This research guide is intended as an overview of library resources and services of particular relevance for students in the Ed.D. in Nursing Education program at Teachers College. The resources, primarily electronic and accessible from on and off campus, have been selected to support the online needs of participants in the program, i.e., “those desiring to be experts and lead change in
nursing education as they seek preparation for faculty and/or educator roles.” The guide also includes a section describing research consultation and assistance services and options for document retrieval and delivery available to all members of the Teachers College community.
Library Resources
Online Catalogs
Periodical Indexes
Federated Search Engines/Discovery Tools
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
E-Collections (Text, Images, Sound, Etc.)
Handbooks of Research and Practice
Reviews of Research
Citation Indexes
Tests and Measurements
Statistical Resources
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
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.
WorldCat is also freely accessible on the Web at http://www.worldcat.org.
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 research methods in health and behavior studies 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.
Nurses — In-service training
Nursing — Research
Nursing — Research — Methodology
Nursing — Study and teaching
Return to contents.
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.
Biological Abstracts – An index with abstracts to periodicals in biology and the life sciences. Provides access to biological and medical research findings, clinical studies, and discoveries of new organisms. Coverage is international, and includes biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, genetics, microbiology, and pharmacology.
BioMed Central – Provides access to 207 open access biological and biomedical research journals, as well as current reports and meeting abstracts. BioMed Central offers information about current controlled trials, as well as topics in modern biology.
CINAHL – The online version of the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, providing full text for more than 750 journals indexed in CINAHL from 1981-present.
Cochrane Library – A collection of six databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making: the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; the Cochrane Methodology Register; the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects; the Health Technology Assessment Database; and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database. There is a a seventh database that provides information about groups in The Cochrane Collaboration.
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 through 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.
MEDLINE – MEDLINE covers the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 3,900 journals published world-wide. Our library makes the database available via the Ovid platform; ISI Web of Knowledge MEDLINE and Ebsco MEDLINE can be accessed via the Columbia University Libraries website.
MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and MEDLINE – This database consists of In-Process and PubMed-not-MEDLINE records from the National Library of Medicine. The In-Process records are ones that will be put into the MEDLINE database after they have been enhanced with MeSH headings. PubMed-not-MEDLINE records are records from journals found in PubMed but not selected for MEDLINE.
Professional Development Collection – Designed for professional educators, this database provides access to 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.
Return to contents.
Federated Search Engines/Discovery Tools
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.
Return to contents.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Encyclopedia of Education (2nd Edition) – The 2003 version of the classic resource in education and related fields.
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture – A survey of food and its place in human culture and society, presented through 600 alphabetically sorted entries; features multidisciplinary coverage of such topics as comfort food, ethnicity and food, medieval banquets, and nutrient composition, among many others.
Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior – Includes more than 200 entries on topics such as physical activity, stress and health, smoking, pain management, social support and health, cardiovascular health, health promotion, and HIV/AIDS.
Encyclopedia of Nursing Research (2nd Edition) – The 320 articles by 200 expert contributors include topics such as nursing services, electronic networks and technology, nursing education, nursing care, specialties in nursing, patients’ reactions and adjustments, historical, philosophical, and cultural issues, and nursing organizations and publications.
Encyclopedia of Public Health – Examines a broad range of topics such as environmental health, drug abuse, epidemiology, nutrition, demographics, and diseases. Includes overviews, definitions, and biographical entries.
Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health (2nd Edition) – Provides more than 850 entries covering topics in nursing and allied health, including body systems and functions, conditions and common diseases, issues and theories, techniques and practices, and devices and equipment.
Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology (2nd Edition) – In more than 650 entries covers the entire spectrum of psychology, including notable people, theories and terms; landmark case studies and experiments; applications of psychology in advertising, medicine and sports; and career information.
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.
OED Online – The electronic version of the Oxford English Dictionary, which is “the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium . . . an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past . . . traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books” (publisher’s description).
Return to contents.
E-Collections (Text, Images, Sound, Etc.)
Ebrary – Online books across a range of subject areas; searchable, under All Subjects, by Education, Medicine, Science, Social Sciences, etc. and various sub-topics, and by author, title, and other criteria.
Health Reference Center Academic – Multi-source database providing access to full-text of nursing and allied health journals, plus a wide variety of personal health information sources that offer reliable health information to researchers, including nursing and allied health students.
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. The most recently published issues (the past 3-5 years) are frequently not available through JSTOR, though they usually are through other e-sources.
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, this database provides access to and advanced searching of the full text of 36 education-related journals.
SAGE Knowledge – “A database of ebooks and reference books published by SAGE covering the social sciences and education, including such areas as African American Studies, Aged & Gerontology, Anthropology, Communication and Media Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Gender & Sexuality Studies, History, Politics, Psychology, Social Issues, Social Work & Social Policy, and Sociology.”
SAGE Psychology Full-Text Collection – Provides access to the full text of 34 psychology-related journals from SAGE Publications.
Return to contents.
Handbooks of Research and Practice
Blackwell Reference Online – Provides full-text access to reference works in the social sciences and humanities; see research handbooks and companions in Psychology, Medicine, and other subject areas.
Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing – The third (2015) edition of this work “covers curriculum development and evaluation in detail and provides the knowledge and practical applications needed by new and experienced faculty to confidently embrace the academic role. With an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration throughout, the text focuses on the growth of simulation, guidance for new faculty transitioning from a clinical to academic role, developing curricula for practice and academic settings, program evaluation, accreditation activities, and recommendation for research in nursing education.”
Developing Online Learning Environments in Nursing Education – This third (2014) edition “provides new content on Web-based learning theories and how to optimally teach students using the latest technology. Additionally . . . offers new information on staff development and a new chapter on the role of staff development educator, guides instructors on how to build an on-line community, and includes practical, proven measures for student assessment and evaluation in online education.”
Distance Education in Nursing – New content in the third (2013) edition of this work “promotes mobile computing in distance education, faculty preparation, quality improvement, learning in context, clinical reasoning, ethical comportment, and writing skills, and addresses the challenges of accreditation for distance programs. The text helps teachers assess their teaching strategies and try new methods in selected courses to enhance outcomes.”
Evaluation and Testing in Nursing Education – The fourth (2014) edition of this work “helps educators measure and evaluate the level of learning that their students have achieved and presents fundamental concepts of what constitutes reliable tools and rubrics for measuring students’ classroom and clinical performance.”
Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty – The fifth edition of this work covers “key issues, such as curriculum and test development, diverse learning styles, the redesign of healthcare systems, and advancements in technology and information. . . along with updated information on technology-empowered learning, the flipped classroom, interprofessional collaborative practice, and much more.”
Teaching in Nursing and Role of the Educator: The Complete Guide to Best Practice in Teaching, Evaluation, and Curriculum Development – “This evidence-based text encompasses both theoretical and practical information and includes content on teaching and learning, assessment and evaluation, curriculum development, using technology , teaching in simulation, learning lab and online courses, models for clinical teaching, scholarship and evidence-based education, and other components of the educator role.”
Return to contents.
Reviews of Research
Annual Review of Nursing Education – This publication, which ceased with the sixth (2008) volume, provided overviews of “trends, new developments, and innovations in nursing education” and remains a valuable source in nursing education research.
Annual Reviews – Reviews of topics in biomedical, physical, and social sciences published as annual journals; see series for Medicine, Nutrition, Physiology, Public Health, and other subjects.
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.
Return to contents.
Citation Indexes
Scopus – Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources with smart tools to track, analyze, and visualize research.
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.
Google Scholar – Provides the means to search by author or publication title, and indicates and provides links to works that have cited the documents retrieved.
See our library’s Citation Indexes video tutorial on citation searching via the Web of Science and Google Scholar.
Return to contents.
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/.
Return to contents.
Statistical Resources
MedlinePlus Health Statistics – Provides helpful links to various types of health and vital statistics for consumers and health professionals. Contents include Overviews; Latest News; Specific Conditions; Related Issues; Research; Journal Articles; Directories; Organizations; Newsletters/Print Publications; Law and Policy; Children; Teenagers; Men; Women; and Seniors.
National Center for Health Statistics – A product of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this database provides U.S. public health statistics, covering diseases, pregnancies, births, aging, and mortality. Public use data files are available for download. Includes important statistical subsets and reports, including NCHS Data Briefs; NCHS Health E-Stats; Health, United States; and many others.
World Health Organization Data and Statistics – Comprised of several key databases, including the Global Health Observatory, the WHO Global InfoBase, the Global Health Atlas, and Regional Statistics; also data by categories, including mortality and health status, diseases, coverage of services, risk factors, and health systems.
Return to contents.
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.
Internet Archive – A non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies, and music, as well as 150 billion archived web pages.
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.
Return to contents.
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.
Return to contents.
Library Services and Publications
Ask a Librarian a Question – To explore a variety of kinds of research support: 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.
Return to contents.
Related Posts
Mathematics, Science, and Technology Research Guide
Who’s Citing Whom? Citation Indexes, Citation Searching, and Bibliometrics
Library Resources for A&HA 4281, Field Observations in Art Education
Library Resources and Services for HBSE 6010, Advanced Study of Problems and Issues in Special Education
Resources for Research in Diabetes Education and Management