Tag: APA PsycNet

Webinar Alert: Spring PsycINFO Sessions for Librarians

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

Our spring semester lineup of webinars for librarians kicks off next week. If you’re looking to expand your search skills, or just need a PsycINFO refresher, we hope you’ll join us! We offer two different one-hour sessions, both of which include live search demos.

 

Behind the Scenes of PsycINFO reviews the structure of APA Database records, and covers fields such as Index Terms, Keywords, and Classification Codes.

 

Beyond Subject Searching in PsycINFO includes a review of searching for information on tests and measures, and looks at other ways you can use PsycINFO to do more than just locating articles.

 

Additional Webinars for Students and Faculty

Looking for sessions for students and faculty, or our APA Style CENTRAL Online Introduction? Please visit our main webinars page for schedules and descriptions.

 

View Tutorials Anytime, Anywhere!

We also offer a large library of video tutorials. These can help you – and the students, faculty, and researchers you support – become a PsycINFO expert: https://www.youtube.com/PsycINFO

Updated Help Pages

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

At the end of last year, we reviewed and updated the APA PsycNET® help pages to make sure the content was current and easy for our users to navigate.

 

The main help explains how to set up a search, manage the results list, use your MyAPA Account, the Browse menu, and other tools you’ll see on APA PsycNET®.

http://help.psycnet.org/en/

 

The PsycTESTS help explains searchable fields and the record structure that are unique to the PsycTESTS® database on APA PsycNET.

http://help.psycnet.org/en/psyctests-help/

 

The admin center help is for library administrators and explains how to customize for your institution, view usage statistics, and use other tools in the APA PsycNET Admin Center.

http://help.psycnet.org/en/admin-center-help/

 

Something missing? Let us know! psycinfo@apa.org

Tutorial Tuesday: How (and Why) to use the APA Thesaurus on APA PsycNET

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

It’s Tutorial Tuesday! In this series, we explore APA’s library of video tutorials available on the PsycINFO® YouTube channel and the APA Style CENTRAL® 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.

We recently updated one of our tutorials: How (and Why) to Use the APA Thesaurus on APA PsycNET®.""

How can you be sure you are finding the best results for your search?

By using the best search terms! The APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (“APA Thesaurus”) contains the controlled vocabulary that APA uses to describe and categorize all content indexed in PsycINFO. This resource is regularly updated to include new and changing terminology for topics in the behavioral sciences, and you can put it to work for you!

Using the APA Thesaurus helps you eliminate “noise” from your search and retrieve the most relevant results by revealing the best search terms for your topic. The APA Thesaurus is a valuable tool for students new to research or any researcher who is new to a topic area and may not yet know the best terminology for searching.

This brief video (2:40 minutes) demonstrates the benefits of using the APA Thesaurus when searching databases on the APA PsycNET platform, and includes:

  • Examples of recent terminology updates to the APA Thesaurus;
  • How to access the APA Thesaurus when crafting a search;
  • Using the APA Thesaurus to find related terms for narrowing or expanding your search;
  • Discovering index terms for broader concepts that encompass your research topic and make searching more efficient; and
  • Uncovering additional search terms you may not have considered.

This tutorial is a great resource to link from a LibGuide or course module for any class working with APA Databases on APA PsycNET, and can be helpful in answering email or chat reference questions.

The previous version of this tutorial will remain available, but if you have embedded or linked to it anywhere, we encourage you to update your materials with the link to this new version.

Related Resources:

APA PsycNET® Help Files Update

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Faculty, For Individual Subscribers, For Librarians, For Students

We are pleased to announce that a revised version of APA PsycNET® Help files is now available to support the July 2017 platform update. Help files were updated to reflect the new user-interface changes related to responsive design, content discovery, and search tools.

PsycNET Help is available at top-right of the screen, next to the Login link:

Help link shown to right of Login link

The APA PsycNET Help module includes detailed information about:

  • Getting Started with APA PsycNET, including database descriptions
  • Basic and Advanced Search, including fields, filters, and display options
  • Cited References searching
  • Search results, including searching, managing, filtering, and finding full text
  • Managing Searches, including email alerts, RSS feeds, and permalinks
  • Recent searches, My PsycNET, and MyList
  • Browse function for each database
  • APA Thesaurus, including why & how to incorporate it into your search
  • Additional search options, including Lookup tools, Boolean operators, truncation, and more.

Related Resources:

What’s New with APA PsycNET

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

On July 17, the APA PsycNET platform released a refreshed version that included a new look and feel, as well as a technology upgrade.

We hope this refresh has allowed you to continue your research seamlessly.

 

The features that you’re used to on APA PsycNET are still there, including:

  • Your personal My List, My PsycNET, alerts, and saved searches;
  • Thesaurus or Term Finder;
  • Cited References search;
  • An unchanged search algorithm;
  • The same records and full-text as before, with regular weekly updates.

 

We’ve also added some new tools to assist you, such as related content, a test lookup tool, and additional browse options.

 

If you would like more information about these new tools, please view our webinar on the APA PsycNET changes.

 

Or view the slides detailing APA PsycNET’s new additions.