Presentation to the Education Research Methods class at Belmont University

1. Education Research
Courtney Fuson
615-460-5492
courtney.fuson@belmont.edu

2. Today we’re talking about:
• How to recognize and locate scholarly resources
• How to effectively search the library’s databases
• How to evaluate resources
• How to distinguish between different citations
• How to use a bibliography (or works cited) to
identify potential sources

4. Scholarly Resources
• AKA “peer reviewed”, “refereed”, “journal
articles”
• discipline-specific
• peer-reviewed
• written on a higher reading level
• written by a credentialed author
• cite their sources

5. Where can you find scholarly articles?
• Internet
▫ Google?
▫ Google Scholar?
▫ Wikipedia? – References list?
• Library
▫ Catalog?
▫ Databases?
▫ OneSearch?

6. Library Catalog
• Provides access to everything the library owns or
has access to
▫ Books
▫ Journals
▫ E-books
▫ E-journals
▫ Databases
▫ Media

7. Database
• Collection of newspaper, magazine and journal
articles
• Can include dissertations, reports and other
resources
• http://library.belmont.edu
▫ Click on Get Resources
▫ Click on Research Guides
▫ Click on Education to see all of the education
resources

8. • OneSearch searches the majority of the library’s
many databases all at one time.
• It also searches the library’s catalog.
• OneSearch is great for broad searches that cover
many different subject areas.
• http://library.belmont.edu
▫ Type your search terms into the search box and
click search.

10. Search Strategies
• Keyword searching
▫ Boolean Searching
 AND
 OR
• Subject searching
▫ Thesaurus

11. Boolean Café
• And , Or, and Not stop in at the Boolean Café for
dessert.
• And knows exactly what she wants. She orders
chocolate AND strawberries.
• Or is a big eater with a sweet tooth. He orders
chocolate OR strawberries.
• Not has to be a bit more careful. He is allergic to
strawberries, so he orders chocolate NOT
strawberries.

12. AND
Common
Core
legislation
Common Core AND legislation

13. OR
Common
Core
curriculumstandards
Common Core OR standards OR curriculum

14. Search strategies
• Common Core AND legislation
• Common Core OR standards OR curriculum
• Common Core AND (inclusion OR
mainstreaming OR special education)
• (Common Core OR standards OR curriculum)
AND (inclusion OR mainstreaming OR special
education)
• “Common Core”

15. Thesaurus
• list of subjects and related terms used to
standardize the descriptions of articles in the
database.
• You can select and search for synonyms, related,
and preferred terms.

16. Search Strategies Demonstration
• Education Source

17. Other resources
• Government Documents
▫ Department of Education (state & federal)
• Statistics
▫ National Center for Education Statistics
▫ National Assessment of Educational Progress
▫ Nation’s Report Card
▫ Census Bureau
• http://delicious.com/library_chic/belmontedu

18. Great! I found some stuff! Now what?

19. Evaluate it!
• Accuracy
• Authority
• Currency
• Objectivity
• Coverage/Purpose

20. Or, how do I find that article I keep seeing cited by other
people?

21. Reading citations
• Is it a…
▫ Book
▫ Book chapter
▫ Article
▫ Dissertation
▫ Report

22. Book
• McLaughlin, M. (2013). The common core:
Teaching k-5 students to meet the reading
standards. Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.

23. Book
• McLaughlin, M. (2013). The common core:
Teaching k-5 students to meet the reading
standards. Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
How do I find books?
• Library’s catalog
▫ Title search
• OneSearch
▫ Title search

24. Article
• Hess, F. M., & McShane, M. Q. (2013). Common
Core in the real world. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(3),
61-66.

25. Article
• Hess, F. M., & McShane, M. Q. (2013). Common
Core in the real world. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(3),
61-66.
How do I find articles?
• Library’s catalog
▫ Journal Title
• OneSearch
▫ Article title

26. Dissertation
• Barrett-Mynes, J. (2013). Literacy instruction in
the wake of common core state
standards. (Georgia State University).

27. Dissertation
• Barrett-Mynes, J. (2013). Literacy
instruction in the wake of common
core state standards. (Georgia State
University).
How do I find a dissertation?
• Usually availably only through InterLibrary Loan
• ProQuest lists many dissertations (ProQuest
Dissertations & Abstracts)
• Library catalog of the publishing university
• WorldCat (http://worldcat.org)

28. Report
• (2012). Race to the Top. Tennessee Report. Year
1: School Year 2010-2011. [State-Specific
Summary Report]. US Department of
Education,

29. Report
• (2012). Race to the Top. Tennessee Report. Year
1: School Year 2010-2011. [State-Specific
Summary Report]. US Department of
Education
How do I find a report?
• Try the publishing agency’s website
• Try Google or Google Scholar
• Try a subject-specific database (ERIC)
• Try OneSearch

30. Report
• EdSource. (2010). California and the "common
core": Will there be a new debate about K-12
standards? EdSource.

31. Report
• EdSource. (2010). California and the "common
core": Will there be a new debate about K-12
standards? EdSource.
How do I find a report?
• Try the publishing agency’s website
• Try Google or Google Scholar
• Try a subject-specific database (ERIC)
• Try OneSearch

33. • O'Reilly, S., & Stooksbury, A. (2013). Common
core reading lessons: Pairing literary and
nonfiction texts to promote deeper
understanding. New York, NY: Routledge.

34. • Connecting to the common core. (2013). Science
and Children, 51(2), 29.

35. • McCracken, B. (2014, January). Common Core
from the Outside Looking In. Knowledge Quest.
pp. 8-9.

36. Stumped?
• In person – 3rd floor
▫ Office hours: M-F 8am-4:30pm
(other times available by appointment)
• Via email – courtney.fuson@belmont.edu
• By phone – 615-460-5492
• Online –
http://belmont.libguides.com/education

37. Important Links:
• Library Home page: http://library.belmont.edu
• Education Resources -
http://belmont.libguides.com/education
• Today’s slides: http://slideshare.net/library_chic
• More education resources -
http://delicious.com/library_chic/belmontedu