Off The Shelf

Were you aware that the Library has two specialized databases that contain subject specific encyclopedias?  You can find the databases Gale Virtual Reference and CREDO reference listed under the  Articles, Books and More link on the Library’s home page. So why would you want to use subject specific encyclopedias when all you hear is that you need peer-reviewed resources for your coursework and papers?

Well here are a couple of reasons:

If you are having trouble understanding concepts  in a textbook, or in an article,  you may want to look them up in these encyclopedias to get a brief overview of the topic. The articles in these subject specific encyclopedias are very often written by experts in the field and may help you to further understand the concept/topic.

If you are starting a search in the Library databases and not getting results, or even before you start searching you may want to review your topic in one of these encyclopedias.  You can often get ideas for alternative search terms or ways to describe your topic by reading these brief articles.

So the next time you are struggling to understand a concept or find articles on a topic check out one of these databases of specialized encyclopedias to see if they can help move you forward with your research!

Robin

Erin’s blog post What makes that analysis so meta? earlier this month sparked an interest to provide some further information and examples of this quantitative method of research.

In our library database Gale Virtual Reference Library a search of Meta-analysis finds several encyclopedia entries that explain in detail more about this technique. Click on the article title link to access these entries in Gale..

• Huffcutt, Allen. (2007). Meta-Analysis. In Steven Rogelberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 2. (480-483). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Last, John M. (2002). Meta-Analysis. In Lester Breslow (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Health, Vol. 3. (764-765). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Gale Virtual Reference Library.

And here are some article examples using the meta-analysis research method roughly categorized by school:

Psychology

• Malouff, J., Thorsteinsson, E., Schutte, N., & Rooke, S. (2009, July). Effects of Vicarious Punishment: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of General Psychology, 136(3), 271-286. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Education

• Williams, S. (2006, September). The Effectiveness of Distance Education in Allied Health Science Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Outcomes. American Journal of Distance Education, 20(3), 127-141. Retrieved June 23, 2009, doi:10.1207/s15389286ajde2003_2

Human Services/Public Service Leadership

• Chappell, C. (2004, June). Post-Secondary Correctional Education and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis of Research Conducted 1990-1999. Journal of Correctional Education, 55(2), 148-169. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
• Leschied, A., Chiodo, D., Nowicki, E., & Rodger, S. (2008, July). Childhood Predictors of Adult Criminality: A Meta-Analysis Drawn from the Prospective Longitudinal Literature. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 50(4), 435-467. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Business

• Forza, C., & Nuzzo, F. (1998, March). Meta-analysis applied to operations management: summarizing the results of empirical research. International Journal of Production Research, 36(3), 837-861. Retrieved June 23, 2009, doi:10.1080/002075498193714

Technology

• Hannay, J., Dybå, T., Arisholm, E., & Sjøberg, D. (2009, July). The effectiveness of pair programming: A meta-analysis. Information & Software Technology, 51(7), 1110-1122. Retrieved June 23, 2009, doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2009.02.001

Some easy reading for you during quarter break. I’m sure if you brought one of these articles to your 4th of July bash of choice you’d be the hit of the party!

-Sommer

For those of you who will soon be wrapping up at the Jacksonville colloquium (or have attended any other colloquia), here are some of the guides and tutorials the librarians talked about at the library sessions.

Nearly every guide mentioned at the library’s colloquia sessions are included in a special section of our Guides & Tutorials page. To get to that section, just follow these steps.

1) From the Library Homepage click Guides & Tutorials.

2) There are several bulleted links at the top of the page that link to different sections. Click Resources for Doctoral Learners to jump to the section that includes the guides you heard about at Colloquia.

3) From here you can select a guide that piqued your interest at the colloquium!

Got questions? Ask a Librarian!

-Sommer

We have gotten several calls in the library recently about adding articles to folders in our library databases, leaving the database believing the articles will be saved for later, then returning only to find that all the “saved” articles had disappeared.

Unfortunately, the Folder feature in the databases is misleading. And as these learners found out, the majority of our library databases will not save your marked articles once you end your session. The folders in the databases are for use only during your search session, at the end of which you can print, email, or save your marked articles in another location (your hard drive, flash drive, etc.)  You also have the ability to export the citations of the articles you found directly into RefWorks. 

RefWorks is the method we recommend for saving articles over a period of time.  At its most basic, RefWorks will keep track of your article citations and maintain links to retrieve the full-text of your articles.

For more RefWorks info, check out these blog posts: 

•  RefWorks Gets Applause in Dallas
• Why Use RefWorks?

To begin using RefWorks to organize and maintain your citations, check out the resources we have available on the library’s RefWorks page and create your free account.  There is a media piece on the right-hand side as well as several Basic and Advanced Features guides that will help you get started.  If you get stuck or need assistance, just give us a call.  We’re happy to walk you through RefWorks over the phone.

There is another way to maintain access to articles you’ve put in a folder, but only when using the EBSCOhost databases.  EBSCO allows you to create a personal account using My EBSCOhost.  This is a free service, you just need to take a minute or two to set up your account.  Once you are signed in, any articles you put in a folder will be saved for you, as well as previous searches you tried, etc.

- Jennie

The Chronicle of Higher Education provides the latest news in Higher Education. Capella learners, faculty and staff all have access to this resource.  Here are some instructions to setting up an email alert for the highlights of the daily issue and how to access the full text of articles that interest you.

To set up an email alert (this alerts you to the contents of the most current issue): 

Click the Journal and Book Locator link on the Library Web site through iGuide and type the Chronicle of Higher Education in the search box. Several access options come up, make sure you click on the Publishers Site link for the most current issue. 

To sign up for the daily e-mail of highlights from the Chronicle, scroll down on the page and click the link for Chronicle e-mail alerts (see below).  After you sign up you will get the daily email.

Once you have the email and you want to see the full text of an article (or anytime you have a citation for the Chronicle and want to see the article), go again to the Journal and Book Locator on the Library’s Web site, search for the Chronicle and click the Publisher’s Site link. The picture below highlights the links to the current and back issues.

 If you have any questions Ask-a-Librarian!

Robin

As the quarter winds down I thought I would offer up two classics from the archives:

• Build Your Personal Library – Before You Leave Your Course
• Things to Do Between Quarters

This should help you put the final touches on papers:

• The APA Style Guide to Electronic Resources & other APA Resources

I hope everybody has a stress-free and productive Finals Week!   

And if not, remember you can always…

• Call the Library

– Erika

Do you feel overwhelmed when researching?  Can’t remember which databases you’ve already looked in?  What search terms you used?  Or if the results where helpful?  Maybe you are doing SO MUCH research that you need a tool to help keep it all straight.

If this sounds familiar, check out Capella Library’s Database Research Log and our Scholarly Research Log.  The Database Research Log is a worksheet created to help learners keep track of their database searching by seeing what databases they’ve tried, what keyword combinations they used, and where they might need to go next.   

The Scholarly Research Log is a worksheet best used to keep track of individual books or articles found during the research process.  The Scholarly Research Log allows learners to track the resources they’ve found, if they are peer-reviewed, if they were ordered via Interlibrary Loan, and what theories/methods/findings were discussed in the article.

So next time you’re having trouble keeping your searching and your resources organized, remember these tools are here to help you.

- Jennie

While looking for quantitative studies, you may have come across the meta-analysis.  At first glance it may remind you of a literature review article, since it looks at so many different studies in a single area.  But it’s actually a bit more precise than that.

A meta-analysis lets the researcher compile the results from multiple quantitative research studies on a specific topic.  The compiled studies will have a few differences from each other, are are typically done by a number of different researchers.

Many research studies are small, and may give conflicting results, so the meta-analysis provides an opportunity to find more significant results that give a clearer picture of what’s really going on.

Curious to see what one looks like?  Why not try the following from the Capella Library:

A Meta-Analysis of the Five Factor Model of Personality and Academic Performance by Arthur Poropat.

You can see the literature review, the methods, and the results of the study.  And perhaps it may give you insight into your own academic achievement . . .

- Erin