Educational Research

• Use Cheng Library Resources
• Finding Educational Resources
• Finding Journal Articles
• Finding ERIC Documents (ED's)

Use Cheng Library Resources

Go to William Paterson University's Library web page.

• Select Find Articles
• Select Education
• Select Eric or Education Abstracts or Academic Search Premier

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) indexes both journal articles (EJ) and "documents" (ED) related to education. "Documents" include curriculum guides, conference proceedings, and books. ERIC indexes 750 education-related journals. Some of these resources are available full-text online.

ERIC is currently undergoing a major reorganization and is not up-to-date (few holdings from 2005-2006).

• Choice of two interfaces: EbscoHost or Cambridge Scientific Abstracts. (Same content, different search features.)
• Use Advanced Search in EbscoHost.
• You can limit your search to "journals" or "documents."
• You cannot limit by scholarly peer-reviewed articles.

Education Abstracts is a subfile of the Wilson OmniFile index of magazine and journal articles. Education Abstracts indexes over 600 education-related journals. Some of these articles are available full-text online.

• Select: Subject Area: Education (EDU)
• Select: Peer Reviewed, if you want only scholarly articles.
• Only four WPUNJ users can access at one time.

Academic Search Premier indexes over 4,000 periodicals (newspapers, magazines and journals) in all subject areas. Some of these articles are available full-text online.

• Use Advanced Search. (It saves your search history.)
• Select: Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals, if you want only scholarly articles.

General Search Tips:

• If your topic is too broad, you’ll get too many articles (over 100).
• If you get too few or no results, check spelling or try related search terms.
• Look at descriptors, or subject terms, to identify appropriate search terms.
• Use the term "and" to narrow your search, e.g. computers AND instruction.
• Use the term "or" to expand your search, e.g. computer OR technology.
• Avoid prepositional phrases, e.g. in the classroom.

Ask a Librarian! Reference Desk phone: 973-720-2116.

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Finding Educational Resources

Finding Journal Articles

1. If the full text is not available in the database you are using, go to the Library's web page.
1. Select: Journals/Periodicals
2. In the box: Search for Journals, type the name of journal, press Search.
3. If the title is listed, check dates carefully for issue availability.
4. If title is available in a Library database, f ollow links to issue date and article.
5. If title is available in WPUNJ Film Holdings, you will be linked to a request form that needs to be completed to request Microfilm from the Periodicals desk.
6. If title is available in WPUNJ Fiche Holdings, you will be linked to a request form that needs to be completed to request Microfiche from the Periodicals desk.
7. If title is available in WPUNJ Print Holdings, you can find a print copy of the journal on the shelves in the Periodicals Department.

If needed, you may request assistance from the Periodicals desk.

2. If the journal is not available from the David and Lorraine Cheng Library, you may request an InterLibrary Loan (the item will be requested for you from another library). To request an InterLibrary Loan, use this link: http://www.wpunj.edu/library/ill.shtml Articles will be e-mailed to your William Paterson e-mail account (No other e-mail accounts are accepted.) Allow two weeks for delivery.

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ERIC Documents (ED's)

Electronic full-text of ERIC documents (ED’s) has only been available since 1993. Prior publications are available on microfiche in the Periodicals Department of the Library.

Published books are indexed in ERIC, however, they are not available in either full-text or microfiche.

If the full text is not available in the ERIC database:

1. Check the Publication Type in the complete citation.
2. If the Publication Type is a book, search the Library's online catalog for the book.
3. If the Publication Type is not a book, get the ED#, e.g. ED432011. Go to the Periodicals Department in the Library to get the ERIC document on microfiche. Microfiche reader-printers are available

If a book is not available from the David and Lorraine Cheng Library, you may request an InterLibrary Loan (the item will be requested for you from another library). To request an InterLibrary Loan, use this link: http://www.wpunj.edu/library/ill.shtml. Allow at least two weeks for delivery.

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