WISER Social Sciences: Education Kate Williams and Judy Reading January 2007

Today In today’s session we will: Show you how to find relevant resources online Introduce you to the most relevant databases Show you how they work Point out useful websites Allow you time to practice

OxLIP – gateway to e-resources Oxford Library Information Platform –  Library catalogues including OLIS – books, journals  Bibliographic databases – articles, chapters  Full-text electronic journals  Internet sites (including subject gateways)  Reference works & Statistics

Accessing OxLIP Access from any Oxford University computer If you need access from a non-University PC  Some databases allow access via Athens: register for a personal Athens account  If database does not use Athens, contact OUCS to arrange remote access (VPN) to the Oxford University network.

Which databases? Major education databases are on the same platform: British Education Index to date ERIC to date Australian Education Index to date

British Education Index (BEI) Covers research, policy and practice in education – UK 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. Includes: journal articles, books, theses, curricula, reports, conference papers, dissertations and standards and guidelines. Updated monthly Indexed –thesaurus online

7 steps to Search Success 1. Ask a clear question e.g. What are the most effective methods for evaluating courses in secondary schools? 2. Identify the most important words in the question for your key search terms. e.g. What are the most effective methods for evaluating courses in secondary schools?

7 steps to Search Success 3. Select a suitable database(s) for the subject area, e.g. BEI, ERIC Look at the Education section on OxLIP at 4.Enter your search terms, using the “map terms to subject headings” option.

7 steps to Search Success 5. For free text searching, use $ to truncate terms, e.g. teach$ for teaching, teacher etc (N.B. – Will need to use synonyms/alternative terms) 6. Combine the resulting set numbers with “AND” connector e.g. 1 and 2 7. Follow the links to see if we have full text - electronic or print.

And finally: Useful websites for education. Links from Educational Studies Library webpage: