Sage Research Methods...

...is another new addition to the library's expanding range of databases. However, this one is a little different. Rather than specialising in a particular subject area - such as how PsycINFO focuses on psychological literature - Sage Research Methods is, as the name suggests, dedicated to literature on research methodologies across the disciplines. The range of literature it contains includes a significant number of complete books (in full-text).

There are two main ways of using Sage Research Methods. If you know the methodology you are using - let's say Q Methodology - simply type that into the search box and, in this example, it returns 676 results. The results include complete books on the topic, book chapters, encyclopedia and dictionary entries, journal articles and even the occasional video. Select a result from the list and it immediately loads the full-text.

The other main way of using Sage Research Methods is for identifying appropriate methodologies for your research. To do this, choose the 'Methods Map' and it guides you through the various options.

With over 100,000 pages of content, including the text of 640 specialist books, this database provides a significant boost for researchers across UEL. Why not take a look, and let us know what you think?

A huge new citation database...

...called Scopus, has been added to the A-Z of databases subscribed to by UEL library. Scopus replaces our previous subscription to Web of Knowledge, and includes the vast majority of content held within Web of Knowledge plus considerably more. In fact, according to the marketing blurb, it is ‘the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature’ and ‘delivers the most comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts & humanities’.

As far as the raw facts are concerned, it currently holds citations for over 50 million peer-reviewed articles from over 21,000 different journals. They have also just embarked on a major project to include book citations down to chapter level. As well as being a great way to find research, another key feature is its ability to analyse results e.g. showing you the main journals for that topic, or the publication history of authors. It is very simple to use, so why not take a look and see what you think.

New full-text journals on PsycARTICLES...

...have just been added, including some special issues. Further information is available on the following page on the APA website: http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/news/2013/08/new-from-apa.aspx. Don't forget that all PsycARTICLES content is available to UEL students and staff through our subscription to EBSCO PsycINFO.

Did you know...

...that some Research Councils maintain catalogues of research they have funded, which are fully searchable online? These catalogues can be a great way of tracking down otherwise hard-to-find citations - not to mention the links to material which are normally provided. For example, go to the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) Research Catalogue and choose 'Psychology' from the drop-down list of disciplines. Happy searching!

Further updates to PEP-Web...

...have gone live, only a short while after the previous update. They have added another year to the archive meaning it now covers 1871 to 2009 (the previous update added 2008, this one adds 2009). They have also added 3 new journals (well, 2 in the English language - the third one is in Greek!) and 27 new books. To access this excellent database of psychoanalytic literature, simply follow the link from the library website: PEP-Web.

New version of PEP database...

...now available from the library website: PEP (Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing). The new version now includes an extra year of coverage (1871-2008, compared to 1871-2007 in the previous version) for all journals, plus five new journals, twelve new books and various new features.

Logging in to ScienceDirect...

...changes slightly from 1st December 2012. You will still need your Athens username and password, but there will be a slight change to when you sign in. More information is available on ScienceDirect's news page: Athens now OpenAthens.

PLOS One...

… is an open-access (i.e. free) peer-reviewed (i.e. high quality) online journal with a huge range of coverage across various scientific and health-related topics, including many relevant not only to clinical psychology, but also other psychological disciplines. The number of articles it has is incredible. To have a look yourself, follow this link: PLOS One. Thank you to the student who directed me towards it!

A new journal on PsycARTICLES...

...is about to be made available. It is called "Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal" and they promise access to all the latest issues. Although UEL has previously had access to it via Academic Search Complete, it has always come with a full-text 'embargo' on the last 12 months. As well as the latest issues, PsycARTICLES promise that in 2013 all back issues to Volume 1 will be made available. Furthermore, they are promising six more new journal titles in 2013. More details as I get them...
Don't forget that all PsycARTICLES publications can be accessed via EBSCO PsycINFO.

Clinical and health psychology...

...materials can be found on the wide-ranging (and free!) Trip Database, which someone has recommended to me. It seems to be aimed primarily at clinicians and clinical professionals (namely medical practitioners), but the overlap into health psychology-related topics is sufficient to make it a potentially useful resource. It focuses on 'evidence', which includes systematic reviews, guidelines (split by country), Q&As and even e-Textbooks. Give it a go and let me know what you think!

Free British Library workshops...

...run regularly at the British Library in St Pancras. They are normally free and cover a wide range of topics related to using the BL and more general research and information skills. Information on up-coming workshops can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/stp/workshop/workshops.html.

Two new journals on PsycARTICLES / PsycINFO...

...are now available: ‘Law and Human Behavior’ and ‘Peace and conflict: journal of peace psychology’. Further details on both titles are available from the following news story on the APA website: http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/news/2012/03/psycarticles-new-journals.aspx.

The new 2012 release of PsycINFO…

…has now gone live on EBSCO. New features include a revised version of the thesaurus (including 73 new terms and 51 new ‘used for’ terms), a new searchable field (grants/sponsorship – enabling you to identify any financial backing behind an article), a new methodology (‘scientific simulation’) and the ability to use PubMed IDs to find many articles. Similar updates to PsycARTICLES should go live very soon.

For further information about any of these features, please contact your Subject Librarian.

PsycINFO News...

...is a quarterly publication from the APA (American Psychological Association) available for free from their website: PsycINFO News. As the people behind the PsycINFO database, no-one is better enabled than them to offer the latest updates and the best tips and tricks. It also has an optional RSS feed to help you keep up-to-date with the latest issue.

Stop words...

…are found in all search engines, from library databases (such as EBSCO PsycINFO) to web search tools such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!. They are words which the search engine will ignore because they are simply too common. For example, ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘if’ and ‘but’ will not be searched for. Normally this poses no problem, but what if you are searching for a specific phrase, such as ‘children in care’ or ‘vitamin A’? Well, on some databases the use of speech marks resolves the issue e.g. “children in care”, while others, such as Google, are clever enough to realise that the ‘a’ in ‘Vitamin A’ is a key component of what you are looking for. However, many databases, including those found on EBSCO, will ignore the stop word regardless of whether speech marks are included – there is no way to force the search engine to look for that word. Slowly but surely the people who make these search tools are recognising the problems this can cause and making changes – the Web of Knowledge database has recently abolished all stop words – but if you are using a search engine which hasn’t yet made this change, then the best advice is simply to find alternative terms or descriptions for what you are looking for.

Search history on EBSCO databases...

…such as PsycINFO, is a lot more useful and powerful than you might at first realise. For a start, it is a helpful way of remembering which search terms / search combinations you have already tried. It will show how many results each search gave you and you can quickly determine which words and phrases are giving you the best results. For more advanced searchers – for example, if you are currently doing a literature review for your dissertation or thesis – it can be a powerful way of building your searches.

Building searches is much like putting up a building. Firstly you acquire your building materials (i.e. a collection of individual words and phrases) and only once you have got the raw materials do you then put them together. For example, if you are searching for information on autistic young males in special education you would begin by producing separate lists of words and phrases for autistic (e.g. autism, ASD, developmental disorders), young males (e.g. boys, infants, adolescents) and special education (e.g. special needs, special education students, special schools). You would then search for these words or phrases individually (one at a time), and then, using the search history, see which specific words or phrases bring up the most / best results and then use that information to guide you in how best to combine them e.g. developmental disorders AND young males AND special schools. The search history will then keep a record of what does and doesn’t work and enable you to search in a logical and systematic way.

Most popular journal articles...

...on ScienceDirect can be viewed using their "Top 25 Hottest Articles" charts. Released quarterly, they can be viewed by subject (e.g. psychology) or journal title (e.g. journal of personality and social psychology). It's a great way of keeping up with the latest exciting research, as well as a rather interesting way of identifying potential topics for your own research.

A new psychoanalysis collection...

...called PEP-WEB (PEP Archive 1 Version 10 (1871-2007) release) is now available from the library's 'Databases & e-journals' webpage. It contains the complete text and illustrations of 42 premier journals in psychoanalysis, 58 classic psychoanalytic books, and the full text and editorial notes of the 24 volumes of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.

Visual search on EBSCO databases…

…may prove to be a very helpful tool if you are a visual learner. The option can be found beneath the main search box in any EBSCO database (such as PsycINFO). To make the most of it, I would suggest starting with a very simple search (e.g. interpersonal relationships) and following the screens from there. The way it works, is that it picks up the most common terms related to your search and presents them in a visual list. You click on one of these (e.g. ‘attachment behavior’) and it then presents you with another list, this time of the most common terms within the results for that phrase. You can keep clicking on these terms until you hone it down to exactly what you are looking for. At each stage the trail you have following is displayed visually, so you can backtrack and take alternative routes. If that all sounds a bit complex, then please give it a go – it is much easier to use than it is to explain!!!

Language options...

…are now available on all EBSCO databases, including PsycINFO. Simply select the ‘Languages’ menu from the top right of the screen and choose your language. Everything within EBSCO (except, unfortunately, the article records themselves) will then be translated, making searching much easier, if English is not your first language.