LibGuides: Education: Home

Step 1: Search the Library catalogue for books

LibrarySearch
Search the library catalogue to find books on your topic.

Search tips:

Choosing keywords. Try searching on alternative keywords if you don't get the results you expect.
Phrase searching. Try putting common phrases in quotation marks, e.g. "industrial revolution".
Truncation/wildcard. Put an asterisk at the end of the stem of the word to search for any letters which come after it, e.g. film* will find film, films, filming, etc.
Refining to ebooks. Use the ebook filter.

Finding a Book (video)

Step 2: Major Multidisciplinary Databases

Scopus This link opens in a new window
The largest international abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources. Searches 45.5 million records from 5,000 different publishers covering many different subjects.
ISI Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the Citation Indexes for: Science; Social Sciences; Arts & Humanities; Conference Proceedings and Books. Use for finding journal articles and conference papers. Databases can be searched simultaneously or select specific databases using the More Settings option.

Step 3: If the Library doesn't have the book/article

Document Delivery Service
Guide to using the Document Delivery Service

Literature Searching Skills

PhD On Track (also great for undergraduate research)

Suggest a Book for the Library

Recommended Websites

Education Scotland
The national body supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education: links to material on assessment, curriculum, teaching and learning.
Scottish Government - Education & Training
Information on all aspects of education and training across Scotland, including schools, early years, post 16 education and universities and colleges.
Times Higher Education
Useful site from the Times containing news, comments, features, books and podcasts on all aspects of higher education.
Times Education
Useful website featuring jobs, teaching resources, community blogs, forums, groups. Links to Times Education Scotland, features and archive.
NFER: National Foundation for Educational Research
Aims to improve education nationally and internationally by undertaking research and dissemination activities. Areas include Statistical analysis, assessment and evaluations. Good source for research and publications.
British Educational Research Association (BERA)
Excellent site with links to Projects and resources, ethical guidelines for educational research, publications,recent news and a news archive.
Scottish Educational Research Association
Scottish equivalent of British Educational Research Association.
Nuffield Foundation
The Foundation aims to improve social well-being through education, research and innovation. Website has sections on Social Policy, Education, Capacity Building, Teachers and Placement information.
BBC Learning Scotland
A wide variety of Educational links to subjects and resources on all aspects of education provied by the BBC.
General Teaching Council for Scotland
Good website with losts of information on education in Scotland, practitioner enquiry, standards, professional development, fitness to teach and probation. Links to publications, news, articles and podcasts.

Step 2: Search databases for research articles

The databases in the list below contain research, mostly links to journal articles. Choose a database appropriate for your specific topic.

Search tips:

Choosing keywords. Try searching on alternative keywords if you don't get the results you expect.
Combining search terms. Combine concepts with AND. Combine alternative keywords with OR, e.g. (cbt or cognitive behaviour therapy) AND (resilience or coping)
Phrase searching. Try putting common phrases in quotation marks, e.g. "long term conditions"
Truncation/wildcard. Put an asterisk at the end of the stem of the word to search for any letters which come after it, e.g. stress* will find stress, stressful or stressed
Refining search. Refine your search using the filters available, e.g. date, language
Evaluating results. Read the abstract and subject headings to decide whether the article is relevant to your research.
Finding full text. If you don't see a PDF link, look for the Find@Stir button - this may take you to the full text. You can also download the LibkeyNomad browser plug-in, which will provide access to articles. If we don't have the article, see Step 3 (If the library doesn't have the book/article).

Step 2: Plan your database search

Literature Search Planning Template

Steps 2: Education Databases

Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window
provides full text of articles related to all aspects of education from early childhood to higher education also includes health education.
British Education Index This link opens in a new window
An index to articles and reports on research, policy and practice in education and training in the UK. Particular strengths include aspects of educational policy and administration, evaluation and assessment, technology and special educational needs. Covers material from 1975. It can be cross searched with ERIC, a large American education database.
ERIC via EBSCO This link opens in a new window
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) is an index produced by the US Department of Education. It covers journal articles, books, book chapters, conferences and dissertations in educational related literature. Covers material from 1966. It can be cross searched with the British Education Index.
Education Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Search here to retrieve references from more than 680 education journals from 1983 to present. References to books are included from 1995 onwards.
Educational Administration Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Contains over 190,000 references to literature relating to educational administration and leadership.
PRE Practical Research for Education This link opens in a new window
Produced by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). Articles related to the practical applications of the latest research into education.
ERA Online: Educational Research Abstracts This link opens in a new window
A database comprising fully indexed article abstracts (summaries) which cover the current international research in education. Where possible links to full-text are provided. When full-text is not available within ERA Online the Library may still have access at other sites, so copy the article title and search for it in LibrarySearch - use the ‘Search Everything’ option
Covers material from 1995.
Child Development and Adolescent Studies This link opens in a new window
Search here to retrieve references about child development.

Step 4: Evaluating web sources

It is important to critically analyse information before you use it in an essay, report or assignment. These websites suggest how to evaluate the quality of different types of information. For further assistance with this, please ask in the Library.

Evaluating Resources
Wikipedia: academic use
Article about academic use of Wikipedia

Academic Liaison Librarian

Clare Crowley

Email Me

Step 5: Cite your references

Sage Research Methods

Supporting research at all levels Sage Research Methods brings you books, chapters, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos. See Case Studies of real research projects and practice on Datasets (these can also be used for teaching).

The Methods Map can help those less familiar with research methods to find the best techniques.

More tips, videos and guidance available a the Sage Research Methods help pages.

Education: Home

Welcome