EDLM/EDUC/SPED 9005: Dynamic Perspectives in Education (Day): Finding Education Research

Before you can decide where to search you need to identify the type of information and sources you need:

• What disciplines, fields of study or subjects relate to your topic?
   
• Are you looking for something comprehensive? Go to books, documentaries, etc. on your topic. 
   
• Need something the is very current? Go to articles, media sources, etc. When we think of "finding an article" we often think of newspapers or magazines. But there are several kinds of articles your assignments might require:

News - From newspapers reporting daily events (New York Times)

Magazine - Often called "popular" articles, these are general or for a specific interest (Time, Discover)

Trade - By and for specific industries (Advertising Age)

Scholarly - Reporting research, written by and for scholars and researchers (American Journal of Psychology)

• Want in-depth coverage on a topic? Need back ground information? Go to books:

For in-depth coverage and longitudinal research - Look for books in the library's General Collection and eBook Collections

For background information - Look for Reference books

Once you've identified what you need, you can look for the databases that cover your topic with the type of sources that you are looking for. Some databases contain only articles while another might contain a wide variety of source types.