Contact the Librarian at your campus for more help!
University Park / World Campus:
Ellysa Cahoy
(ESC10@psu.edu or 814-865-9696)
Behrend (Erie):
Jane Ingold
(JLI4@psu.edu or 814-898-7278)
Harrisburg / University Park / World Campus:
Bernadette Lear
(BAL19@psu.edu or 717-948-6360)
Educational Leadership, Policy, and Principalship Search Tips
Use each database's thesaurus or subject headings list to identify the best wording for your topic. For example, ERIC uses:
- Educational Administration (NOT "educational management")
- Educational Change (NOT "educational reform")
- Standardized Tests, or High Stakes Tests (NOT "PSSA")
If you are using ERIC to find articles about U.S. contexts, do not add "American," "United States," "US," or "USA" to your search. Geography is not indexed in ERIC, and most authors do not use those words in their titles or abstracts. Instead, consider using ERIC's "language" option to limit to English. Also, read each article's abstract carefully for information about the location of the study.
Need to find empirical articles? Below is a guide that tells you what they are and how to find them:
Using ProQuest Databases (including ERIC and PsycINFO)
- ProQuest Platform LibGuideIncludes tip sheets, videos, and more!
- Social Science Training MaterialsA gateway to resources for using ProQuest's Social Sciences databases.
- Searching with the ERIC ProQuest ThesaurusLearn how to look up subject headings in the ERIC thesaurus to more powerfully search for relevant works. Transcript available below video as attachment.
- Saving your searches in ProQuest ERICSave your searches in ERIC to document and return to them for later use. Transcript available below video as attachment.
- Exporting search results from ERIC ProQuestExport your search results from ProQuest ERIC in .csv format to further analyze and annotate records. Transcript available below video as attachment.
Using EBSCO databases (including Business Source Premier)
- EBSCO Product HelpA gateway to resources for using EBSCO databases.
- EBSCO Tutorials (on YouTube)EBSCO's playlist of database tutorials.
Using Penn State and General Search Tools
- Online Students Use of the LibraryAlthough this guide is intended for Penn State World Campus students, it's a helpful orientation for anyone who is doing most of their research off-campus.
- How to GuidesPenn State's library tutorials. They cover a wide variety of research-related skills.
- Google Scholar Search TipsAdvice for using Google's search engine for journal articles.
- JSTOR Support > StudentsJSTOR's student page is helpful for any user.
- JSTOR on YouTubeVideos from JSTOR's support team.