Recommended Reads
Recommended Databases
- APA PsycInfoFull-text articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and abstracts of peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. 1800s - present.
- Chronicle of Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education is a source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators.
- EBSCO Academic Search CompleteMulti-disciplinary database with over 8,500 full journals, indexing/abstracts for over 12,500 periodicals as well as books, reports, and conference proceedings.
- EBSCO WebIncludes access to over 50 databases across a wide spectrum of subject areas.
- Educational Administration AbstractsCovers areas related to educational administration, including educational leadership, educational management, educational research and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. 1966 - present.
- Education Full TextFeatures content on a wide array of subject areas including adult education, comparative education, government funding, higher education, school administration, teacher evaluation, and more. Some full text back to 1996. 1983 - present.
- ERIC (EBSCO)
Education Resource Information Center provides access to educational literature and resources. 1966 - present.
- OAIsterUnion catalog of millions of records linking to more than 30 million digital open access resources from more than 1,500 contributing institutions.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (Full-Text)
The world's most comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world, offering over 5 million citations and 3 million full-text works from thousands of universities dating back to 1939.
- ThinkIR
ThinkIR is an open-access collection of scholarly works created by the University of Louisville community.
- US NewsstreamCurrent news service, including Courier - Journal (Louisville, Ky.), New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and more.
- Web of ScienceCover-to-cover indexing of journals, books, data, and conference proceedings in all disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. 1950 - present.
- WorldCatCatalog of library material from libraries in your community and around the world.
Frustrated with your literature search? Not sure how to find everything you need? Check out these tips and tools for a more productive and less stressful search process! All the keywords: Try out a wide variety of keywords to make sure you've got the right jargon for your topic. What words are the experts using? You should use them, too! All the databases: Search all the relevant databases in your research area. There are probably databases in your field you've never even heard of. Use the library's Subject Guides to find the databases you're missing. All the search tools: Use database features to make your searches more efficient, focused, and comprehensive. Limit your search by Subject, Article Type, Time Period, and more. All the citations: Scholarship is a conversation, and scholars talk to each other through citations. Look to see who's citing whom. Use Google Scholar and Web of Science to track down citations. All the dissertations: Follow in the footsteps of the grad students who came before for useful ideas and perhaps even more useful bibliographies. Use ProQuest Dissertations and Theses and UofL's ThinkIR to find dissertations. All the librarians: Meet with a subject librarian for expert guidance on finding sources. We love research, and we're friendly, too! Schedule a research appointment online at uofl. me/lib-appt2. Finding everything? Keep track of it! Endnote citation management software is a must for research productivity! It's freely available in the iTech Xpress store and allows you to create a personalized database of all your sources and generate in-text citations and bibliographies in any style.
How do I search?
Many databases offer useful features that facilitate serious research.
- Thesaurus Terms/Subject Terms/Descriptors: Most databases allow you to search for the terms that are used to classify items into categories within the database. If you can locate these terms/descriptors, then you can construct more precise searches. In many cases, this method of searching will lead you to additional words that you can incorporate into your research.
- Field Searching: In many databases, the drop-down menu next to the search box will allow you to search in particular fields (such as title or abstract). Field searching can help you narrow your search if you're retrieving too many irrelevant results.
- Times Cited/Cited By: Many databases (as well as Google Scholar) will show you the number of times that an item has been cited by other items in that database. This type of feature can help you find additional relevant items and determine which items might be most influential in your area of interest. If an item focusing on your topic has been cited numerous times, then it's probably relevant to your research for one reason or another.
- Database Accounts and Alerts: Most prominent database interfaces (including EBSCO, ProQuest, and Ovid) allow users to set up personal accounts. With most accounts, you can organize your citations, save particular searches, and create e-mail and RSS alerts for searches and newly published journal articles.
How do I know if I've found everything?
While it is nearly impossible to know with 100% certainty that you've found everything of relevance, the following questions can help you figure out if your literature search has reached critical mass.
- Have I searched all the major databases relevant to my area of interest?
- Am I seeing the same authors/sources over and over again?
- Have I checked through the bibliographies/references of the sources I've found?
- Am I keeping track of new publications through database/journal alerts and regular communication with other researchers?
- Have I talked to a librarian?