Early Childhood Education Research Guide

To Peninsula College Library Resources

Consult subject dictionaries and encyclopedias for background on your topic.

Keep a list of search terms.

1. Selected Reference Books (Located in Peninsula College Library Reference)

International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences R H41 .I58 2001

Contents related to children and childhood at: http://tinyurl.com/2d64fh

A Critical Dictionary of Educational Concepts (2^nd ed) R LB15 .B29

Encyclopedia of Educational Research (4 vol., 6^th ed) R LB15 .E48

Encyclopedia of American Education R LB17 .U54

Handbook of Educational Psychology R LB1051 .H2354

Oxford Reference Online http://www.oxfordreference.com

Start your research with words! Find search terms to use in catalogs and indexes.

2. Controlled Vocabularies

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) (Located in PC Library Reference)

Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors (Located in PC Library Reference: R LB1028 .T53)

LCSH (25^th ed., 2002)

Early Childhood Education (LB1139.2 – LB1139.4)

BT Education

NT Education, Preschool

Education, Primary

Kindergarten

Education, Preschool (LB1140 – LB1140.5)

UF Children—Education (Preschool)

Infant Education

Preschool Education

BT Early childhood Education

RT Nursery schools

SA subdivision Education (Preschool) under classes of persons and ethnic groups

NT Agazzi method of teaching

Play groups

Preschool tests

Sexism in preschool education

Television in preschool education

Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors (13^th ed., 1995)

Early Childhood Education

NT Preschool Education

Primary Education

BT Education

RT Child Development Centers

Day Care Centers

Early Intervention

Elementary Education

Kindergarten

Montessori Method

Nursery Schools

Young Children

3. Library Catalogs (Books and More)

Peninsula College Library http://peninsula.library.ctc.edu

North Olympic Library System http://www.nols.org/online.htm

WorldCat http://worldcat.org

4. Indexes (Journal Articles): Peninsula College Library Databases

Academic Search Premier

ProQuest

CQ Researcher

Sample Titles of Library Full-Text e-Journals accessed through Indexes

Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education Journal

International Journal of Early Childhood

Journal of Research in Childhood Education: JRCE

Scholastic Early Childhood Today

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

Do you need to find journal articles?

Use a print or deep web periodical index.

5. quality Surface Web Indexes

Educator’s Reference http://eduref.org

USA.gov http://usa.gov

Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com

IngentaConnect www.ingentaconnect.com

Ask.com http://www.ask.com/

Librarians’ Internet Index

http://www.lii.org

When you find information on the web,

evaluate its authority and accuracy.

6. Critical Evaluation of Information

ü Who created it? What credentials?

ü Why was it created?

ü When was it created? Where?

ü How reliable? (compare to other sources)

When you use someone's ideas,

cite your sources to give credit.

Source Documentation

Using APA Format (5^th edition)

(American Psychological Association)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Using MLA Format (6^th edition)

(Modern Language Association)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Experience the pleasure of browsing your local library book stacks!