Beginning Education Research
Starting Research: Finding Books
For students taking classes on campus at North Park University, the easiest way to start finding books is to search the library catalog. The website also provides help searching the online catalog. Often, a subject search will give you more focused information on a topic. To perform a subject search, type a word into the catalog, and then select "Subject" in the box to the right.
Sample subject terms in the area of adult education:
- Multicultural education
- Children with disabilities
- Educational evaluation
- Assessment
Many books on this subject can be found on the second floor of the library, but other subject areas will also be helpful. Textbooks, curriculum guides, and children's fiction are kept in the Curriculum Center on the 2nd floor of the library next to the elevator. See the Curriculum Center Guide for help in finding this material.
Starting Research: Finding Database Articles
Begin by searching the list of databases in your subject area database page.
- Education Research Premier provides full-text articles from hundreds of education journals. Click here for more information.
- PsycInfo provides access to psychological literature, including educational psychology -- articles from scholarly journals, chapters from books, and dissertations. Click here for more information.
- ERIC indexes education journal literature as well as unpublished material such as masters' theses, curriculum guides, and conference proceedings.
- KCDL (Kraus Curriculum Development Library) is a full-text database of curricula, frameworks, and standards for all subjects covered in PreK-12 and Adult Basic Education.
- Novelist is a database that provides subject heading access, reviews, and annotations for over 125,000 fiction titles (but not the full text of the book). You can search for children's literature by reading level.
Getting Help
If this information doesn't answer your questions, please ask for help. You can contact a librarian by our email reference form or call the reference desk at (773) 244-5587. We will be happy to work with you to answer your questions.