers refer to journals; proceed as above. ED numbers are the call numbers for the fulltext of the document; these are microfiche and are located in filing cabinets on the second floor through ED 435787. Microfiche may be checked out; request a microfiche reader (in a briefcase) at the Circulation Desk. Most of the reports after ED 350000 (about 1992) are available fulltext through the ERIC database. Those ED numbers which are not available on microfiche or online are usually books; check for these titles in the Library Catalog.