Getting Started with PsycTESTS: What Is It, and How Can It Help Me?

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

This is the first post in a series for anyone wanting to become familiar with PsycTESTS. Today we’ll cover what you’ll find in PsycTESTS, how to begin your search for a test, and resources to learn more about searching PsycTESTS. Future posts will cover how you can use a test that you find, and tips for navigating the platform.

Are you looking for a test to use in your research, or planning to develop your own? We have a database that can help!

PsycTESTS provides detailed information about the use of thousands of tests, scales, and measures reported in the behavioral sciences literature. Designed to connect researchers, students, educators, librarians, and practitioners with assessment tools, PsycTESTS is an ideal starting point for a new research project, helping you to avoid “reinventing the wheel” as you’re considering your metrics.

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Apply by Nov. 30: APA Librarian Conference Travel Award

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

If you’re an early- or mid-career academic or health sciences librarian who’s planning to attend a conference next spring, there’s still time apply for the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award!

Now through November 30, 2019, we are accepting applications for conferences taking place from January to April 2020. This includes – but is not limited to – the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, ALA Midwinter, Electronic Resources & Libraries, Code4Lib, and the Annual Conference on the First Year Experience.

The award is intended to help offset conference-related expenses for librarians with less than 15 years of experience after receiving their MLS or MLIS degree. One cash award is distributed three times each calendar year, and the application cycle opens and closes on a rolling basis.

At this time, we are not limiting the conferences that are eligible for travel award funding. Applicants should identify the conference that best meets their professional needs and explain how attendance will support their current duties and future goals.

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Tutorial Thursday – How to Format a Citation in APA Style using APA PsycNET

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

It’s Tutorial Thursday! In this series, we explore APA’s library of video tutorials available on the APA Publishing Training YouTube channel. Please feel free to link to or embed our videos in your library websites or LibGuides, course management systems, or other locations where students, faculty, and researchers will find them.

A new version of the tutorial How to Format a Citation in APA Style using APA PsycNET is available.

In this short video  you’ll learn how to access APA style citations for items in APA PsycNET.

By the end of this video you will be able to:

  • Access an APA style citation for a result from an APA PsycNET search
  • Explain why it is important to double-check the citation that is found
  • Describe when it is valuable to use a citation management tool

Related Resource: How to Export Citations to Citation Management Tools from APA PsycNET

PsycTESTS Expert Tip: Finding Psychometric Information about a Test

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

PsycTESTS can help you find an existing test that you can reuse in your own research. In doing so, you may want to evaluate the psychometric data that were reported by the original test developer.  

Psychometrics is the branch of psychology that studies the quantification and measurement of mental attributes, behavior, and performance, as well as the design, analysis, and improvement of the tests and other instruments used in such measurement.  

You will find three types of psychometrics included in a PsycTESTS record, when the information is provided by the original author and publisher of the test.  

  • Reliability describes the consistency of scores across contexts (e.g., different times, items, or raters), and provides an estimate of the amount of score variance that is due to true variance between subjects rather than to error.  
  • Validity is the degree to which a test or instrument is capable of measuring the stated construct, rather than some other trait or concept.   
  • Factor Analysis is a broad family of mathematical procedures that reduce a set of interrelations among stated factors to a smaller set of unobserved latent factors.  
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APA Librarian Conference Travel Award: Reflections from the Spring 2019 Recipient on the International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians
Photo of HyunSeung Koh

HyunSeung Koh, PhD of the University of Northern Iowa received the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award in the spring of 2019. She used the award to defray the cost of attendance at the International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries (LibPMC) annual conference in Aberystwyth, Wales in July. In support of her research involving the first year experience of international students, APA was pleased to help HyunSeung pursue this especially valuable opportunity for professional development, networking, and serving the field of librarianship.  

Patti Avellanet of the Customer Engagement team for APA Publishing recently talked with HyunSeung about her conference experience. The following transcript of their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and context. 

Patti: Hi, HyunSeung! We’re pleased that we were able to support your conference travel this past summer. What is your overall impression of the International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries (LibPMC)? 

HyunSeung: It’s small but mighty! With 121 attendees from 21 countries, it included a wide range of current and key topics in relation to library assessment. It was also a great venue for obtaining useful and practical insights from presenters with diverse cultural backgrounds, including non-American cultures. 

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