If you know which database you want, start with the A-Z Database List. With the A-Z list, you can also search by subject. There may be a "perfect" database for your topic--such as Career & Technical Education or Educational Administration Abstracts. Library Science students will want to search Library Literature and Information Science Full Text.
Three comprehensive education databases are useful for most education topics: ProQuest One Education, Education Research Complete and ERIC. These will help you find articles from education journals; ERIC will also retrieve items such as research reports and papers presented at professional conferences.
Most databases use a search technique based on Boolean logic. This type of search retrieves all records in the database which contain a word or a set of words and uses Boolean operators--words that have special meaning in database searching. The most important operators are AND, OR and NOT. See below for an explanation of these terms. Some databases require the Boolean operators to be capitalized; otherwise, they may be searched just like regular search terms.
Will retrieve records which contain the word “girls” and the word “mathematics.” This operator is used to decrease the number of records retrieved. AND is the most common default Boolean term.
Example: girls AND mathematics
Will retrieve records which contain either the word “mathematics” or the word “arithmetic” -- or both. This operator is used to broaden the number of records retrieved.
Example: mathematics OR arithmetic
Will retrieve records which contain only the term "charter schools" but not the word "urban." This operator is used to reduce the number of records retrieved. Exercise caution when using NOT; you may eliminate helpful records--such as an article that is predominantly about rural charter schools but includes the term "urban."
Example: charter schools NOT urban
Use nesting to preserve the “logic” of your Boolean Search. Nesting is the use of parentheses to put your search words into sets. If you do not use parentheses, Boolean terms are connected according to the default functions of the database. Because it is difficult to keep track of differences in databases and because almost every database accepts parentheses, it is suggested that parentheses ALWAYS be used in a complicated search phrase.
(Huntingtons AND disease) OR chorea
Huntingtons AND (disease OR chorea)
((diabetes OR diabete) AND (hypertension OR (high blood pressure))) NOT therapy
Use truncation to find different forms of words in a Boolean or keyword search. Some databases use the asterisk, some use a dollar sign, and others use the question mark. The symbol may represent one character or multiple characters. It usually applies to word endings and may or may not apply at the beginning or middle of a word. Check the help function of the database you are using to learn the truncation symbol and rules. The most common truncation symbols are * and ?
Example: counsel*
Will retrieve counsel, counselor, counseling, counseled, etc.
Stopwords are commonly used words that occur frequently in records. Stopwords may be ignored by a search or they may stop a search. Stop words are usually listed in a database's Help screens. Commonly used words rarely help refine your search results and should be avoided.
Some common stop words are: the, an, at, for, from, of, then.
Different databases treat phrases differently. Some automatically assume two adjacent words are a phrase. Others require the use of quotation marks or parentheses to search for a phrase. Databases that automatically assume two words are a phrase often ignore the quotation marks. Because it is difficult to keep track of differences in databases, it is often helpful to use quotation marks when you enter a phrase.
Example: "school choice"
An exact phrase finds the words in exactly the same order and will search for "school choice", not "choice school."
When your search doesn't work out as you'd hoped, ask yourself these questions:
Some databases include an Index, a list of words used by all the records in a database. A database does not directly search its records but actually searches its Index for your word(s), which then tells the database which records contain those words. Some databases allow you to browse the Index directly. Th ERIC database contains several approaches to the index, including Educational Level, Journal Title, Language, and Author. Using the Author Index is very helpful in locating variant forms of an author's name (such as Mark L. Smith, M. L. Smith, etc.) Stopwords are not included in the database and therefore cannot be searched.
Peer-reviewed journals are also called “refereed” or “juried” journals. They are sometimes called "scholarly" or "academic" journals. The peer review process means that a manuscript is reviewed by others in the same field. These individuals (peers) read and review the manuscript, offering their comments and judgement as to its value. The process is intended to enhance the quality of the publications.
Peer-reviewed journals have characteristics that distinguish them from popular magazines. There is not always a clear-cut distinction between popular magazines and journals, however; some publications have qualities of both. Following is a comparison of peer-reviewed journals and popular magazines.
JCKL's Interlibrary Loan (JCKL ILL) is system where you can get books, articles and other materials that are not available at the Kirkpatrick Library. Log in using the link below.
After logging in, you can request materials, check on the status of your requests, verify due dates for materials and request renewals for items you currently have checked out.