Throughout this semester in SPCE 680, you'll have assignments which require you to do library research. This guide is meant to provide you with guidance on how to get started.
For individualized help, feel free to reach out using the options available via Ask a Librarian:
If you've used APA PsycInfo and ERIC in the past, you'll notice that they have a new user interface. Don't worry! Most of the changes are intuitive, and there are some new features you'll love.
This brief video from EBSOhost (the database provider of APA PsycInfo and ERIC) highlights the use of the new interface.
Install LibKey Nomad on your laptop to make it easier to find out if we have access to a full article while you're browsing the web.
The LibKey Nomad guide has more information, including the steps for how to download it to your browser.
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.
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
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations, Linked Full Text
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
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Books/e-books, Dissertation and Theses, Grey Literature, Journal Articles, Reference Resources, Report
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
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations, Government Documents, Journal Articles, Books
When you have a topic that is related to medicine, MEDLINE is the best database to consult.
Description: MEDLINE, created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, is the premier index of medical journal articles. This version of the databases has linked full text and FindIt@BALL STATE, a technology which helps users locate the text of articles when it isn't available in MEDLINE. The advanced search allows users to place a wide range of limits on their searches including limiting results to EBM reviews.
Time Period: 1946 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 5,200 journals.
Subject Headings: Health, Mobile, Psychology, Science, Technology (Biomedicine, Life Science)
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, News
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 APA 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: