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 books for September...

..can now be viewed, using this link: September 2013 new books list. As ever, it contains all items purchased for the School of Psychology over the past month.

Although it is a relatively small list this month, there are new editions of some major textbooks (and plenty of copies of each!). Most notable are the brand new 5th edition of Martin, Carlson and Buskist's 'Psychology' (dozens of loanable copies, plus an e-book version) and the brand new 3rd edition of Carla Willig's 'Introducing qualitative research in psychology'. Other notable new additions to stock include an e-book copy of Eynsenck's 'Cognitive psychology (6th ed.)' and a paperback of the classic book by Daniel Levinson 'Season's of a man's life'. Check out the full list using the link above.

 All of the books, including the e-books, can be found using Library Search

Searching for books beyond UEL's own collections...

...has been made much easier since the launch of the excellent Search25, but if you want to really research widely then the best way to do this is using COPAC. COPAC searches across 70 of the top research libraries in the UK, covering not only the top universities but also some of the country's best specialist libraries such as the London-based Wellcome Library, which is a potentially valuable collection for clinical psychology research. Why not run a few searches and see what you find? You can visit most academic libraries using a SCONUL Access card.

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.

A bumper new books list for July 2013...

...can now be viewed, using this link: July 2013 new books list. As ever, it contains all items purchased for the School of Psychology over the past month.

The reason for the longer than normal list is a combination of new books getting caught up in the recent library move, plus an extra end-of-year bit of money which enabled me to purchase some additional books (including quite a few new editions).

Key new titles include the long-awaited and much anticipated fifth edition of the 'Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders', better known as DSM-5. Hot off the press, I have managed to purchase several copies, which will doubtless be much thumbed very soon! Other notable new editions just purchased include the fourth edition of Kathryn and David Geldard's 'Counselling children', the third edition of Stanley Rachman's 'Anxiety' and the fourth edition of David Silverman's ever popular textbook 'Doing qualitative research'.

There are many more new titles besides the few listed above (another ninety-nine, to be precise), so don't forget to check out the new list using the link above. All of the books, including the e-books, can be found using Library Search.

Did you know? Official EBSCO PsycINFO tutorials...

...can now be found on the APA website: http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/training/tutorials.aspx. Make sure you choose the EBSCOhost option (it defaults to APA PsycNET) and you can then watch video walkthroughs of how to do various types of search, including advanced searches such as author affiliation and classification codes.