Other Useful Article Databases
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAllows you to search across approximately 2,000 journal titles from more than 50 disciplines, including education.
Access World News
For searching newspapers articles included in the database Access World News. Browse suggested topics, and click to perform a search.
Interlibrary Loan: Get Books & Articles We Don't Have
- Interlibrary LoanRequest a book, article, or other materials not available in the Ball State University Libraries.
Short videos on research
If you learn best by watching, you may want to take a look at this collection of Library Research Mini-Videos. It includes short 3 - 6 minute videos covering basic to advanced searching in ERIC, PsycINFO, and OneSearch. Explore!
Article Databases in Special Education & Applied Behavior Analysis
These are the most important databases in the fields of special education and applied behavior analysis:
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowKey database in the field of psychology.
To limit results to journal articles, look under Source Types for "Academic Journals."
Further useful limiting options are on the Advanced Search page. - ERIC (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowA key database in the field of education, providing access to records of journal and non-journal literature.
To limit results to journal articles, look under Source Types for "Academic Journals." - OneSearch This link opens in a new windowOneSearch allows searching across all the library databases at once. Useful for searching by article title to see if the library has access to it.
Use the limiters on the left of the results page to narrow to articles.
Other databases to try:
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary database including articles from highly impactful journals. Allows citation chaining to learn who has cited an article you're interested in.
CHOP, DROP, and OR method...illustrated
Start with your topic.
CHOP it up into its individual concepts.
DROP those terms into individual search boxes.
Add synonyms or related words for relevant concepts, using OR.
Look at good records for related words you can add into your search.
After you evaluate your results, and revise your search, you repeat the process...over and over!
Find It @ Ball State: Helping you find the full text of the title you want
When you'
re using a database, and can't find a link to the full text of an article, look for a Find It @ Ball State button, sometimes under "Access Options."
Find It helps you to search the Libraries' other databases and subscriptions to see if the full text is available through another resource.
- If it is available, Find It provides a link to the text of the article.
- If it cannot find the full-text, Find It provides a link to Interlibrary Loan so that you can request that we get a copy of the article from another library.
To use Find It, click on the red Find It @ Ball State button. (Sometimes you must click on "Access Options" to see "Find it @ Ball State.")
If we DO have full text access to the article, a page will be displayed with options for access under "Full Text Format Options." The typical options are:
- PDF: the file format reflecting the formatting for a printed page
- Link: taking you to the webpage version of the article
If we do NOT have immediate full text access to the article, the OneSearch record for the article will be displayed.
- Look under "Links" for "Request this item with InterLibrary Loan / ILLiad."
- Click there, and log in with your Ball State username and password.
- More information about placing an Interlibrary Loan request.
