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W. Frank Steely  Library

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Prepared for OST 422

GENERAL LIBRARY INFORMATION

Steely Library offers a wide variety of facilities and services that will be useful in the completion of the research projects you will be doing in this OST 422 class. For more detail on the physical facilities of the Library, please see the Maps of Steely Library page. Hours of operation are posted at http://www.nku.edu/~library/info/hours.html. Most importantly, see the information on the Library website regarding reference services available to you. On the menu of this page you will see information that will enhance your Internet searching results, lists of research databases you may use in the Library or remotely from your home computer, subject guides for research in many fields. In addition, you will see links to two research services offered by the faculty of the Reference Department. Via the Ask a Librarian link, you may send questions for brief, factual information needed in the course of your research projects. For more in-depth assistance, you can make an appointment with a librarian for individualized guidance in planning your research project by clicking on Research Consultation Service. Of course, reference assistance is available at the 3rd floor Reference Desk in Steely Library or by phone (572-5454.) Please see the Reference Department website for reference service hours.

RESEARCH STARTING PLACES

Many reference guides are designed to give you a head-start on major research projects. These guides, often designated as background sources and specialized encyclopedias, provide topic suggestions and overviews of subject areas that can help you outline the parameters of your own research idea. Moreover, it is in these sources that you can quickly find key pieces of research identified, important access terms noted, definitions of unfamiliar terms or ideas. Spending some time "getting your feet on the ground" with these reference guides will pay off in a more efficient, better directed research strategy. The following are a few background sources available which have information relevant to training, educational research, and the instructional needs of working individuals. Many additional sources are available; please ask a Reference Librarian to assist you with the specific topic you plan to investigate.

The Financial Times: Handbook of Management

Location: REF HD 38.15 .F56 1995x

AMA Management Handbook

Location: REF HD 31 A418 1994

Encyclopedia of Career Change

Location: REF HF 5381 .E516 1992 The Workplace Diversity Network

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Human Resource Management

Location: REF HF 5549 .A23 B58 1997

Encyclopedia of Educational Research

Location: REF LB 15 .E48 1992

Encyclopedia of Psychology

Location: REF BF 31 .E52 1994

Encyclopedia of Human Behavior

Location: REF BF 31 E5 1994

Encyclopedia of the Future

Location: REF CB 158 .E53 1996

International Encyclopedia of Communication

Location: REF P 87.5 .I5 1989

Games Trainers Play series (under Stiegler)

Location: Reserve Desk, 3rd floor

Guide to Multicultural Resources

Location: REF E 184 .A1 B68 1997x

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural American

Location: REF E 184 .A1 G14 1995

INDEXES AND CATALOGS

Once you have a basic understanding of the issues connected to the topic you have chosen for research, and perhaps have started an outline of your research strategy, you can begin to search for more in-depth studies, reports, data, and opinions. To find these more in-depth studies you will use a variety of indexes and catalogs. Perhaps the most convenient resources to retrieve at this step are books listed in our library's catalog ---NKUIRE. These sources are convenient materials for two reasons. First, and perhaps obviously, the books listed here are owned and housed locally in Steely Library. Unless another local researcher has checked them out, you should be able to pick up the needed books in a matter of moments. (If the materials you need are checked out, you can have them held or recalled by the Circulation Department.) Secondly, using the catalog to find books is a logical, and often overlooked step at this stage of your research. Books, and chapters in books, are wonderful tools of synthesis. Authors and publishers of books use this medium to convey broad-based discussions of major issues, common trends, analyzed data, etc. Here, in book-length studies, you will frequently find the most usable of professional research. Access to NKUIRE is available on every PC in Steely Library as well as remotely. Begin your search by clicking on the Author/Title Subject search button. When you see the search screen, be sure to click the Subject button here. Try entering some of the terms you discovered in the background sources you read on your topic. In addition, try subject searches for "training" or "employee training of." The Bibliographic screen of relevant books will offer additional subject terms. Basic Keyword searches, which search additional portions of each catalog record, such as book titles, can help if your subject searches do not result in some usable books. Be sure to check the Bibliographic screen for any books you discover by keyword searching. Here you will see offficial subject headings that will enable you to do thorough searches of NKUIRE. If you would like assistance in using NKUIRE, please contact a Reference Librarian. Indexes are available to identify periodical articles (articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers) and internet sites. Publishing research in periodicals or on the web is often the medium professionals use to report the results of specific program experiments, provide updates to ongoing projects, and question the viability of practices in the field. These publications are very diverse, frequently written with less explicit connections to related research than are book publications, and require more knowledge on the part of the reader to use the information presented effectively. They are wonderful resources for alternative ideas, latest developments, and professional criticism. Each academic field has at least one subject index covering many of the journals published for professionals in that area. In the training field, you will certainly be interested in the professional publications of educators, business professionals, psychologists, technology experts, and others. Below are listed the key indexes for publications in these fields. If you would like assistance using these indexes, please contact a Reference Librarian.

Business Source Premier

eLocation: "B"Databases" Access: Available off campus with NKU login Coverage: 1990-present. Provides full text for nearly 1,300 general and scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and other areas.

ABI Inform

eLocation: "A"Databases Access: Available off campus with NKU login Coverage: 1985-present. Index, with abstracts, to over 1,000 international journals covering business, management and related areas.

ERIC

eLocation: "E"Databases Access: Available off campus with NKU login Coverage: 1966-present eLocation: http://ericir.syr.edu Access: Unrestricted Coverage:1989-present eLocation: http://ericae.net/aesearch.htm Access: Unrestricted Coverage: 1976-present The ERIC database contains abstracts of education-related journal articles, research reports, dissertations, teaching guides, instructional materials, and other items, both published and non-published. ERIC is the most comprehensive index available for the literature of education. A subsection of the ERIC system is maintained by the Adult, Career, and Vocational Education Clearinghouse Here you will find lists of valuable print and electronic sources related to issues in adult training.

eLocation: American Society for Training and Development Library

Be sure to check link to "bibliographies" link. This is the subject index to the Society's journal, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, which is available in Steely Library.

eLocation: The Human Resource Professionals' Gateway to the Internet

This is a useful list of Human Resources internet sites,. including many organizations, listservs, government and corporate pages, and other resources.

eLocation: Human Resource Management Resources on the Internet

This page was compiled by Ray Lye, of Nottingham Business School. Provides a list of online journals in the field, and includes a wide variety of other resources, many of them in the U.K. but some U.S. sites as well.

eLocation: Workindex.com

Searchable site of human resources information and organizations.

eLocation: The Workplace Diversity Network

An organization affiliated with the Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations.

eLocation: Subject Directories

Links to search engines of the web which retrieve evaluated sites.

updated on 10/31/03

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