The skills introduced in this activity can be applied across your academic work. Use the recommended resources in this section to expand your familiarity with library research methods, collections, databases, and materials. Please note that there is a combination of popular and scholarly materials here.
If you have any questions, or if you would like a guided tour of any library resources, make an appointment with a reference librarian for assistance.
APA PsycArticles (EBSCOhost)
- APA PsycArticles (EBSCOhost)
APA PsycArticles includes full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology with articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association (APA), its imprint - the Educational Publishing Foundation (EPF), and from allied organizations including the Canadian Psychological Association and the Hogrefe Publishing Group. It includes all journal articles, book reviews, letters to the editor, and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to the present and nearly all APA journals go back to Volume 1, Issue 1.
APA PsycArticles is part of the EBSCOhost platform. By default, this platform will open on the Advanced Search screen. You can enter general keywords and phrases in the top search box or switch to Basic Search by clicking the "Basic Search" link below the search boxes. Either way, APA PsycArticles will return results across its full collection that include some or all of your keywords.
Many of the EBSCOhost databases available at Norfolk State University search huge volumes of resources and using the Advanced Search to narrow your results is often advised. See the Advanced Search tab of this block for more information.
The "Advanced Search" option is the default and preferred method of using the EBSCOhost platform search.
Use the provided Advanced Search search boxes to build your search and refine it by assigning values to the "Select a field" dropdown menu at the end of each search box.
Below the search boxes, there are a variety of Search options that can be used to narrow results by language, publication date, and many more. This section is also where you will find the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" checkbox to limit your results to only scholarly resources.
APA PsycArticles and several other EBSCOhost databases also provide additional helpful facets for limiting search results such as a Methodology limiter. This tool can be used to restrict results only to those that use a specific methodology such as a Quantitative Study, Qualitative Study, or Clinical Trial.
For detailed explanations of every field in the Advanced Search feature, review the instructions in the user manual that can be accessed from the "Help" link in the upper-right corner of any page.
APA PsycArticles and other EBSCOhost databases offer several specific filtering and time-saving features.
- Dynamic filtering:
- In the search results page, the "Refine Results" tools on the left side menu will adapt and changed based on the database being accessed and the type of materials in the results list.
- If available, the "Refine Results" list will include the "Full Text" and "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" check boxes as well as a publication date range covering the available dates in the results list.
- APA PsycArticles and several other EBSCOhost databases also provide additional helpful facets for limiting search results such as a Methodology limiter. This tool can be used to restrict results only to those that use a specific methodology such as a Quantitative Study, Qualitative Study, or Clinical Trial.
- Some databases will introduce additional filtering facets such as the population groups used in a study or the inclusion of images. When you land on the results page, take note of all of the available filters to help you find the best items from your search.
- Easy Sign In:
- When you access EBSCOhost platform databases through OpenAthens, you only need to click the "Sign In" link at the top of any page to enter your personalized workspace where you can save your resources to Folders and even share folders with a group.
- If you want to save documents to your folder, make sure that you click "Sign In" first. This will make sure that your items are saved and will be accessible the next time that you access and EBSCOhost database.
- Because your EBSCOhost account works across the full platform, your folders are available any EBSCOhost database so that your research is always available.
- Mix-and-Match:
- The EBSCOhost platform includes many databases and you can search across any or all of them simultaneously by selecting the databases that you want to search from the full database list.
- From the top of the search page, click the "Choose Databases" link and a pop-up will the full database list will appear. Check or un-check the boxes for databases that you want to search and click OK. Now when you search, you will be searching all of your selected databases at once.
- For more information about each database, click the ">" next to the database name to open a full description.
- Note that when you mix databases, you may lose some of the filtering options that you are used to seeing in an individual search on the results page. If necessary, rerun your search in single databases as needed.
- From the top of the search page, click the "Choose Databases" link and a pop-up will the full database list will appear. Check or un-check the boxes for databases that you want to search and click OK. Now when you search, you will be searching all of your selected databases at once.
- The EBSCOhost platform includes many databases and you can search across any or all of them simultaneously by selecting the databases that you want to search from the full database list.
EBSCOhost offers a full user manual that can be accessed through the "Help" button in the upper right corner of any page. Additionally, anywhere that you see a "?" symbol at the end of a line, you can click that button for support on that specific topic.
Credo Reference
- Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides full-text online access to hundreds of multidisciplinary reference book collections, including art, history, law, medicine, psychology, technology, bilingual dictionaries, and encyclopedias through a one-stop search platform. Search results often include articles from a wide array of publications and frequently present subject coverage from multiple perspectives. Using Credo Reference to approach a topic from different viewpoints can be a great way to expand your familiarity with the topic and it can help you develop new arguments and observations for your research.
Running a basic search in Credo Reference is similar to searching in Wikipedia. You can use general keywords and phrases in your search and Credo Reference will return results that include some or all of your keywords.
Clicking the "Advanced Search" button below the search box opens up additional options to control what kinds of results your search returns.
Use the provided Advanced Search boxes to refine your search based on the prompts.
In addition, the Advanced Search box includes drop-down menus that will allow you to limit Subjects, Titles, Publication Dates, and Features by checking the appropriate box.
Credo Reference is equipped with a Research Quick Tips tool for help with research, searching, and topic selection to help you make the most of the database. To access the Research Quick Tips area, click on the three-lined "hamburger" menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and choose "Research Quick Tips":
The Research Quick Tips menu has several helpful guides:
Credo Reference supplies a visual related topics map that can be a great way to explore your topic and see connections that can further your research. Click the links in the map to jump to articles on that topic and generate a new visual topic map.
Click the Hugo Award and a new series of search results will load:
O'Reilly for Higher Education
- O'Reilly for Higher EducationThe O'Reilly for Higher Education digital platform includes more than 38,000 book titles and more than 30,000 hours of video. Topics range from programming to IT networking to project management to graphic design to business strategy. The content includes code snippets, certification preparation materials, practice exercises, training videos, and much more. Users can search thousands of books simultaneously online, saving time and quickly finding the information they need.
Logging in:
- Navigate to the NSU Library Database A-Z list
- Select O’Reilly for Higher Education at the top of the list
- Type in your full NSU email address into the Sign In box.
- Click the "Continue" button
- The next screen will confirm that you are with Norfolk State University
- Click the "Sign in with SSO" button
- This will bring you to the OpenAthens Authentication page. On this page, only put your username (the part of your email before the @ symbol) and password, do not put your full email address
This should bring you to your O'Reilly Account.
As a note, O'Reilly does have an app available for iOS (O'Reilly on the App Store (apple.com)) and Android (O'Reilly - Apps on Google Play) devices where you can search and access content with less frequent logins.
You will also receive a welcome email from O'Reilly after your first login.
On the O'Reilly home page, there is a search box at the top where you can type in key words, events, topics, titles, etc... You can also browse by "Topics" or "Start Learning" which is divided into "books", "courses", and "answers."
Click on the "Topics" link and in the drop down menu click on "View all topics."
Search for a specific topic using the Topics filter in the left panel.
Then sort your results by format, publication date, publisher, relevance, popularity, rating, and date added.
Save interesting content to your playlist so you can easily come back to it later. The "Add to playlist" button is on the upper left of the item page.
O'Reilly will also list your history on your landing page.
See related topics and follow the ones that interest you. O'Reilly will personalize your home page with content in the topic areas you follow.
