Education: Articles

Recommended Databases

These are likely to be the best online sources in which to start your research.

Related Databases

While not specifically education resources, depending on your topic, these could be excellent sources.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar has been customized by the PSU library to find some full-text articles at PSU!

https://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://scholar.google.com

Google Scholar can be extremely helpful in finding out how many times an article has been cited and who cited an article. This can help you determine how important an article is and which other authors you may want to investigate.

Make sure you're checking your discipline's databases as well, for fuller, more complete scholarly coverage of the journal articles on your topic. 

Brainstorming Keywords for Your Topic Video

This quick video explains how to turn your topic into keywords while searching for library resources and sources on the Web.

How to Find Articles

Find it @ PSU

If the article you have found in a database doesn't have the full-text right there, click on the find it at P S U button button to see if the article is available in full-text in another database.

If we do have it, it will take you to a page that shows you where it's available

(if you see a Download Article link, you can click to access the electronic copy).

Interlibrary Loan When We Don't Have It

If we don't have a journal article you need for your research in our collection, we can get it for you!

Just request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Please note: it can take 5 days to a week or more to secure an article from another library.

Find a specific article

If you have the citation for a specific article, here are two ways to find it:

1. Go to the PSU Google Scholar (availabe under "Research Tools" on the library homepage).

Type in the article title and see if a link comes up.

If it doesn't try the second way below.

 

2. Go to the library catalog on the library homepage.

Type the journal title into the search box.

If PSU has the journal it will show up. It may be in print or online,  just follow the links.

If we don't have your journal article try interlibrary loan.

Moving from a Research Question to a Search Strategy in 4 Steps

Moving from a research question to an effective search strategy involves breaking down the question into its Core Concepts, brainstorming Keywords, and then constructing an effective Search Strategy. You can do this in 4 steps.

1. Articulate your research question

Is union representation good for public employees in Oregon?

2. Break down your research question into its core concepts.

  • Union Representation
  • Public Employees
  • Oregon

3. Now list alternative ways of describing these concepts.

Your list can include broader, narrower, and related concepts.

Core Concept Brainstorm
Union Representation: Collective Bargaining labor union labor dispute SEIU
Public Employees: workers state worker employee staff
Oregon: Pacific Northwest Washington United States Portland

4. Create multiple search strategies by combining words from your concept brainstorm list.

  • Union AND employee AND portland
  • (Labor Union OR collective bargaining) AND state work* AND oregon
  • Etc.

Tips

  • Use truncation (an * at the root of a word to find different word forms. For example, librar* will find libraries, librarian, librarians, etc. 
  • Use parentheses and the OR operator to "nest" your search--different terms/phrases that represent the same concept.
  • Use quotation marks for phrase searching.
  • Use Boolean operators to connect search terms:
    • OR -- finds results with either or both terms -- it is used to broaden your search.
    • AND -- finds results with both terms -- it is used to narrow your search.

Acknowledgement: The content in this box was based off of Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh's work at Georgia State University Library.