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Research Consultations

I am available for research consultations throughout the academic year.  If you would like to arrange for an individual research consultation, please e-mail me with a requested date and time, and a brief description of your research interest.
athomson@laurentian.ca

 

Courses

For information about Laurentian’s School of Education English and the courses it offers, please visit the School of Education English'sweb site.

Welcome!!

The purpose of this guide is to recommend print and electronic resources for conducting research in Education in the Library.  Click on the tabs above for suggestions about starting your research, getting books and articles, and finding other useful tools for research in Education.

Connect from Off Campus

Most of the Library's online resources are available to you from anywhere off campus.  See:  Proxy Server Accounts.

Subject Librarian

Ashley Thomson, BEd, MA, MLS

Instruction Librarian

Email Address (at laurentian.ca): athomson

Extension: 3322

Office Location: J.N. Desmarais Library, 30-245

Get Started

Quick Tips on Preparing for Research

Before you start:

  • understand the key terms you may be using as well as the general area that interests you;
  • think about ways to narrow your topic, making it as specific as possible (unless you have been given a specific topic to research!);
  • create a thesis statement;
  • list  the main concepts (key words) included in your thesis statement (research question), then based on your readings;
  • find as many synonyms as you can for each main concept. You are now ready to start searching in the library's catalogue and databases.

When you are looking for definitions or if you don’t know much about a specific subject, reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias become invaluable because they contain relatively short—and understandable—articles. These articles often lay out the parameters of a subject and can assist you in trying to narrow your topic. Often such articles are accompanied by lists of readings (bibliographies) which allow you to explore your topic further.

One of the very best general encyclopedias is:

 

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences  2001.

 

Education Dictionaries

The Facts on File Dictionary of Education. 1988.

The International Dictionary of Education. 1977.

 

Education Encyclopedias

The Encyclopedia of Education. 1971. 10 vols.

There are also more specialized encyclopedias of education in print on such topics as Early Childhood Education, Educational Administration, and Educational Research. To find more using the catalogue, click on the subject heading:  Education--Encyclopedias

At the moment, there is one online encyclopedia,The Encyclopedia of Language and Education.  2nd ed. 2008

Get Books

Search the Catalogue

The  catalogue is your primary tool for finding books in the J.N. Desmarais Library. You can also use the catalogue to find other materials, including government publications and journals (the journals themselves- not individual articles).
You can search the catalogue by:
  • Keyword
  • Title
  • Journal Title
  • Author
  • Subject
  • Series
When you know the book you are searching for, pick Title or Author;  when you are searching for a topic, start with Keyword unless you know the exact  Subject heading describing your topic.  More on searching the Catalogue is available in Module 1 of the online library workshop program in D2L.
IMPORTANT: The Catalogue will tell you what books are available in the J.N. Desmarais Library--well almost all books.  There are e-books available to you as well, not all of which are listed in the catalogue.
And if you want to find what books are available in libraries around the world--many of which will not be available on campus--then you need WorldCat, which you would use in conjunction with RACER, the interlibrary loan service.

 

E-books

E-books are located in two different places:
  • Some may be located by using the library’s catalogue. These records will have [electronic resource] in the title.
  • E-books can also be located by searching in e-book collections. Searching in these collections is the same as searching in a database.
Recommended E-Book Collections
Ebrary (close to 40,000 e-books in multiple subject areas)
MyiLibrary (over 100 e-books in education--all accessible through the catalogue)
Netlibrary (over 7,000 e-books in multiple subject areas) 
Scholars Portal E-Books (over 250,000 e-books in multiple subject areas. Select Full Text Only to find only those e-books with full text)

WorldCat

With nearly 200 million records representing titles held by nearly 75,000 libraries, WorldCat allows you to find almost any book ever published.
Maximum Simultaneous users: Unlimited
Search Tips:  Once you log-in, click on the Help Button:
After your search, when you see a title that interests you, click it on and within the record you will see:
 
When you click on that, you will be led to a menu which allows you to check for the item's availability in Laurentian’s catalogue or order it through Interlibrary Loan.

 Note: There is a "public" version of WorldCat accessible over the internet. You will find that the version available through the university contains a much more powerful search engine; further because of the "Get it @ Laurentian" feature, the university's version makes it much easier for you to obtain the books you want.

 

Get Articles

Quick Tip

If you need to find an article--and you have the full journal citation--then you can often get to it quickly using Electronic Journals (A-Z).  Type in the name of the journal, click on the correct journal name, click on the appropriate year / volume / issue, then find your article on the list by starting page number. Please note that you cannot use the A-Z list to search by subject--the list only supplies access to known electronic journal titles.

Quick Tips for Searching the Databases

The databases to the right provide references to many scholarly journal articles and papers.
  • Start off with keyword searches expressing your topic. Keyword searching crosses all fields.
  • Use Search Operators (below) to Expand or Reduce your results.
  • Review those items that look relevant, then,
  • Exploit the details within those entries to help lead you to other relevant articles. Pay attention to the subject headings (typically called "descriptors") to see how the database describes your topic and use them to find related articles. 

Search Operators

Function
To EXPAND Results
Example
Truncation (*. $, !)
Replaces one or more characters of a search term.
Canad* (searches Canada, Canada's, Canadian etc.)
OR
The result contains at least one of the search terms. Note parentheses.
(discipline OR classroom mangement)
 
To REDUCE Results
  
AND
The result contains all of the search terms.
Education AND Canada
NOT
The result does not contain the specified term.
Education NOT University
 

Note:  Always place terms separated by "or" in parentheses.  E.g. (discipline OR classroom management)

Peer Review

Peer Review is the evaluation of creative work by scholars  in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality of the work in that field.
 
In the case of peer reviewed journals, which are usually academic,  peer review generally refers to the evaluation of the articles in them prior to publication.
 
For more follow this link.
 

Subject Databases


ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
Database Description: Recommended starting database. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature. ERIC provides ready access to education literature to augment American (and Canadian) education by increasing and facilitating the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research. ERIC provides coverage of journal articles, conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs. Coverage starts in 1966.


British Education Index
Database Description: BEI attempts to list every significant article of permanent educational interest appearing in over 250 English-language periodicals published in the British Isles and in certain internationally published periodicals since 1976. The number of journals and the type of literature indexed are subject to constant evaluation and expansion. BETI records all theses relevant to education accepted and deposited at UK and Irish universities and polytechnics.

CBCA Full-Text Education
Database Description: Canadian Business & Current Affairs (CBCA) Education™ focuses on Canadian information in the field of education. Over 265 journals are in the collection, with file depth back to 1986. Academic, administrative, professional, and topical journals are all included, as are newsletters.

Education Abstracts @ Scholarsportal
Database Description: Includes an international range of English-language journals, monographs, and yearbooks, including many journals not covered by ERIC’s CIJE from 1929 to present. The database offers abstracting and indexing of several hundred journals with full text and page images from nearly half. Updated daily.

Education Administration Abstracts
Database Description: A comprehensive source of information about issues and research related to the administration of primary, secondary and post-secondary educational facilities and programs. Coverage starts in 2001.

Getting Articles @ Laurentian

In any database, when you see an article that interests you, click it on and within the record you will see:
 

 

When you click on that,  you will arrive at a menu which will lead to an electronic copy of the article you want, or, if not available electronically, to Laurentian's catalogue which will allow you to check if the article is available in print, and if not, to a final link which allows you to order the item through Interlibrary loan.

Curriculum Resources

Curriculum Resource Centre (CRC)

The Curriculum Resource Centre is located on the first floor of the School of Education, Room 103, Building #20 on this Campus Map - Carte de campus  and it supports School of Education students in their studies and in their teaching placements.  Its collection includes curriculum materials, textbooks, pedagogy, native studies materials, as well as teaching aides such as picture books, novels, puppets, literacy games, science kits, charts, math manipulables, and musical instruments.

The CRC follows the J.N. Desmarais Library protocols in regards to borrowing privileges, loan periods, fines, etc.

How to Search for Items in the CRC

Laurentian University’s library catalogue includes CRC items and they can be found in a general search. 

For example, a catalogue keyword search for penguins gets over 900 hits.

If you are looking for a children’s book about penguins, it is too time consuming to look through that many results to find something suitable, so limiting the hits to ones from the CRC is very effective. Click on “Choose a different library”  (in the upper right hand side of the results screen).

Click on the arrow pointing to Laurentian University to open a menu.
 
 

Click on Curriculum Resource Centre

Immediately the search shows far fewer hits for penguins in the CRC, including books, puppets, and irrelevant hits published by Penguin Books.
 
To remove irrelevant hits, try changing keyword  to subject.  The results are about 5 relevant hits. 
 
 Hours

 Please check the CRC's website for its current  hours of operation.

Contact

Telephone: 705-675-1151 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            705-675-1151      end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext. 4259
Email: crc@laurentian.ca

Librarian: Shelbey Krahn (M.L.I.S., B.Ed., B.A.) 
skrahn@laurentian.ca

 

 

 

 

 

General


Discovering Collection
Database Description: Discovering Collection offers easy access to award-winning content based on national curriculum standards. Covering the core curriculum areas, including history, literature, science, social studies, and more, DC provides a premium selection of reference, primary sources, creative works, and multimedia, including hours of video and audio clips. New to the database are popular topic pick lists and an integrated national and state curriculum standards search with content correlated to the standards.

Primary


Kids InfoBits
Database Description: Kids InfoBits is a database developed especially for beginning researchers in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Featuring a developmentally appropriate, visually graphic interface, the most popular search method is moving from a broad subject to a narrower topic using the subject-based topic tree. The curriculum-related, age appropriate, full-text content is from the best elementary reference sources and magazines. This database covers geography, current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more

Junior and Intermediate


Junior Edition
Database Description: Now with over 330 titles, cross searchable with E-Books, this periodical database is designed for students in junior high and middle school with access to a variety of indexed and full-text magazines, newspapers and reference books for information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Secondary


Student Edition
Database Description: Now with over 1100 titles, cross searchable with E-Books, this periodical database is designed for high-school students with access to a variety of indexed and full-text magazines, newspapers, podcasts, and reference books for information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Some Useful Internet Resources

Curriculum Resources

Ontario Curriculum Documents

The Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner

Units: Elementary Curriculum Units Project (for the Official Version 3.0 Planner)

Ontario Government-Approved Textbooks

Growing Success:  Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario's Schools

Books for Children and Young Adults

CM: Canadian Review of Materials
Reviews Canadiana of interest to children and young adults, including publications produced in Canada, or published elsewhere but of special interest or significance to Canada, such as those having a Canadian writer, illustrator or subject. CM reviews both books and DVDs.

Worlds of Words: International Collection of Children's and Adolescent Literature, from the Univ. of Arizona College of Education.  
This Web site's mission is to promote high-quality, culturally authentic children's literature. Users may do quick or advanced searches for books and receive bibliographic information and a brief description for each book found. The site presents the option of choosing from the categories of Region, Age, or Genre. Advanced Search allows users to specify one age group, one region, and one genre but precludes choosing multiple options under a category.  Worlds of Words features two online journals: WOW Stories: Connections from the Classroom, containing vignettes written by educators about children's experiences reading and responding to literature, and WOW Review: Reading across Cultures, a quarterly whose reviews focus on the cultural authenticity of the text and illustrations. Also available are the WOW Currents blog and an events calendar limited to the University of Arizona area. Although somewhat narrowly focused, this site will be useful for teachers, parents, and librarians trying to pick the best books for children. Educators also will benefit from the teaching helps in the blog and from WOW Stories.

Citing Sources

Why Cite

We cite sources to acknowledge the work of others, as well as to avoid academic dishonesty or plagiarism.
 
Laurentian's Psychology Department has made available a comprehensive set of guidelines on How NOT to Plagiarize that is based on one prepared  1998 by Margaret Procter, Coordinator of Writing Support, for distribution at the University of Toronto.  It deserves to be read by every student since at Laurentian academic dishonesty is a very serious offence.

APA Style

You'll find copies of the new Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) in the Desmarais Library, the Curriculum Resource Centre—and in the Huntington Library.  The call number is  BF 76.7 P83 2010.  It is often referred to as the APA Manual.  

In a hurray?

Take a look at the Guide to Citing Education Resources in APA Format 6th Edition from Queen's.

This guide will give you general guidelines for in-text citation and for creating an APA reference list for both print and electronic documents.  It is intended as a quick reference only.  To be certain you are have used APA style correctly, you should always refer to the APA Manual itself.

Get References into RefWorks

RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based bibliography manager that allows you to :

  • Import references from electronic resources such as research databases or catalogues into a personal database;
  • Organize the references according to your needs;
  • Create a bibliography in the style of your choice;
  • Export it into a file to be included with your assignment, report, or project.

You will need to sign up (using your Laurentian email account) for an individual account the first time you use RefWorks

Transferring References from a Subject Database

British Education Index

This database provides no exporting feature to RefWorks. Instead, the desired citations will need to be copied manually into your RefWorks account:

  1. Perform your search in the database
  2. Open another window in which you will connect and log in to your RefWorks account (http://refworks.scholarsportal.info)
  3. In RefWorks, select "References"
  4. Click on "Add New Reference"
  5. You will see a list of empty fields to be filled in (for author, title, periodical, volume, pages,...)
  6. Copy appropriate information from database and paste into appropriate field in RefWorks
  7. When finished, click on "Save Reference"
  8. Repeat steps for any citations you wish to add

CBCA FullText Education (ProQuest)

  1.  Mark desired records
  2. Click on "Export" (located immediately above the search result list)
  3. Click on "Export directly to RefWorks"
  4. Login to your RefWorks account and the citations will be imported

View Slideshow

 Education Abstracts@ Scholarsportal (CSA)

  1.  Mark desired records
  2. Click on "RefWorks" (located above the search results)
  3. Click on "Export to RefWorks"
  4. Login to your RefWorks account and the citations will be imported

View Slideshow

Educational Administration Abstracts (CSA)

  1.  Mark desired records.
  2. Click on "RefWorks" (located above the search results)
  3. Click on "Export to RefWorks"
  4. Login to your RefWorks account and the citations will be imported

View Slideshow

 Eric (Ebsco)

  1.  Click on "Add to Folder" to select items
  2. Click on "Folder" or "Folder View"
  3. Select citations to export
  4. Click on "Export"
  5. Select "Direct Export to RefWorks"
  6. Click on "Save"
  7. Login to your RefWorks account and the citations will be imported

View Slideshow