Finding Articles Using Education Databases Information Services Section HKIEd Library

Outline Basics and Overview Database in Focus – ERIC on EBSCOhost Another Educational Resource Example – ProQuest Education Journals 2

Why use an e-database?

Because …  Use electronic databases to search for local and international literature.  Electronic databases contain recent information from book reviews, journal articles, conference papers, and other materials.  Some databases provide the complete full text articles or papers.  Other databases will just provide abstracts of the journal papers. 4

Because …  An e-database is an organized collection of information. It supports search for journal title, article title, author, issue, volume, etc., which is more flexible and in-depth. Journal article 5

Can Library Catalogue retrieve journal articles?

No, because …  We can only search for journal title in EdCAT, but not on individual article title or author. Journal title search 7

Why use an e-database?  Therefore, e-database is extremely useful when you want to find articles containing particular details, e.g. keyword = peer assessment in classroom  You could retrieve journal articles on this topic from e-databases, but you could not find the same information via EdCAT. This is because EdCAT allows search in journal title only; the search does not go into details of each issue or volume of the journal. 8

Some examples of Chinese electronic databases:  中國期刊全文數據庫 - 〈教育與社會科學綜合輯〉及〈文史哲輯〉  中文電子期刊服務 CEPS: Chinese Electronic Periodicals Service Some examples of local electronic databases:  Hong Kong Journals Online  Dissertations and Theses Collection (DTC)  Chinese ERIC (Chinese University of Hong Kong) Some prominent e-databases on Education Library Website -> E-Resources Tab 9

Some examples of international electronic databases:  ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)  ProQuest Education Journals  Academic Search Premier  A+ Education  PsycINFO Some prominent e-databases on Education Library Website -> E-Resources Tab 10

Identify your keywords  Keywords are words or phrases that should appear in the information you are searching for.  Keywords are used to do search in the library catalogue and e-databases. For example, your topic is : Study the effect of small class teaching in Hong Kong Keywords are : small class teaching hong kong  Use Boolean Operators (AND/OR/NOT), Wildcards (*), etc, where appropriate, e.g. small class teaching AND hong kong AND adolenscen* 11

Notation of e-databases Finding e-databases EdLINK-enabled e-database Abstract e-database Full text e-database 12

13 Database in Focus – ERIC

What is ERIC database?  Provides access to education literature and resources and to information from journals included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index. It contains full text with citation and abstracts from educational and education-related journals. 14

Find ERIC by Browsing "E" (or browse by education subject; or search ERIC) 15

Access to ERIC database Enter keywords Limit your search Search Results 16

Example Your research topic: Teaching thinking skills in small class settings Identify the Keywords: thinking skills AND small class Use indexes / thesaurus / descriptors to check related terms where necessary. How many records retrieved? 17

Example Full Text available 18

Example Check Library’s holdings 19

Searching tips: Expand your search  Use “expanders” from the database search screen to expand your search  Use Boolean operator “OR” to include more search terms e.g. thinking skills or critical thinking or decision making skills  Use truncation (*) to expand your search term in alternative way e.g. learn* to search for learning, learns, learner, etc. 20

Searching tips: Narrow your search  Use “Limiter” from the database search screen to limit your search results in various way  Consider the suggested “Narrow Search Results by Subject” from the search result screen  Use Boolean operator “AND” to limit search results to a narrower scene e.g. peer assessment AND higher education 21

Reduced from over 300 results to 53 by selecting peer reviewed and 2000 and after 22

Try it yourself Topic: code switching in Hong Kong Suggested keywords: Code switching and Hong Kong How many records retrieved? Limit your search to full text articles How many full text articles available? 23

Try it yourself Topic: code Are electronic books effective in teaching children reading? Suggested keywords: electronic books and children reading Limit your search to full text articles How many records retrieved? 24

Can I search across multiple EBSCOhost databases? 25

26 Searching Multiple Databases in Ebscohost

How can I export my search results?

28 Add to Folder: Save / Print / / Export

29 Add to Folder: Save / Print / / Export

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We can export the results directly to RefWorks 31

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Supplementary Notes  For more information on how to export references from e-databases to RefWorks, please refer to the following website: 

Export your search results to:  An account or  Bibliographic management software such as RefWorks Try it yourself 34

Another Education Resources: ProQuest Education Journals 35

What is ProQuest Education Journals database?  Covers almost 400 leading journals in education and related fields. 36

Access to ProQuest Education Journals database 37

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Access to ProQuest Education Journals database Keywords Limit to Full Text 39

Access to ProQuest Education Journals database Full text can be accessed via EdLINK or PDF Full Text link 40

E.g. search small class education 41 Suggested Topics  Class size AND Academic achievement

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We can also , Print, Save, Export, etc. 43

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Try yourself with different databases  Tentative topic: School-based stress management training for adolescents  Suggested keywords:  stress management AND adolescen*  Limit your search to full text articles How many records retrieved? 45

Try yourself Search and retrieve full-text via ERIC and ProQuest Education Journals:  Keyword: gifted education AND teaching method  Limit your results to full text Try to observe: 1. How many records retrieved from each electronic databases? 2. Evaluate the relevancy of the results retrieved from the TWO databases. 46

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