| Library Guide - Education studies |
We are your Liaison Librarians for Education Studies, Reetu Child and Jane Faux. If you need help with finding or accessing any of the sources mentioned in this guide,we will be happy to help. Contact us in the library or as follows:
Email: education-librarian@newman.ac.uk
Tel: 0121 476 1181 ex.1413
This subject guide is intended to help you find relevant information and resources to support you during your course of Education Studies. It provides a comprehensive overview of the best resources for your subject area.
Remember, a comprehensive literature search of the available resources will allow you to read widely around the subject, absorb a range of viewpoints and reach your own conclusions on a topic based on what you've read. Exactly the kind of behaviour your lecturers are looking for!
The library catalogue is accessible from designated computers in the library or online via the library homepage.
You can search the catalogue by keyword, title, author or year. The keyword option is especially useful for searching a particular subject as it performs a flexible search.
An online help guide to using the catalogue is available (click on the Help tab
in the library catalogue). There is also a tutorial on the Library
Zone page of Moodle How to find items in the library but if you need
any further help please ask a member of library staff.
The School Experience Collection is a special collection of resources to support you during school placements. The collection includes books, big books, lesson planning materials, CDs, videos and DVDs, posters and artefacts covering all subjects and key stages. You can search for these resources on the library catalogue by selecting ‘School Experience Resources’ from the drop-down collections box on the search screen.
If you have any suggestions for useful resources to add to the School Experience Collection, please contact your Liaison Librarians.
Quick reference sources, which are available in the Education Reference Collection in the library and online, provide a useful starting point for your research. Sources include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories and yearbooks and you can use them to find:
• Explanations and definitions of particular terms or topics.
•
Contact addresses or information on people or organisations.
•
Factual and statistical information.
The library subscribes to the following services which can be accessed from the ‘Electronic Resources - E-Reference’ page of the library website:
• Britannica Online – Academic Electronic version of this authoritative encyclopedia. Also links through to full-text journal articles on topics covered in the encyclopedia.
• Oxford Reference Online - Quick reference information together with authoritative, in-depth articles. Contains the full text of over 130 dictionaries, plus an encyclopaedia, thesauri, and guides to English grammar and usage. Includes a wide range of additional material such as maps, illustrations and timelines.
You will find the following and many others in the Educationl Reference Collection:
• The Education Authorities Directory 2007
• Education Yearbook 2008/2009
• The Blackwell Handbook of Education
• Primary Education Directory 2007/8
• Primary Education Yearbook
• Special Education Directory 2006/7
The Library uses the Dewey decimal system to classify and arrange its books by subject. The catalogue will give you the shelf number of the book you need, and tell you if it is in the library or out on loan. The following are some examples of shelf numbers relevant to Education:
| Child psychology and development | 155.4 |
| Child intelligence | 155.413 |
| Education (general) | 370 |
| Educational psychology | 370.15 |
| Sociology of education | 306.43 |
| Teacher training | 370.71 |
| Teaching practice guides | 370.733 |
| Educational research | 370.78 |
| School organisation/management | 371.2 |
| Teaching and learning methods | 371.3 |
| Guidance and counselling | 371.4 |
| Behaviour management | 371.5 |
| Special education | 371.9 |
| Primary education (general) | 372 |
| Primary curriculum | 372.19 |
| Early years education | 372.21 |
| Infant/junior/middle school education | 372.241 |
| Secondary education (general) | 373 |
| Teaching skills in secondary education | 373.11 |
| Organisation of secondary education | 373.2 |
| Adult education | 374 |
| Curriculum information | 375 |
| Women and education | 376 |
| Schools and religion | 372.84 / 375.2 |
| Higher education | 378 |
| Government and education | 379 |
Some of the library’s most popular texts are now available to you electronically through our e-book service provided by Dawsonera.
Dawsonera can be accessed from the Electronic Resources E-books section of the page of the library website. You will need to be logged into Athens to access the full-text books which the library has purchased (details can be found in the ‘Athens information’ section of the Electronic Resources page on the library website). Individual titles can also be accessed via the library catalogue.
For some modules you may be required to purchase some or all of the texts from the ‘essential reading’ on your reading lists. You may find the following retailers useful:
Abebooks Online bookshop especially useful for second hand and out of print books.
Amazon Online books, often much cheaper than RRP!
Waterstones Search and buy online or try their branch located on the University of Birmingham Edgbaston campus – they often have textbooks in stock that are difficult to obtain from elsewhere. Telephone them on 0121 472 3034.
Journals are an excellent source of information. They show evidence of wider reading, are important for research and help you to keep informed of any changes and developments in the study of your subject area. They are published more frequently than textbooks, so the information they hold is often more up-to-date.
You can search for journal titles on the library catalogue by selecting ‘journals’ from the drop-down collections box on the search screen. The journal collection is for reference only, so titles should always be accessible. They are shelved alphabetically by title in the Journal room.
Examples of titles that you may find useful for Education Studies are:
ACE Education Now
International Journal of Educational Research
British Educational Research Journal
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
British Journal of Educational Psychology
International Journal of Research and Method in Education
British Journal of Educational Studies
International Review of Education
British Journal of Sociology of Education
British Journal of Special Education
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
Cambridge Journal of Education
Journal of Education for Teaching
Journal of Education Policy
Curriculum Journal
Education Today
Learning and Instruction
Educational Management, Administration and Leadership
Management in Education
Educational Research
Oxford Review of Education
Educational Review
Pastoral Care in Education
Educational Studies
Evaluation and Research in Education
Review of Educational Research
Improving Schools
Sociology of Education Abstracts
Teaching and Learning
International Journal of Educational Development
Teaching Thinking and Creativity
The library subscribes to two different types of electronic journal service, both of which are accessible from the Electronic Resources page of the library website:
• Online services containing full-text journal articles
Education Research Complete Full-text database for education and training.
Swetswise Full-text articles from a range of journals, including titles currently held in hard copy in the library.
Childlink Database focusing on legislation, policies and practices regarding children, young people and families. It provides access to the full text of news articles, research reports, legislation and other government documentation relating to education, welfare, justice, benefit issues, youth affairs, health and employment.
• Databases containing abstracts and indexes
ERIC World’s largest database of references and abstracts to journal articles in the field of education.
Sociology of Education Abstracts (part of Educational Research Abstracts) Database containing references and abstracts to journal articles, book chapters and other published research relevant to the sociology of education.
You can also use Journals A-Z List to find out if we have access to a journal in print or electronically. If we have access to the journal in print you will be linked through to the library catalogue and if we have electronic access to the journal, it will link you through to the relevant database or online journal service. This list is particularly useful if you have obtained the bibliographic details of an article and you need to find out if we have access to the journal title.
You will need to be logged into Athens in order to be able to access most of these resources, details can be found in the ‘Athens information’ section of the Electronic Resources page on the library website.
Statistics underpin many academic debates about quality, standards, equal opportunities and the overall effectiveness of Government policy. You can use them in assignments or research to add weight to your arguments.
• Annual Abstract of Statistics Produced by the Office for National Statistics. An annual publication containing a comprehensive collection of statistics about the UK’s economy and society including population, national accounts and government finance, the labour market, health and social protection, education, crime, environment, transport and many other subjects.
• Social Trends Produced by the Office for National Statistics, annually. Provides a comprehensive guide to UK society, illustrating how our lives have changed over the years and also reflecting the realities of contemporary lifestyles.
Eurydice Eurydice provides research and statistics on European education systems and policy.
UK Statistics Authority Oversees the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Provides links to government sites to find the statistics of your choice. Sections include Neighbourhood, Economy, Census and Population.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics Global and internationally comparable statistics on education, science, technology, culture and communication.
You may find the following quality sites useful:
Birmingham Grid for Learning - Shows the work of the Education Department, its schools and services, use of the Internet in the classroom
Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency - Information and publications about all aspects of qualifications
Information gateways gather internet resources which are carefully selected, indexed and described by subject specialists. You may find the following gateway useful for Education Studies:
Intute: Education and research methods With millions of resources available on the Internet, it is difficult to find relevant and appropriate material even if you have good search skills and use advanced search engines. The Intute: Virtual Training Suite provides online tutorials on finding academic information on the internet and includes a tutorial specifically for Education students.
David Crozier – September 2011.