Education Databases

Susan Silverman
Dacus Library
Winthrop University
June, 2008

EBSCO Databases

EBSCOhost Research Databases:

• Search multiple databases at the same time.
• Uses the same search engine.
  • Search single terms in "Basic Search" or combine terms using "Advanced Search."
  • Select to search the "default fields" or select specific fields; such as author, title, subject, etc.
  • Can search index fields.
  • Can limit by specific database.
  • Can e-mail, print, or download search results.
• EBSCOhost help provides information, searching tips and style sheet examples.
• Save search statements and results in My EBSCOhost.

Academic Search Premier

• Academic Search Premier is the world's largest academic multi-disciplinary database.
• Provides full text for nearly 4700 journals.
• For some titles, full text dates back as far as 1965.
• Includes an image collection of people, historical photos and maps.
• Can search for cited references.
• Can limit to full-text, peer reviewed, cover story, or document types.

ERIC:

• ERIC is the Educational Resources Information Center, a federally-funded national information system, providing a variety of services and products on a broad range of education-related topics.
• Containing over one million records, ERIC indexes over 2000 titles covering the entire field of education; including adult education, assessment and evaluation, curriculum, urban education and more.
• Includes indexing for both nonjournal material listed in RIE, Resources in Education (the ERIC Documents or ED's) and journal articles listed in CIJE, Current Index to Journal in Education (EJ's).
  • ED's; Approximately 110,000 full-text ERIC documents are now available online.  ERIC Documents are also available on microfiche on the top floor of Dacus Library.
  • EJ's; check DOC to determine which ones are available in Dacus Library, the others can be ordered on interlibrary loan.  ERIC is beginning to add some full-text journal articles.
• The ERIC database provides abstracts for citations, but not full text.
• Can limit search by year, language, educational level, publication type (ex. research report, instructional guides), or document type (ED or EJ). 
•  To limit search to research articles, select 'reports - research/technical' as a 'publication type'..
• Can search by index field; for example, the number of articles on 'middle schools' in the index field 'educational level.'
• ERIC database can be accessed through EBSCOhost, FirstSearch, and on the Internet at http://www.eric.ed.gov

PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES:

• PsycINFO contains citations with abstracts from over 2000 journal titles written in over 35 languages, covering all the fields of psychology and related disciplines, such as medicine, sociology, education, business and law.
• Journal coverage from 1872 to the present.
• Includes references to psychology-related books and book chapters written in English since 1987.
• Can limit by publication type (journal article), publication date, language, age group, population, content type (studies), and special features (peer reviewed).
• Can search for cited references.
• Provides detailed abstracts for references, and links to over 35,000 full-text articles found in PsycARTICLES.
• Includes more than 35,000 full-text articles from 49 journals published by the American Psychological Association and allied organizations, back to 1987.

Other Databases:

InfoTrac Database:

• Offers several different databases, including:
  • General OneFile: includes newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in all disciplines.  Contains millions of full-text articles.  Also now includes indexing from the Ingenta database.
  • Expanded Academic ASAP: for research needs across all academic disciplines with access to scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers.
• For searching tips, click on "Help-Search" in the blue strip.
• Full text coverage is included for many titles
• Use the "Advanced Search" to combine terms.
• Can limit search to full text articles, refereed publications, or limit by date or specific journal title.

JSTOR

• Archival database of scholarly journals
• Full-text [PDF] files of scholarly journals, most back to the first issue.
• Can search by topic areas.
• Does not include current issues.