Off The Shelf

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

As with every new quarter, the library’s been getting a lot of questions about accessing textbooks and course readings. Exactly one year ago today we posted to the blog a FAQ about these common questions.

The answers are still the same, so if you have a question about what to do about your required readings, take a quick look at our post:

Course Readings & Textbooks

- Erin

The Capella Library has just added the Journal of Mixed Methods Research. It contains scholarly articles about the use of mixed methodology in research, and includes reviews of books on methodology. If you are using mixed methods for your dissertation, this is a great resource for you.

To access this journal you’ll want to use the link above or Journal Locator and search by title. For help using Journal Locator, see our library tutorial.

For more information about research methodology, check out our Ebook list on Research Methodologies.

-Erin

We have added new guides to the Library’s Guides & Tutorials page

What are Peer-reviewed Articles & How do I Find Them? (Flash with audio)

a link to…Reading Strategies
This resource is designed to help you build skills and strategies to make your reading as efficient as possible.

Course-specific Guides
Course-specific research guides are tailored to course content and include techniques such as developing search strategies, finding materials on specific topics, evaluating results and more.

Undergraduate

• PS3600: Principles of Public Safety Investigation (u01d1)
• PS3900: History of Violence in the U.S. Society (u09a1)
• MAT2050: Statistical Literacy (u05d2)
• BUS3040: Fundamentals of Human Resource Management

Graduate

• Psychology First Courses
  • First Library Search
  • Scholar Practitioner Assignment
• HS5002: Survey in Research in Human Development and Behavior (u07d2)
• PSF8631: Case Studies in Critical Incident Management
• PSY7220: Child Psychology (case study)

Is there another guide you would like to see? Let us know.

-KateP

A: We get many phone calls and emails from learners who are having trouble looking for articles but after a few questions we realize the trouble often lies with the topic. When your topic is too broad or too narrow it can make finding articles difficult.

For a few tips on Defining and Narrowing a Topic click through our tutorial or PDF with an example topic grid.

Topic Grid you can fill in is on the PDF:
-KateP

I’ve been playing around with a new Del.i.cious account for Mental Health Counseling this week.  As you know, not all websites are created equal – particularly when you are looking for credible information, so it’s nice to have a place to store the best sites I find.  

The librarians are thinking social bookmarking Web 2.0 tools like Del.i.cious can help us organize useful resources from the web by specialization or topic. 

Check out my Mental Health Counseling site.  Let me know what you think.

And for more about social bookmarking, see below*:

Continue Reading »

While at the Atlanta colloquium, I was asked the same question over and over:  How do I find a research article that uses a specific methodology? 

There are many types of methodology terms you may run into: qualitative, quantitative, case study, mixed method, phenomenological, action research, content analysis, etc.  The list goes on and on, and will depend on the school and specialization you are in.  Knowing the methodology terms in your field is the first step (look at your textbooks or articles you’ve already read for help with this step).

Next you’ll go into the library databases and use a methodology term to search.  Most authors will mention the methodology they are using in the abstract of the article.   Because searching by methodology will greatly reduce your search results, you may need to search a broader topic.

Here’s an example of a search in SocINDEX for case study research articles about juvenile delinquency:

Why search by a specific methodology?  By looking at research articles that use a particular methodology you can learn a lot about your field.  What types of research are common?  What types of methodology are appropriate for a specific research question?  How do you construct a research study?  What methodologies should you consider for your dissertation research?

For more help finding articles using specific methodologies, you can look at our library guides Search by Methodology: Qualitative, Quantitative or Search by Methodology: Case Study.

 Or you can always Ask a Librarian.

- Erin

Did you know that you can get the latest issue of a journal or magazine (i.e. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Business Week, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, etc.) sent right to your email inbox? Set up a Journal Alert or Table of Contents Alert using the Library databases. The email will contain a list of the articles in the newest issue and with links to the abstract and full text if available in the Library.

How do I do this? Use our Setting Up Journal or Search Alerts Guide.

Ask a Librarian with questions.

-KateP

Have you every wondered when you are “done” with your Literature Review? Have I found everything? Well there are a couple of resources on the Library’s Guides & Tutorials page that can help.

First our Research Guides. We have developed Research Guides for each of the Schools within Capella: Education, Human Services, Psychology, Business and Technology.  Have you checked all of the recommended databases in the Resource Guide for your school? That is one way to be certain you are doing a comprehensive Literature Review.

Also a great way to find other resources for your Literature Review is to check the references on the articles you have already located. This is sometimes called Bibliography “mining” or Cited Reference searching. When you start to see the same resources over and over again, it is probably a good indication that you have done a comprehensive search. The Library has developed a guide called Bibliography Mining and Cited Reference Searching that explains this process in more detail. If you have never searched this way before, try it,  I think you will find it very productive.

Stuck in your Literature Review or any assignment? Need some keyword or database suggestions? Don’t forget to take advantage of the resources available to you here at Capella - Ask-a-Librarian! 

Robin

Welcome to the Spring Quarter! It is that time of the quarter when we get lots of calls on course readings and textbooks. Here are a few of our Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: I am a new learner, how do I get to the course readings in the Library?

A: Required course readings should be linked both in each Unit and in the Syllabus> Course Materials page. For more information, see our Finding Your Course Readings Guide.

Q: “I ordered my textbooks but they haven’t arrived yet. Are the textbooks somewhere in the Library?”

A: The textbooks are not available from the Library (we check to make sure so you don’t have to buy something that is available). Instead search Worldcat.org to see if a local library has the book you need. After checking the Library’s usage policies you can travel to the library and read or photocopy the reading.

Q: “One of links to a reading in the Library is broken. How can I get the article?”

A: Call or email the Library to let us know which course you are in and which reading is broken. We will work from our end to get it updated. In the meantime, to get your reading you can use the Journal Locator:

1. Search by the journal title (i.e. Harvard Business Review, Journal of Psychology, etc.).
2. Click on the database name (i.e. Business Source Complete, etc.) which has the year of the citation (check the Syllabus>Course Reading to get full citation).
3. Use the year, volume, issue and pages to find the reading. You can also “search within that publication” for the first couple words of the title.

Q:”How can I get the Optional Books and Optional Articles?”

A: If it is a book:

1. Search our ebook databases (ebrary, NetLibrary and PsycBOOKs) on Databases A-Z to see if we have the full text.
2. If we do not have the full text, search Worldcat.org to see if a local library has it (check that library’s usage policies) and travel to it. Another option is to use our Interlibrary Loan service (Note: Limit of 25 items per quarter).

If it is an article:

1. Search Journal Locator by the journal title to see if we have the full text. Double check the range of years available. Click the databases name. Browse to find the full text using the year, volume, issue and pages.
2. If the full text is not available, you may use our Interlibrary Loan service (Note: Limit of 25 items per quarter).

Got Questions? Ask a Librarian.

-KateP