Getting Help With Your ABA Library Research (1:23)
3 Databases in 3 Minutes (3:06)
Using CHOP, DROP, and OR Search Strategy (3:21)
Finding an Article I Need Using OneSearch (1:31)
Browsing ABA Journals to Find Useful Articles (2:26)
Searching Inside a Specific ABA Journal (1:38)
Requesting a "Citation Online" Article Using OneSearch (2:37)
Help Finding More Results (2:30)
Help Finding Fewer Results (3:03)
You have several assignments in SPCE 680 which require you to do library research.
This guide is meant to provide you advice, tailored to each assignment.
Reminder: Use library databases, not Google! It will save you time in the long run, and you're entitled to use them as BSU students!
When you're doing academic research, start on the Ball State University Libraries' homepage. Then look for the Databases link. Use the options under the "Subjects" drop-down menu to explore the available resources.
There are two principle research databases in the field of applied behavior analysis: ERIC (under the Education category) and APA PsycINFO (under the Psychology category). Try both of them, but depending on your topic, you may find that one is more helpful than the other.
While you can use the same general search techniques in both databases, be alert for differences in terms used.
Key database in the field of psychology. Includes information of use to psychologists, students, and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, and education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
Description: PsycInfo is a key database in the field of psychology. Includes information of use to psychologists, students, and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, and education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
Time Period: 1887 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 2,500 journals.
Subject Headings: Education, Mobile, Psychology, Social Sciences (Psychology)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Journal Articles
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations, Linked Full Text
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
ERIC EBSCOhost is a key database in the field of education, providing access to bibliographic records of journal and non-journal literature. About one third of the content is accessible in full text from within the database.
Description: ERIC EBSCOhost is a key database in the field of education, providing access to bibliographic records of journal and non-journal literature. About one third of the content is accessible in full text from within the database.
Time Period: 1966-present
Sources: Indexes more than 650 journals.
Subject Headings: Education, English & Linguistics, Mobile, Music
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Books/e-books, Dissertation and Theses, Grey Literature, Journal Articles, Reference Resources, Report
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
OneSearch is a tool that cross searches much of the content our databases and other online sources. You can search across many collections in one search box simplifying the resource discovery process.
Description: OneSearch is a tool that cross searches much of the content our databases and other online sources. You can search across many collections in one search box simplifying the resource discovery process.
Time Period: 1600 to Present
Sources:
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Music, News, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations, Government Documents, Journal Articles, Books
Information Included: Abstracts, Full Text, Citations
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: ProQuest
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
The words you use as your search terms have a big effect on the relevance of the results that you get. So choose carefully!
Unlike Google and OneSearch, library research databases like ERIC and PsycINFO assign subject headings to each record, indicating the focus of the article.
When you're trying to come up with good terms to search on, the Subjects field is the place to look!
When searching in a database, put quotes around phrases of two or more words where it's important to keep the words together. Then your words will be searched as a unit; it prevents the database from searching for the words individually.
So, when searching on a topic this can be important. Here are some examples:
It's also helpful when searching for a title -- of a governmental act, an organization, an article, as shown here: