Psychology 654 - Advanced Physiological Psychology
Spring 2007

Library Instruction Program - Research and Instructional Support
For more information about this topic contact Mary Boulanger

Table of Contents

  1. Library Research Assistance
  2. Tips and Strategies for Research
  3. Finding Resources at the UWM Libraries
    1. Library catalog [PantherCat]
    2. Indexes and Databases
    3. Selected Psychology Internet Resources
  4. Using the Web Wisely

Library Research Assistance

Proxy Server
This link allows UWM students, faculty, and staff with Internet access to connect to most of the Libraries' subscription databases and electronic journals from home (a few titles are licensed for on-campus or in-library use only).
AskaLibrarian
An email and chat service, AskaLibrarian provides a forum for questions at all hours. Check this web page for the various formats.
Electronic Reserve
E-reserve materials generally consist of scanned journal articles, book chapters, lecture notes, and sample exams. These printable materials may be accessed from off-campus computers using the proxy server [see above].
InterLibrary Loan
When materials cannot be found at the UWM Libraries, use this link to pursue the many options available.
Research Consultation
This is an in-depth advisory service about specific library research processes offered by librarians of the RIS Department to the students, staff and faculty of UWM. Use this link to find out more or to request an appointment.

Tips and Strategies for Research

Constructing a Search

For example: What ethical questions are raised by embryonic stem cell research?

Sample searches:   embryo and stem cell and ethics                  embryonic stem cells and morality

Which to use: Catalog or Database?

Scholarly vs. popular publications

There are many types of periodicals; all have their uses. Here are a few.
  • scholarly journals - usually written by subject experts, often peer reviewed, few photos
  • popular magazines - geared towards the general public, many photos and ads
  • trade publications - often product or industry oriented
  • newspapers - often published daily, has items of local, current interest
All of these types can be in print or electronic formats. For more information, check the Libraries' FAQ page on Understanding Publication Types.
Finding Resources at the UWM Libraries

The Library Catalog

PantherCat
Truncation symbol is ?    For example work? searches work, works, working, worked...
Types of searches include, title, author, keyword (and, or not). Use this guide for more tips in searching PantherCat.

Sample Search [using Keywords (and, or, not)]:   "fairy tales" and rat?

Selected Indexes and Databases

On the UWM Libraries home page under "Find Articles", the Resources A-Z link leads to an alphabetical list of databases. Some index journals, magazines and newspapers from various subject disciplines. Others are collections containing the electronic full text of such journals. The ones listed below are good sources for information on media and violence. They each have online guides.

PsycINFO with PsycARTICLES [formerly PsychLIT, aka Psychological Abstracts]
1887-present (selected full text via PsycARTICLES 1987-present); provides citations to journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, dissertations, and other documents in the field of psychology and related disciplines, such as linguistics, law, business, and anthropology. PsycINFO covers the academic, research, and practice literature in psychology. It includes over one million citations and summaries,and is updated monthly. Many articles found in PsycINFO are available online via the PsycARTICLES companion service. Look for the "Linked Full Text" option. Guide
MEDLINE via PubMed FREE ACCESS
MEDLINE via EBSCOHost
1950-present; indexes over 4,800 journals in medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine and the preclinical sciences. PubMed is the National Library of Medicine's search service that provides access to over 14 million citations in MEDLINE, and other related databases, with links to participating online journals. Guide | Tutorial
Mental Measurements Yearbook
Produced by the Burros Institute of Mental Measurements at the University of Nebraska. Provides descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing) and edited review(s) written by leading content area experts. To be included in the Mental Measurements Yearbook, a test must be commercially available, be published in the English language, and be new or revised since it last appeared in the series. Coverage is from Vol. 9 of The Mental Measurements Yearbook forward and content is updated monthly. Print volumes available from 1940-2007 Ref Z5814.P8 R93. Guide
Animal Behavior Abstracts
One year ago-current; indexes journals and significant papers in animal behavior and related fields. Guide
Academic Search
1984-present; indexes over 3,400 scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers in the areas of business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science, education, and multi-cultural studies. Full-text is available for 2,000 journals starting with January 1985. Guide

Selected Psychology Internet Resources

There are many places to get information on the Internet. Deciding what is reliable, however, is a critical distinction in the health fields. The following resources offer a sampling of critiqued web sites.

American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States. With 148,000 members, APA is the largest association of psychologists worldwide. There are sections of their web site on psychology topics, careers in psychology, recent research and more.

Centre for Psychology Resources
This list of psychology resources is based at the Centre for Psychology of Athabasca University in Athabasca, Alberta, Canada. The Academic Content Sites section contains links to a large number of psychology web sites organized by the different sub-fields within psychology.

National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal government's principal biomedical and behavioral research agency. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Great American Rat Experiment
How NOT to do research, or at least, what happens when there is no bibliography.

Using the Web Wisely

Though not specifically related to a particular topic, the first three resources are Subject Directories to web sites evaluated by people (as opposed to "selected" by a search engines's web crawler). The other sites listed give some general guidelines to evaluating and citing web sites.

Librarians' Index to the Internet
Search by keyword or look through the directory - keyword can lead to directory sections to search further

Internet Scout Report
Subject directory maintained by UW Madison

Infomine - Scholarly Index Resource Collections
Contains over 20,000 well-selected and described links to scholarly resources on the Internet. Searchable. 

How to evaluate and cite Web Sites

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask (from University of California Berkeley Library)

Citing Web sites  (from Bedford / St. Martin's)

 

prepared for Pstchology 654, Kerr & Bauer, March 27, 2007