This guide
can be found under Find Articles
Go down to Help
You can
access the database under Find Articles: Databases
by Subject off of the library’s homepage at www.hamline.edu/bushlibrary
PsycINFO is an index of information on psychology, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, law, and social work. The sources include over 1,800 professional journals, chapters, books, reports, theses and dissertations, published internationally. It covers the years 1840 to the present (most material starts after 1887). If you have any questions about using this or any of the journal index databases please call the reference desk: 651.523.2375
The Advanced
Search has several components you will want to be aware of. (1) You have several search boxes to put your
terms in (three search lines with 3 search boxes). Most of the time, you will place your terms on
separate lines. You will see that they
are connected by an “AND”. Each line has
three boxes separated by an “OR”. The
“Or” can be used for synonyms, such as “assessment OR evaluation” or different
spellings like behavior OR behaviour”. (2) Each search line can bet set to a type of
search: anywhere, keyword, descriptor (subject), title, author, etc... (3) There are several
functions that allow you to limit your search to specific times or types of
materials. (4) To find the Thesaurus
and other advanced search tools click on the Search Tools tab at the
top.
The Search
Tools screen allows you to combine searches, be notified of items on a
particular topic, look at your search history, and a few more options. Probably
most important is the Thesaurus.
Using a
database thesaurus can be a very useful tool to narrow your results. When one
uses a general keyword search, it can lead to a high retrieval of irrelevant items.
A keyword search looks at several parts of a record for a word and not
the idea behind that word. EXAMPLE: Using the word “assessment” in
a keyword search may pick up records that deal with educational assessment, tax
assessment, housing assessment, or maybe psychological assessment. As you can
see, a keyword search can pick up a variety of topics.
A Subject
or Descriptor search looks specifically at the subject/descriptor field of a
record. This field is what describes a
particular item. Subjects/descriptors
are usually assigned according to a standard of rules such as Library of
Congress Subject Headings, National Library of Medicine Subject Headings,
Thesaurus of Psychological Terms, ERIC Thesaurus, Sociology Terms, etc...
Don’t Worry
– You do not have to memorize the terms you would like to use. Most journal index databases provide a
Thesaurus for you to use. If a database
does not provide one do a normal keyword search, find a record you like, and
look at the subject/descriptor field to find what they used to describe that
item. Re-search with your new
terms.
The end
result is to narrow and focus your search to the most relevant items!!!
From the (1) Select
a Thesaurus drop down menu select PsycINFO
Thesaurus (English). (2) In the Search Thesaurus for box type in the
term you would like to use. As an
example, I have used Classroom Behavior as
the term I would like to use.
(1) If
the term you type in is a DESCRIPTOR it will be listed as such.
Sometimes it may tell you to use another term instead. (2) The Thesaurus will then list, if
applicable, Broader Terms, Related Terms or Narrower Terms. This allows you the opportunity to get even
more specific with your topic. You can
then take the term(s) you find and return to the Advanced Search.
(1) Back
in the Advanced Search you can create your search. Put your descriptor in one of the search
boxes and (2) change your search to a Descriptor
Search from the drop-down menu. Feel
free to select any limiters below and then hit the Search button.
(1) How many records your search yielded. (2) The breakdown of those results. Feel free to click on the appropriate tab for
narrower results. (3) Start of the
records. Basic citation information will
be listed. Click on View Record
to view the full record. (4) Listing of
the Descriptors. Make use of
these if you see a record you like.
We can
break down the item record into several important parts. (1) Title & author. The author is hyperlinked so you can do a
search for other items by a particular author. (2) The rest of the citation information:
journal name, volume, issue, dates and pages. (3) Descriptors that describe the
item are listed. You can mark any of
them and continue to a new search. (4) The
abstract or summary of the item. (5) If
you decide you would like to find the article and see if Bush Library has a
subscription to the journal in print or electronic format, you will need to
click on the Article Linker button.
When you click on the button a second window will appear. See below.
(1) The citation you are looking for will be shown in this
area. (2a)The sources that might possibly have the article you are trying to
find. If you see Bush Memorial
Library’s Periodicals Collection, that will denote that Bush
Library has or had a print subscription to the journal. Click on the
Journal link to search CLICnet and see if we have
that particular issue of the journal. If a journal index database appears
as it does in the example check (2b) the
If there are no listings, then Bush Library does not subscribed to
the item and you will either want to (3) search CLICnet
and see if one of the other CLIC schools has it or request it through Interlibrary Loan.