Education Librarian
Getting Started
Unsure where to start with a research assignment? Here are some steps to follow:
- Pick a topic that interests you, is researchable, and fits your assignment needs.
- Create a research question to help you critically analyze your topic. Some background research on your topic may be needed to do so.
- Develop a search strategy using relevant databases, keywords, and database tools like Subject terms and date ranges.
- Review and evaluate search results. You'll likely have to do multiple searches to find everything you need.
Need help? Make an appointment with the Education Librarian.
Databases
- Children's Literature Comprehensive Database This link opens in a new window
Critical reviews of children's books, video and audio recordings, film strips, and other children-focused media.
- Education Source This link opens in a new window
Education Source contains the largest and most complete collection of full-text education journals providing scholarly research and information to meet the needs of education students, professionals, and policy makers. It covers all levels of education — from early childhood to higher education — as well as all educational specialties.
- ERIC This link opens in a new window
Full-text documents for a variety of source types including journal articles, books, conference papers, curriculum guides, policy papers and more. In addition, it provides an education-specific thesaurus that includes controlled vocabulary to help users find what they need.
- Teacher Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Indexing and abstracts for the most popular teacher and administrator journals and magazines. Includes full-text for many of the publications.
Tips for Using Databases
- Select two to three keywords from your research question.
- Utilize Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT to connect your keywords.
- Narrow your search results using database limits, such as publication date, source type, and subject terms.
- Evaluate your search results. Too many? Add more specific keywords and/or database limits. Too few? Use broader or fewer keywords. You can also try searching in another database.
- Repeat. Research is a cycle; you will likely need to move through these steps more than once to find sources.