Contact the Librarian at your campus for more help!
University Park / World Campus:
Ellysa Cahoy
(ESC10@psu.edu or 814-865-9696)
Abington:
Binh Le
(BPL1@psu.edu or 215-881-7426)
Behrend (Erie):
Jane Ingold
(JLI4@psu.edu or 814-898-7278)
Harrisburg:
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")
- Data (NOT "data-driven decision making")
- Standardized Tests, or High Stakes Tests (NOT "PSSA")
If you are using ERIC to find articles about U.S. contexts, do not add "American" or "United States" or "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 careful for information about the location of the study.
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Empirical Research in Social Sciences and EducationA cheat sheet to finding empirical articles (qualitative or quantitative) in many of the library's databases. See links on the left side of the guide to learn more about empirical research.
Using ProQuest Databases (including ERIC and PsycINFO)
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APA PsycINFO: AboutProQuest's detailed guide to using PsycINFO. Includes explanations, tips, and videos.
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ERIC: AboutProQuest's detailed guide to using ERIC. Includes explanations, tips, and videos.
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Social Science Training MaterialsA gateway to resources for using ProQuest's Social Sciences databases.
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ProQuest VideoProQuest's YouTube channel. Includes videos about its products, and about database research in general.
Using EBSCO databases (including Business Source Premier)
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EBSCO Product HelpA gateway to resources for using EBSCO databases.
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EBSCO Tutorials (on YouTube)EBSCO's playlist of database tutorials.
Using Penn State and General Search Tools
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LionSearch TutorialsHow to use LionSearch, Penn State's federated search engine, which enables you to tap the library catalog and most journal databases simultaneously.
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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.
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How to GuidesPenn State's library tutorials. They cover a wide variety of research-related skills.
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Google Scholar Search TipsAdvice for using Google's search engine for journal articles.
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JSTOR Support > StudentsJSTOR's student page is helpful for any user.
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JSTOR on YouTubeVideos from JSTOR's support team.