NSU Education Librarians - we're here to help! |
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Broken Arrow Campus: Jamie M. Holmes Office: Telephone EXT. 6456 (449-6456) |
Tahlequah Campus: Peggy Kaney Office: Telephone (918) 456-5511 EXT.3276 |
| General Information for Students |
Resources - Books, catalogs and databases |
Search Tips |
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| Following APA style rules |
Search the NSU Libraries' Online Catalog: http://library.nsuok.edu/vtls.english/index.html
Here are some of the subject headings used in the catalog(there are a total of 115 subject headings related to psychology): acting out (psychology), adolescent psychology, clinical psychology, anxiety testing, attitude (psychology) testing, cognitive psychology, experience, genetic psychology, human behavior, humanistic psychology, instinct, orientation (psychology), perception, thought and thinking
Search for E-Books using NetLibrary and/or eBrary: http://library.nsuok.edu/Refdesk/vrdbks.html
Academic Search Premier - This is a general database, which means it contains article citations and full text articles covering many academic subjects. It is one of the twenty-five databases produced by EbscoHost for which NSU has a subscription. It is probably our most widely used database and is sometimes referred to simply as "Ebsco."
PsycARTICLES - a definitive source of searchable full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. The database contains more than 40,000 articles from 53 journals - 45 published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and 8 from allied organizations. It includes all journal articles, letters to the editor and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1985 to present.
PsycINFO - PsycINFO, from the American Psychological Association (APA), contains more than 2 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, dating as far back as the 1800s. 97 percent of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Journal coverage, which spans 1887 to present, includes international material selected from nearly 2,000 periodicals in more than 25 languages. Contains a thesaurus.
1. Be prepared with synonyms in case your original search produces no results. Use a thesaurus if the database is equipped with one.
2. Pay attention to search tips or help screens
provided by each database. Even experienced researchers (like
professors and librarians!) can have trouble when dealing with a new
interface. Take the time to learn how to use the tool - it will help
you to avoid frustration!
3. Remember that most databases allow for Boolean
Searching. Use and
to
narrow, or to expand, not to exlude. Truncation is
also useful for bringing back all relevant results. For example,
type counsel* to bring back
documents containing the words counsel,
counseling, counselor...
4. Take advantage of the following sources of help:
- Reference desk: Located on the first floor of the JVL, the desk is staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon - Thurs. and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. by reference librarians or other experienced library staff members.
- College of Education Resource Co-Coordinators: Jamie M. Holmes and Peggy Kaney. Feel free to email us with a question or to schedule a one-on-one reference session.
The American Psychological Association originally created a publication manual to provide a common structure for all journal manuscripts in the area of the social sciences.
Many other disciplines (including psychology, the behavioral sciences, nursing, personnel administration and many areas within education) have adopted this as their professional writing standard as well.
In an academic environment, you will often be expected to conform to this standard when writing. At this point, you should be mostly concerned with creating an accurate reference list using proper format and providing citations within the text to give credit for an idea or concept to the source from which you got it.
Print:
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). (2001). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
The library owns several copies of the style guide;
however, only the 4th edition circulates (can be checked out). There
are five copies of the 5th edition in reference and one on reserve. (
Websites:
Using APA format (Purdue University) - this comprehensive guide summarizes the print version of the book. Click on Your Reference List to find examples of the proper format to use when listing sources you used.
APA Style.org's Frequently Asked Questions