The influx of new faces and fresh perspectives that fall semester brings to an academic campus is refreshing – though it’s often hard to appreciate in the chaos of scheduling and managing requests for instruction and support.
In hopes that we can save you a little time as you prepare for instruction sessions that will require diving into PsycINFO and other APA Databases, this issue provides a quick overview of the training materials you’ll find in our Librarian’s Resource Center. You are welcome to embed, link, adapt, and modify these materials to meet the needs of your students, faculty, and others in need of research support.
Training Resources from APA
You’ll find the Librarian’s Resource Center at an easy-to-remember URL: http://www.apa.org/librarians
For training materials, head straight to the Training Center, linked in the middle of the page. All of these materials have been prepared and gathered by the training specialists from the APA Publications and Databases Customer Relations team. In addition to the training materials listed below, you’ll find links to view back issues of PsycINFO News, and a collection of digital signage for you to download, modify, and use to promote the APA Databases.
- Database Documentation: Links out to coverage lists, the PsycINFO Field Guide and Record Structure, and the lists of Classification Codes currently used in PsycINFO and PsycTESTS.
- Search Guides: This page, which is organized by platform, provides access to our PsycINFO Quick Reference Guides and Getting Started with PsycTESTS Guides. We also link to some additional resources for APA PsycNET.
- Pro Tip! Request free copies of our Quick Reference Guides – send a note to psycinfo@apa.org, noting which platform you use to access PsycINFO, how many you’d like, and where we should send them.
- Topic Guides: Access a list of our collection of Topic Guides, brief handouts designed to demonstrate how PsycINFO (and other APA Databases) can be used to search for resources in a variety of topic areas. These are great tools for interdisciplinary research.
- Pro Tip! If you’d like to copy a sample search or list of Index Terms into some of your existing training materials, look for the PowerPoint version of each of our Topic Guides. These files leave off the design elements, and are much easier to copy from.
- Webinar Training: Our webinars were on hiatus for the summer, but will start back up in September. We offer sessions geared specifically for librarians, as well as webinars for students and faculty. Schedules, descriptions, and registration information are all provided.
- Tutorials on APA Databases: We have over 100 video tutorials, ready and waiting to help you and the people you support in your moment of need. You’ll find recordings of webinars, as well as brief tutorials (these are all Closed Captioned) that you can link to or embed.
- Pro Tip! Embed an entire playlist in your LibGuide, and new tutorials will automatically be at your fingertips.
- Podcasts: We occasionally record podcasts that summarize recent research added to APA Databases. You can access full transcripts online, and download them to listen to as you walk across campus to your next appointment.
- Presentation Archive: Links to the slides used in our training sessions at library conferences. All of our presentations include screen captures that walk you through the search demos that were presented live. Get ideas for new search examples of your own, or just see what you missed.
- Pro Tip! You’ll also find our conference presentations, and more, on our Slideshare channel.
Sharing or linking a YouTube Playlist
