This virtual handout is intended as an overview of of library resources and services of particular relevance for students in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College. The resources, primarily electronic and accessible on and off campus, have been selected as ones supporting research in the topical areas the courses in the department’s programs encompass. This blog post also includes a library services and publications section describing research consultation/assistance and document delivery/retrieval options available to all members of the Teachers College community.
Library Resources
Online Catalogs
Periodical Indexes
Federated Search Engines
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
E-Collections (Text, Images, Sound)
Handbooks of Research
Reviews of Research
Citation Indexes
Tests and Measurements
Directories
Digital Archives
Bibliography and Citation Management Programs
Library Services and Publications
All students, faculty, and researchers also have access to a number of important library services and publications provided to support and facilitate research and study in their particular programs and disciplines.
Online Catalogs
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are the official subject terms prescribed by the Library of Congress for the cataloging of books and are in use in essentially all academic libraries. To find works pertaining to subjects relating to theory and inquiry in curriculum and teaching and related subjects, it may be useful to use some of the subject terms, or combinations of terms, listed below when searching the online catalogs of libraries at Teachers College, Columbia University, and other institutions.
Curriculum change
Curriculum enrichment
Curriculum planning
Early childhood education
Early childhood special education
Education — Curricula
Education, Elementary
Education, Secondary
Effective teaching
Gifted children — Education
Inclusive education
Language arts
Lesson planning
Literacy
Literacy — Study and teaching
Teaching
EDUCAT – The most definitive record of the holdings of the Gottesman Libraries at Teachers College, including books, e-books, journals, e-journals, dissertations, media, and other specialized collections of all kinds.
See our library’s video tutorial on searching EDUCAT.
CLIO – The union catalog of Columbia University Libraries (exclusive of the libraries of Teachers College, the Columbia Law School, and Jewish Theological Seminary), providing the most definitive record of individual libraries’ holdings of books, e-books, journals, e-journals, dissertations, media, and other specialized collections of all kinds.
WorldCat – The union catalog of the contents of over 10,000 libraries worldwide, providing the means to do exhaustive searching by author, title, subject, and numerous other criteria and to find locations for specific items in libraries nearby and elsewhere.
See our library’s video tutorial on searching WorldCat.
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Periodical Indexes
APA PscyNET – Single search interface for PsycARTICLES, PsycBOOKS, PsycCRITIQUES, and PsycEXTRA (see E-Collections below).
Academic Search Premier – A multidisciplinary database providing full text for more than 4,600 journals, including nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals. See also Academic Search Complete, a scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887.
ERIC – Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related periodical literature, ERIC (which stands for Educational Resources Information Center) provides coverage of conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books, and monographs. In addition to this version, made available via the ProQuest platform, ERIC is also accessible via the U.S. government ERIC site and Ebsco ERIC.
Education Full Text – Provides comprehensive coverage of an international range of English-language periodicals, monographs, and yearbooks. Indexing coverage begins June 1983; abstracts are included beginning spring 1994; full text of some journals is available beginning in January 1996.
Education Index Retro – Provides cover-to-cover indexing for an international range of English-language periodicals and yearbooks; coverage from 1929 through mid-1983.
Education Research Complete – Provides indexing and abstracts for more than 2,100 journals, as well as full text for more than 1,200 journals, and includes full text for nearly 500 books and monographs.
Humanities & Social Sciences Retrospective – Provides coverage of journal articles in the humanities and social sciences from 1907 through 1984.
Humanities Full Text – Abstracts, bibliographic indexing, and full text from scholarly sources and specialized magazines in the humanities. Indexing begins in 1984, full-text coverage in 1995.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts – Abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language science, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics; coverage from 1973 to present.
MLA International Bibliography – Indexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Proved access to citations from worldwide publications, including periodicals, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations and bibliographies.
Primary Search – Provides full text for more than 70 popular, magazines for elementary school research. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles), and full text information dates as far back as 1990.
Professional Development Collection – Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highly specialized collection of nearly 520 high-quality education journals, including more than 350 peer-reviewed titles. The database also contains more than 200 educational reports.
ProQuest – Provides broad multidisciplinary coverage of scholarly journals, newspapers, dissertations, and other types of publications; for international coverage and access to full texts of dissertations only, search Digital Dissertations, a subset of ProQuest.
PsycINFO – Covers the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences.
Social Sciences Full Text – Provides coverage of English-language journals across social science disciplines, with indexing from 1983, abstracting from 1984, and select access to full text from 1984 to the present.
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Federated Search Engines
Quicksearch (via Columbia University Libraries) – To search the catalog, multiple periodical indexes, and other web resources simultaneously within a variety of subjects and disciplinary subcategories.
Super Search (via Gottesman Libraries) – To search some or all of our periodical indexes, plus EDUCAT and CLIO, simultaneously for books, journal articles, reports, dissertations, etc.
Google Scholar – Provides the means to search for scholarly research across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites.
See our library’s Google Scholar video tutorial.
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Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society – Presents the social and cultural history of childhood from antiquity to the present; examines this history through articles on education, parenting, child labor, economics, images of childhood, children’s literature, play, toys and games, health, physiology, law, the criminal justice system, and social welfare.
Encyclopedia of Disability – With contributions from more than 500 scholars, the work comprises some 1,000 entries that discuss issues of accessibility, arts, language, children and infants, deafness and deaf culture, disability studies, economics and employment, education, ethics, the experience of disability, health and medicine, politics, organizations, and sports, among other topics.
Encyclopedia of Education (2nd Edition) – The 2003 version of the classic resource in education and related fields.
Historical Dictionary of American Education – Subjects embrace important ideas, events, institutions, agencies, and pedagogical trends that profoundly shaped American policies and perceptions regarding education; In addition to information on major state and regional leaders and reformers, the work also includes biographies of significant national educators, philosophers, psychologists, and writers.
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences – This key reference work comprises 4,000 articles, commissioned by 52 Section Editors, and includes 90,000 bibliographic references as well as comprehensive name and subject indexes.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature – Provides a global perspective on significant international trends and the multicultural expansion of the field; includes brief biographies of major authors and illustrators, feature essays on all genres of children’s literature, individual works, and prominent trends and themes, and general essays on the traditions of children’s literature in many countries throughout the world.
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E-Collections (Text, Images, Sound)
Alexander Street Press Databases – Themed collections of print documents, video, and recorded sound across disciplines; notable databases include Alexander Street Literature (cross-searchable collections covering the literatures of place, race, and gender), Caribbean Literature (a collection of poetry and fiction produced in the Caribbean during the 19th and 20th centuries), Ethnographic Video Online (intended to be a visual encyclopedia of human behavior and culture, online in streaming video), and North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories (personal views of what it meant to immigrate to the United States and Canada between 1880 and 1950).
Ebrary – Online books across a range of subject areas; searchable, under All Subjects, by Education, Language and LIterature, etc., and various sub-topics, and by author, title, and other criteria.
JSTOR – An online archive of over 1,200 leading scholarly journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. Journals are always included from volume 1, issue 1 and include previous and related titles. Tthe most recently published issues (the past 3-5 years) are generally not available through JSTOR, though they usually are through other e-sources.
Kraus Curriculum Development Library Online – This searchable database of curricula, frameworks, and standards brings together educational objectives, content, instructional strategies, and evaluative techniques for all subjects covered in PreK-12 and Adult Basic Education.
Literature Online (LION) – Fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 260 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources.
PsycARTICLES – A full-text database of journals published by the American Psychological Association and other publishers in subject areas such as applied psychology, health, theory, research, social/personality, and more.
PsycBOOKS – A full text database of books published by the American Psychological Association, classic books, and entries from the Encyclopedia of Psychology.
PsycCRITIQUES – Full-text reviews of current books and some popular films, videos, and software, as well as comparative reviews of books in the field of psychology.
PsycEXTRA – A gray literature database comprised of material written for professionals and disseminated outside of peer-reviewed journals; documents include newsletters, magazines, newspapers, technical and annual reports, government reports, consumer brochures, and more.
SAGE Education Full-Text Collection – A subset of Sage Journals Online, provides access to and advanced searching of the full text of 36 education-related journals.
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Handbooks of Research
Print Resources
Handbook of Reading Research, Volumes 1-3 (1984-2000)
Handbook of Research on Curriculum (1992)
Handbook of Research on Literacy and Diversity (2009)
Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, 2nd Edition (2004)
Handbook of Research on New Literacies (2009)
Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts, 3rd Edition (2008)
Handbook of Research on Teaching, 4th Edition (2001)
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual Arts (1997) (see also e-version below)
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy through the Communicative and Visual Arts, Volume 2 (2008)
Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts, 2nd Edition (2003) (see also e-version below)
Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children, 2nd Edition (2006)
Studying Teacher Education: The Report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education (2005)
E-Resources
Blackwell Reference Online – Provides full-text access to reference works in the social sciences and humanities; see research handbooks and companions in Linguistics, Literature, Psychology, and other subject areas.
Early Childhood Educational Research: Issues in Methodology and Ethics – Provides an introduction to research in early childhood education, offering an overview of recent history and the development of research in the field, how conceptions and methodologies have changed, and what key issues and dilemmas have emerged.
Handbook of Giftedness in Children: Psychoeducational Theory, Research, and Best Practices – In 20 chapters, brings together the work of leading experts from the fields of psychology and education, combining theory and applied empirical research on such crucial topics as conceptualization, types of intelligence, developmental considerations, and ethical and legal concerns.
Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts – This handbook brings together state-of-the-art research and practice on the evolving view of literacy as encompassing not only reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but also the multiple ways through which learners gain access to knowledge and skills.
Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts – Sponsored by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, this electronic version of the second (2003) edition of the printed source offers an overview of recent trends in the study and teaching of English.
Lenses on Reading: An Introduction to Theories and Models – Offers a thorough review of educational and psychological viewpoints on reading; addresses why theory matters in designing and implementing high-quality instruction, how to evaluate critically the assumptions and beliefs that guide teachers’ work with students, and the benefits of approaching everyday teaching situations from multiple theoretical perspectives.
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Reviews of Research
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) – Listings of articles, books, reviews, etc., on British, American, and Commonwealth literature; selective full-text.
Review of Educational Research – A publication of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the RER publishes quarterly critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education, including conceptualizations, interpretations, and syntheses of scholarly work.
Review of Research in Education - A publication of the American Educational Research Association, the RRE provides an annual overview and descriptive analysis of selected topics of relevant research literature through critical and synthesizing essays.
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Citation Indexes
Scopus – Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources with smart tools to track, analyze, and visualize research.
See a video tutorial from Columbia University Libraries at Using Citation Analysis Tools in Scopus.
Web of Science - Comprising the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, the Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Science Citation Index Expanded, this database supports searching by topic, author, or publication name, and is also a major means for doing cited reference searching, to find articles that cite a person’s work.
See a video tutorial from Columbia University Libraries at Using Citation Analysis Tools in Web of Science.
See also our library’s Citation Indexes video tutorial on citation searching via the Web of Science and Google Scholar.
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Tests and Measurements
Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) – Information on approximately 15,000 measurement instruments (i.e. questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, coding schemes, rating scales, etc.) in the fields of health and psychosocial sciences.
Mental Measurements Yearbook (Ovid) – Produced by the Buros Institute, this database contains extensive information about and reviews of English-language, commercially available, standardized tests covering educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, psychology, and related areas, as included in the printed Mental Measurements Yearbooks.
For further information on access to actual tests, measurements, instruments, scales, etc., see our Knowledge Database entry at http://library.tc.columbia.edu/kb/idx.php/0/196/article/.
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Directories
Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database – Provides information about children’s books, video and audio recordings, film strips, and other children-focused media. The CLCD presently contains more than 1,200,000 catalog records as well as more than 300,000 critical reviews of thousands of children’s books, ranging from the earliest baby board books to novels and nonfiction for young adults.
Cabell’s Educational Directories (Educational Curriculum & Methods; Educational Psychology &Administration; Educational Technology & Library Science)] – A directory of academic journals in various subfields in education, providing information on publishing opportunities for authors, submission guidelines, types of editorial review and numbers of external reviewers, acceptance rates, and links to journal websites.
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Digital Archives
Academic Commons – Columbia University’s online repository, where current faculty, students, and staff can deposit the results of their scholarly work and research.
PocketKnowledge – The social archive of Teachers College, including unpublished manuscripts and archives from the library’s collections, documents from other departments and administrative offices College-wide, and the work of TC students, faculty, and researchers.
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Bibliography and Citation Management Programs
Citation Management Software – An extensive description of and guide to the use of BibDesk, EndNote, Papers, Mendeley, and Zotero, including a comparison of their relative merits, produced by the Columbia University Libraries’ Digital Science Center.
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Library Services and Publications
Ask a Librarian a Question – To explore a variety of kinds of research support: enlist basic library assistance via our 24/7 online chat service; submit an email reference query to librarians onsite; request a research consultation with a Gottesman librarian; review frequently asked questions via the library’s Knowledge Database.
E-Reserves – Provides online access to digital course readings, including e-journal articles and book chapters, as well as call numbers for physical course reserves materials (books, DVDs, videos, etc.).
Document Delivery – The means to recommend items for purchase and/or to request from other libraries materials (dissertations, book chapters, journal articles, etc.) not available through the Gottesman or Columbia University Libraries.
Learning at the Library – The Gottesman Libraries’ blog via the Pressible platform, including content in many topical areas contributed by library staff members.
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