UCB Libraries

EDUC 5265

Processes in Writing


  • Starting Research
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Recommended Resources
  • Citing
  • Writing

 

 

 

Finding Reference Sources

 

You will find numerous reference sources in the UCB Libraries' collection, both online and in print.

SEARCH your topic in Reference Universe, enter your topic in the search box below:

Reference Universe: This is a searchable database that indexes information from specialized subject encyclopedias. It does not include the full text of reference materials but will point you to reference sources that cover your topic. It searches both the titles of reference articles with extensive bibliographies as well as the encyclopedia / dictionary indexes, providing a thorough level of access to materials and potential sources. CU

For more reference source search tips, go to How do I find Reference Sources.

 

Finding Background Information

Developing a comprehensive understanding of your topic is essential when embarking on research. One way to gain background information is to utilize reference sources. This will help you to focus and concentrate your interest in a researchable portion of your topic. For help developing background information:

Education Research Guide- Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and More

 

Reference Sources


Literacy in America [electronic resource] : an encyclopedia of history, theory, and practice / Barbara J. Guzzetti, editor ; Donna E. Alvermann and Jerry L. Johns, editorial advisors

Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c2002

Full-text in History Reference Online   

 

Handbook of early childhood literacy / edited by Nigel Hall, Joanne Larson and Jackie Marsh

Available through Prospector

 

Handbook of early literary research / edited by Susan B. Neuman, David K. Dickinson
Publisher Info New York : Guilford Press, c2001
Subject Language arts (Early childhood) -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
Reading (Early childhood) -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
Language arts (Early childhood) -- Research -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
Children -- Language -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
NORLIN STACKS  LB1139.5.L35 H37 2001  v.2

 


Online Sources

 

Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology online

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology is the reference for students, researchers, librarians, and academics in the field. This ground-breaking project brings together specially commissioned entries written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers. An essential reference for expert and newcomer alike, with entries ranging from short definitions of key terms to extended explorations of major topics .

 

 

Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods
These volumes comprise an encyclopedia of social science research methods, the first of its kind.

 

 

 



Developing Keywords

Before you start to research a topic, you need to develop keywords that represent your research interest, question, or inquiry.

 

Keywords are significant words (usually nouns or noun phrases) which can be used as search terms in online catalogs or databases. Keywords will determine the quantity and relevance of results you retrieve when searching.

 

First you will identify and articulate your topic in your own words:

Example: I am interested in investigating the effectiveness of literacy assessments used with second language learners.

 

Next you will designate the main concepts or ideas that describe the topic:

 

Concept 1:

second language learners

 

Concept 2:

literacy

Concept 3:

assessments

 

Then develop other terms and vocabulary that represent the topic. Some terms may be broader, narrower, or synonyms. Adding terms that represent geographical distincitions, time periods, or significant figures about your topic may also be useful.

 

Concept 1:

second language acquisition

 

ESL

 

language learners

 

foreign language instruction

 

bilingual

 

L1/L2

 

ELLs

Concept 2:

literate

 

reading

 

comprehension

 

Literacy Education

 

Cultural literacy

 

 

 

 

 

Concept 3:

test (s)

 

assess

 

assessment*

 

proficiency

 

standardized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Combining Keywords

Operators:

AND: second language learners AND literacy (must find both terms)
OR: testing OR assessment (must find one of the terms)
NOT: testing NOT standardized (must find first term NOT second term)

 

Punctuation:

Phrases: “second language learners” (must find that phrase in that order)
Synonyms: (“second language learner” OR ELLs) AND literacy
Wildcards: assess* will find assessment, assessments, assessing, etc.

 

You may use the UCB Search Strategy/ Keyword Worksheet to develop your own topic.

For deatails on combining keywords for the best results view the

How Do I Use Keywords

 

 


 

Chinook | Prospector | Interlibrary Loan

Chinook is the catalog for materials owned by the CU Libraries. You can do a title search for a specific book, or a keyword search if you are looking for books on a particular topic. You can also use MyChinook to manage your library account (including renewals, holds, recalls, saved searches, etc.)

 

Tutorial: Chinook Keyword Search

 

For Tips on developing keywords for your topic go to:

 

How do I Choose Keywords for my search

 

More Chinook Tutorials

 


If you search Chinook and find that the CU Libraries do not have the item you are looking for (or if the item you are looking for is checked out), you can search Prospector, which is a combined library catalog of 23 libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. CU students, staff and faculty can request materials through Prospector, and the items will generally be delivered to Norlin within a few business days. prospector prospector

 


Request through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/ill/

If the book you are looking for is not in Chinook or Prospector, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Generally, an ILL request will take longer to be delivered than material requested through Prospector. ILL requests usually take longer since the book has to be mailed. If you haven't used ILLiad you will need to register the first time and provide some basic contact information

 

 

Articles By Topic | Recommended Databases | Articles From a Citation


In order to find articles about a particular topic, you will use a library database. UCB Libraries provides access to numerous databases. They are available on the Find Articles and More Page.

 

You may explore our databases organized by categories and subcategories. Remember to read the descriptions of each database to determine which will suit your needs. Think about other disciplines that may be relevant to your topic!

 

Education - Most Useful

 

Education - Also Useful

 

Sociology - Race and Ethnicity

 

Psychology - Most Useful

 

Linguistics - Most Useful

 

Typically you may search by keyword, author, title and more. For help developing keywords, go to How do I Choose Keywords? HINT! Keep track of search terms. Look for database recommended search terms and help resources.

 

WAIT! Are you connecting from off-campus?

Tutorial: VPN



Education-related abstracts/databases

 

ERIC (CSA)

ERIC Education Resources Information Center (CSA) provides access to more than 1.2 million abstracts of journal articles and other education-related documents produced by practioners and researchers. In most cases, the Find it at CU icon will connect to a full-text version of journal articles. CSA also provides saved searches, email alerts and other education-related databases.

 

Included is full-text access to ERIC Documents (ED) from 1996 to present. ERIC Documents from 1966-1993 are available on microfiche and can be requested from Pascal using the ERIC Document request form.

 

ERIC is also available in a free web-based version.

 

Education abstracts

Includes comprehensive coverage of an international range of English-language periodicals, monographs and yearbooks. Coverage includes about 79 journals not covered by ERIC. Education Abstracts indexes articles from 1929 to present. In most cases, the Find it at CU icon will connect to a full-text version of journal articles. Access limited to four simultaneous users. Requires VPN software to access off campus.

 

CSA linguistics and language behavior abstracts

The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Includes descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. Provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,500 serials publications, and abstracts of books, book chapters, and dissertations.

 

Professional development collection

Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highly specialized collection of 520 high quality education journals, including nearly 350 peer-reviewed titles. This database also contains more than 200 educational reports. Professional Development Collection is the most comprehensive collection of full text education journals in the world.

 

PsycINFO

Index with citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and technical reports, covering psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, anthropology, business, and law. Produced and copyrighted by the American Psychological Association.

 

Teacher Reference Center

Teacher Reference Center is an index of more than 260 titles from teacher and administration trade journals, periodicals, and books. It provides coverage on topics such assessment, best practices, continuing education, current pedagogical research, curriculum development, elementary education, higher education, instructional media, language arts, literacy standards, school administration, science and mathematics, teacher education, and more.

 

Web of science
  
An interdisciplinary online index that provides bibliographic citations for high impact journals in the disciplines of science, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Provides subject, citation, and title access. Includes access to current and retrospective bibliographic information from nearly 9,300 leading scholarly peer-reviewed journals. The database can be used to track resources cited in an article and to identify articles which cite an article or book. The "Find Related Records" feature enables users to find other articles that have cited the same sources. All three areas (sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities) can be searched individually or in combination.

 

 

Full-text journal collections

 

Education: a SAGE full-text collection

Includes the full text of 26 peer-reviewed journals published by SAGE and participating societies distinguished by up to 40 years of backfiles, and encompasses over 8,000 articles.

 

JSTOR IV

This is an archival collection (2003-earlier) including more than 50 major peer reviewed education journals including those published by the American Education Research Association. This full-text collection does not contain the most recent publications.

 

Research and Subject Guides

Or search numerous guides leading to valuable resources (databases, print, online directories and more).

 

Widening your search

 

The Libraries subscribe to numerous databases and choosing the right article database can be difficult. There are numerous types of databases some will provide citations and abstracts, some will also include full text, some will link to reference materials, and more.There are a few things to keep in mind:

  • What discipline or subject area does your topic fall within? Who is having a conversation on the issue?
  • What perspective are you interested in? (critical, psychological, sociological etc.)
  • What type of material do your need? (scholarly, popular, newspapers)

All of these questions will help lead you to a relevant database. Keep in mind that there are a few types of databases.

  • General and Interdisciplinary databases: These databases are a good starting point when you are new to your topic. They often include scholarly and popular sources as well as material from a variety of disciplines and perspetives. For Example: Academic Search Premier

  • Subject or Discipline Databases: These databases will help you find material from specific disciplines. They provide more in-depth and focused research. Urban studies & planning: a SAGE full-text collection
  • Format Specific Databases: These databases are narrowed to specific types of material, such as newspapers, dissertations, statistics, images, biographies etc. For Example: ProQuest dissertations & theses : A&I

Are you connecting from off-campus?


If you have a specific article you need or you are tracking works from a bibliography, you will use:

 

Find it @ CU Article Finder
Complete this form to find the article in electronic or print.

Tutorial: Find it @ CU Article Finder

OR use the Chinoook Journals/ Serials Title search. Be sure to look for the journal/ magazine title NOT the article title. Then follow the links to the correct volume, issue, year, page number.

Tutorial: Chinook Periodical Title

 

 

More Sources
Related Library Guides

Education
A guide to research resources in Education available from the University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries.

 

Educational Resources
This guide, from the Government Publications Library, provides links to data on education from federal , state and international sources.

 

How do I Find an ERIC document? (ED.......)

 

Journals of Interest (Require VPN to access off campus)

 

Assessing Writing (Online: 1994-Present)
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (Onine: 1996-Present)
Journal of Literacy Research (Online: 2002-Present)
Journal of Second Language Writing (Online: 1995-Present)
Journal of Writing Research (Online: 6/2008)
Language Arts (Online: 1989-Present)
Reading and Writing Quarterly (Online: 1997-Present)
Reading Research Quarterly (Online: 1965-12/2007)
Research in the Teaching of English (Online: 1997-Present)
Theory Into Practice (Online: 2000-Present)
Written Communication (Online: 1984-Present)

 

 

 

CONTACTS:

 

Alison Graber

alison.graber@colorado.edu

Education Subject Specialist

 

 

 

 

7/08 CBS

 

Citation Styles | RefWorks | Tips & Strategies

Citation Styles

 

APA Style (PDF document) (5th edition)

 

APA formatting and Style Guide (The Owl at Purdue)

 

APA Style website (Sponsored by the American Psychological Association) 6th Edition

 

 

You may also find print guides in the library

 

APA

 


REFWorks
A personal online database and bibliography creator that allows users to create a personal database online, import references automatically from multiple databases, organize references, and quickly format bibliographies and manuscripts. You will need to create a login and password. Provided by the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries.

 

How do I use RefWorks?

 



Use RefWorks, EndNote, Zotero, or some other citation management tool. You will be able to keep track of citations, organize your literature reviews, insert citations easily into your paper, as well as create bibliographies. It will save you a huge amount of time in the long run.

 

Receive personalized resource alerts from Chinook

You can customize Chinook, the CU library catalog, so that you automatically receive email alerts of new resources added to the library collection.

 

Current awareness services

Databases such as CSA ERIC allow you to set up automatic searches and Table of Contents alerts for journals. You will need to create an account in CSA ERIC which will allow you to save searches, get e-mail alerts, and recieve journal alerts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Writing Sources

Chinook Resources

Search for information related to proposal writing and education/social sciences research in Chinook with the following subject headings:

 

Proposal writing in research

Proposal writing in the social sciences

Social sciences -- Research -- Methodology

Education -- Research Methodology

 

More Resources

University of Colorado PWR

Writing Center

The Writing Center offers writers from across disciplines and skill levels the opportunity to work one-on-one with consultants trained in writing pedagogy. Writing Center sessions strive to address writers' stated needs while attending to relevant disciplinary, rhetorical, grammatical, and stylistic concerns. You may make an appointment online.

Services are FREE to all CU students, faculty, staff and alumni.


OWL of Purdue University
Online Writing Center of Purdue University is an excellent site full of writing and research tips.