Transcript WISER : Education Kate Williams, Education Librarian February 2009 Today In today’s session we will:  see how to find relevant education resources in Oxford 

WISER : Education
Kate Williams, Education Librarian
February 2009
Today
In today’s session we will:
 see how to find relevant education resources in
Oxford
 identify the major education subject databases
 see how they work, and how best to search
them
 see how to get to the full text
 look at ways to find free education web
resources
 have time to practise
Where to look for information?
Books:
SOLO - Search Oxford
Libraries online (searches
OLIS), COPAC
Known journal SOLO, Oxford E-journals
titles:
Articles /
reports /
conferences:
OxLIP+ Subject databases
and resources: listing for
Education
Useful
websites:
Education Library webpage
links, Intute web gateway
Where to start…
OxLIP+ Oxford Libraries Information Platform
Gateway to subject databases and eresources
Browse by title / subject / type of resource
Cross-search a range of databases
Go into individual databases, for more indepth searching
http://oxlip-plus.ouls.ox.ac.uk/
Which databases?
3 major education databases are on
the same platform:
British Education Index
ERIC
Australian Education Index
British Education Index (BEI)
 Covers research, policy and practice in
education – UK
 1975 to date
 300+ education and training journals
 Book chapters, reports, series
 Links to full text conference papers
 Updated monthly
 All indexed - British Education Index Thesaurus
ERIC
(Education Resources Information Centre)
 US Digital library
 Over 1 million references to thousands of
educational topics.
 1966 to date
 Journal articles, books, theses, curricula,
reports, conference papers, dissertations and
standards and guidelines.
 Updated monthly
 All indexed – ERIC thesaurus online
Major inter-disciplinary databases:
SCOPUS: Social Sciences and sciences
Web of Science/Knowledge: all disciplines
PsycInfo: psychology, including
educational and developmental
Sociological Abstracts: social and
behavioural sciences
on OxLIP+ to find out more…
How best to search …?
Keyword searching
Natural language searching
Cross-searching
Boolean searching
Pearl-growing
Thesaurus searching
Citation searching
Cross-searching: Pros and Cons
Quick
Searches up to 5 databases at once
Shows you where material is indexed
BUT
No thesaurus to help you search
Less sophisticated limits
Not all databases are cross-searchable
Thesaurus searching
 Searches using controlled vocabulary /
index terms – set by subject experts
 Groups together synonyms / related terms
under one heading
 Looks for articles about your topic, not just
with your words in the article
 Avoids trial/error or guessing which search
terms to use
Some search tips…
1. Identify the most important elements of your
search for your key search terms.
e.g. What are the most effective methods of
assessment in higher education?
2. Select a suitable database(s) for the subject
area, e.g. BEI, ERIC from the Education
section on OxLIP+
http://oxlip-plus.ouls.ox.ac.uk/
Some search tips…
3. Enter your search terms individually,
using the thesaurus searching option.
4. For free text searches, use $ or * to
truncate terms, e.g. assess$ or assess*
for assessment, assessing, assessor etc
(N.B. – need to use
synonyms/alternative terms)
Combining your search terms:
Boolean search logic
 OR searches for
results with ANY terms
e.g. assessment OR
evaluation OR testing
(synonyms)
 AND – searches for
results with ALL terms
e.g. assessment AND higher education
Some search tips…
5. Combine the resulting search numbers
with AND
e.g. 1 and 2
6. Follow the
links to see if we have
full text - electronic or print.
Where are print resources?
Education Library, Norham Gardens
 Printed books and journals for Education
 Material to support teaching and research in the
Department of Education, plus DipLATHE
 Dissertations and theses in Education, plus
portfolios for DipLATHE
Bodleian Library
 Most UK material, including Education
 Can be ordered to read at Education Library
British Library / Institute of Education - loans
Free web resources for Education
Links from Education Library webpage:
www.education.ox.ac.uk/library
Intute: subject gateway
www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/education
UK Educational Evidence Portal
www.eep.ac.uk
How can I get help?
 Phone or email the Education Library:
01865 274028
[email protected]
[email protected]
 OR Use our online tutorial:
 Searching the British Education Index and related
databases
 www.education.ox.ac.uk/library/training/guides/