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Educational Psychology

A guide to research at the Hunter Libraries for students in the Educational Psychology program.

Saving while searching

Saving citations/documents while searching
In most electronic resources, you have the option to "save" selected items from a list of results temporarily with the option to then print, email, save, or export this list before you end your session. 

While each database will use different jargon (save to checked list, save to folder, save to clipboard, etc.) each option functions in virtually the same way - the same as your virtual "shopping cart" on sites like Amazon. 

Be sure to:

  • Print. email, save, or export your citations BEFORE closing out of the database

Setting up Alerts

Setting up alerts


These days, most database providers allow the option to set up alerts of various types.  This means you can:

  • Create and save searches to be run at regular intervals, with the results then being sent to you via email or RSS.
  • Set up "journal alerts" that will notify you, again via email or RSS, when new issues of your selected journals are published.  Journal alerts usually include Table of Contents information and links to full-text articles when available.

Once you  have built a good search in a database, look for the options of "Save search" or "Set up Alert." Your options will include:

  • How you want your search results delivered: via RSS (into a feed reader like Google Reader) or via email
  • How frequently you want to receive results

Make sure that your search is a good one though - take some time to experiement! Your efforts will pay off in time saved down the road.

Limiters

Most databases or electronic resources have special features to assist you with finding the most relevant information to meet your needs. 
 

Limiters
In general, limiters are located below the empty search boxes on the advanced search screen. You can always consult the "Help" or "Information" menus in each database you use if you are having trouble. Limiters help you focus your database searches by limiting your result set to items that fit certain criteria specified by you, thereby weeding out irrelevant results. 

Across the board, databases allow for the limiting of searches by various criteria.  Some common limiters are:

  • Date (specific date, on or after a specific date, etc.)
  • Search within a specific publication
  • Limit to articles with full-text available (use with caution!)
  • Publication type (journal, magazine, newspaper, etc)
  • Document type (book review, book chapter, case study, etc.)
  • Limit to peer-reviewed (sometimes called refereed) publications only

Special Limiters
Some of the more discipline-specific databases (PsycINFO e.g.) have special limiters that are particular to research in the disciplines they cover. 

Special limiters for the Social Sciences databases include:

  • Age Group (neonatal, infancy, etc.)
  • Population Group (animal, human, etc)
  • Methodology (empirical study, clinical case study, qualitative, etc)
  • Intended Audience (general public, professional & research, etc.)


Special limiters for Education include:

  • Intended Audience (administrators, parents, community, etc.)
  • Educational Level (Early Childhood Education, Grade 5, Kindergarten, etc.)