Information Search in Psychology

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Information Search in
Psychology

• Gerrie Kow
• Email clbky_at_nus.edu.sg
• Aug 21st, 2008

2
Objectives

• To introduce you to the basics of literature
  search.
• To familiarize you with searching for materials
  in LINC and Advanced Search.
• To give you a basic introduction to PsycINFO.

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Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the session you will
• Decode references.
• Be able to locate relevant Psychology material in
  LINC.
• Be able to find specific journal articles in
  PsycINFO.
• Be able to find material relating to a specific
  topic in PsycINFO.

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Outline

• Identify sources for research
• LINC
• PsycINFO
• Information Challenge!!!
• Getting help

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Sources for Research

• Books
• Overview of topic with a fair amount of detail.
• Good source for further reading.
• Journals
• Academic/By scholars for scholars
• Latest developments research findings
• Databases
• - Collection of many e-journals, e-books,
  conference proceedings, book chapters,
  statistics, newspaper articles, etc.

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Evaluating Sources

• Authority
• What credentials are listed for the authors?
• Objectivity
• Is the information presented objective or biased?
• Accuracy
• Is the information well supported by references?
• Currency
• Is the information updated?
• Appropriateness
• Is the information what you need?

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Decoding References

• Book
• Kmoisar, L. (1991). The new feminism
• (3rd ed.). New York Franklin Watts.

Author
Publication Year
Title
Author
Publication Year
Title
Author
Publication Year
Title
Author
Publication Year
Title
Author
Publication Year
Place of Publication
Publisher
Edition Statement
Publisher
Place of Publication
Publisher
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Decoding References

• Book Chapter
• Coleman, P. C. (1999). Identity management in
  later life. In R. T. Woods (Ed.), Psychological
  problems of ageing Assessment, treatment and
  care (pp. 49-72). New York Wiley.

Editor
Year of Pub
Chapter Title
Author
Page nos.
Book Title
Place of Pub Publisher
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Decoding References

• Journal Article
• Boey, K. M. (1998). Social network and the
  subjective well-being of the elderly in Hong
  Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work, 8,
  5-15.

Author of article
Year of Pub
Article Title
Source/Journal Title
Vol./Iss. Nos.
Page nos.
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• LINC DEMO
• Title (Book Journal)
• Author
• Call Number
• Keyword (Basic)
• - Keyword (Advanced Search)

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Portal (www.lib.nus.edu.sg)
Member Login
Help
Opening Hours
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Lets Search!
Nevid, J. S. (2007). Psychology and the
challenges of life Adjustment in the new
millennium (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ Wiley.
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Titles in LINC Books
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Titles in LINC Books
Your account
By Relevance
Tag Cloud
Facets
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Titles in LINC Books
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Lets Search!
Maki, R.H. (1982). Categorization effects which
occur in comparative judgment tasks. Memory
Cognition, 10, 252-264.
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Titles in LINC Journals
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Titles in LINC Journals
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Titles in LINC Journals
Information about print holdings
Link to e-version
See TOC, make requests
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Requesting for Journals in MyLINC
Click to see all vols.
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Requesting for Journals in MyLINC
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Requesting for Journals in MyLINC
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Requesting for Journals in MyLINC
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Patron Record View Your Loans
See/Cancel requests
Renew items
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Patron Record View Your Requests
Cancel requests
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Authors in LINC
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Call Numbers in LINC
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Call Numbers in LINC
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Keywords in LINC (Basic)

• You need to identify key concepts or keywords in
  your research question.
• For e.g.

To what extent should the corporal punishment of
children be considered a kind of child abuse?
Keywords would be corporal punishment, child
abuse
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Keywords in LINC
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Keywords in LINC
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Results refined by tag discipline of children
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Broadening your search
Click to see a list of material with this
subject heading
See TOC, make requests
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Advanced Keyword Search searching deeper

• Identify alternative keywords.

To what extent should the corporal punishment of
children be considered a kind of child abuse?
Keywords would be corporal/physical punishment,
child/children abuse
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Advanced Keyword Search searching deeper

• (2) Add Boolean Operators (and, or, not)

Both terms must appear
abuse
punishment
punishment
abuse
One or other may appear
One term may appear but not the other
abuse
punishment
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Use of and round parentheses ( )

• Use for variant forms of term
• child child, children
• punish punish, punishes, punishment, punishing
• Use ( ) for grouping words or phrases
• (interethnic or interracial) and dating
• interracial dating, interethnic dating
• (teen or adolescen) and pregnancy
• teenage pregnancy
• adolescent pregnancy

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Advanced Keyword Search searching deeper
Alternative keywords
Wildcard
Brackets
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Enter search strategy in Advanced Search
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Retrieve more results
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Resources previously not discovered
Book Chapter
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What is PsycINFO?

• PsycINFO is an electronic database produced by
  the American Psychological Association (APA).
• It provides abstracts and citations to the
  scholarly literature in the psychological,
  social, behavioral, and health sciences.
• It provides access to dissertations, book
  chapters covering empirical studies, case
  studies, surveys, literature reviews, conference
  reports, etc.
• Coverage 1806-present.

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Accessing PsycINFO from the Library portal
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• PsycINFO DEMO
• Basic Search
• Find Citations
• Search Tools

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Lets search!
Discuss the relationship between gender
differences and verbal ability.
Keywords gender differences and verbal ability
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PsycINFO Basic Search
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PsycINFO Results Display
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PsycINFO Full Text
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Library Holdings
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Lets search!
Does exposure to media violence and pornography
produce aggression in viewers?
Keywords media violence, pornography, aggression
Limits English Language, 2003-2007
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Find the full text of this article in PsycINFO
Kosut, M. (2006). Mad artists and tattooed
perverts. Deviant Behavior, 7, 73-95.
How?
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Find Citation
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Search Tools Map Term
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Search Tools Map Term
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Search Tools Thesaurus
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• Information Challenge!!!

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Can You Remember How?
Task 1 Look for this item using LINC
Press, W. H., Flannery, B. P., Teukolsky, S. A.,
Vetterling, W. T. (1993). Numerical recipes
The art of scientific computing. Cambridge,
England Cambridge University Press.

• What is the call number?
• What is the ISBN number?

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Can You Remember How?
Task 2 Look for this item using LINC
Balota, D. A., Ferraro, F. R., Connor, L. T.
(1991). On the early influence of meaning in word
recognition A review of the literature. In P. J.
Schwanenflugel (Ed.), The psychology of word
meanings (pp. 187-222). Hillsdale, NJ Erlbaum.

• What is the location?
• Show me the table of contents.

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Can You Remember How?
Task 3 Look for this item using LINC
Seidenberg, M. S., Waters, G. S., Barnes, M. A.,
Tanenhaus, M. K. (1984). When does irregular
spelling or pronunciation influence word
recognition? Journal of Verbal Learning and
Verbal Behavior, 23, 383-404.

• Earliest print volume/year that the library has?

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Can You Remember How?
Task 4 Find the full text of this journal
article in PsycInfo.

• Heathcote, A., Popiel, S. J., Mewhort, D. J. K.
  (1991). Analysis of response time distributions
  An example using the Stroop task. Psychological
  Bulletin, 109, 340347.

Note Full Text needs to be displayed on screen
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Can You Remember How?

• Task 5 Basic Search in PsycINFO
• Keywords undergraduates infatuation marriage
• Condition Include Related Terms must be ticked
• Limit to English Language, 1995-2005
• Sort by Descending Publication Year (newest to
  oldest)

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Getting Help Subject Guide
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Getting Help Subject Guide
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