Author: Patti Avellanet

Spotlight: PsycINFO® Quick Reference Guides

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

Need a brief overview on how to search PsycINFO®?  We have a Quick Reference Guide for that!

Screenshot of PsycINFO Quick Reference Guide for APA PsycNET showing description of PsycINFO

PsycINFO Quick Reference Guide for APA PsycNET®

 

Learn the basics of searching PsycINFO on your platform to make your search more effective. Each PsycINFO Quick Reference Guide covers:

  • System navigation
  • Command searching
  • Correct search syntax for specific fields
  • Advanced search syntax (e.g., Boolean operators, truncation)
  • Limiting your search
  • Managing your search results
  • Platform-specific tips
PsycINFO Search Basics on APA PsycNET: Screenshot of Quick Reference Guide showing descriptions of Boolean Operators (AND, OR, and NOT), Phrases, and Truncation

PsycINFO Search Basics on APA PsycNET

 

Download or link to the PsycINFO Quick Reference Guide for your platform:

This is a perfect course handout for students who are new to searching PsycINFO, or anyone else who may want a refresher. Librarians and faculty can request pocket-size print versions to distribute: Email psycinfo@apa.org with your name, institution, mailing address, quantity needed, and specified platform.

Related Resources:

APA provides search help and training for all end-users, from novices through expert searchers. Find search guides, webinar schedules, tutorials, and more at our APA Search Help and Training Center for databases and electronic resources.

Be sure to check out our PsycINFO YouTube channel for short training tutorials and webinar recordings demonstrating how to put APA databases to work for you. View the playlist for your platform: APA Databases on APA PsycNET, APA Databases on EBSCOhost, APA Databases on Ovid, or APA Databases on ProQuest.

From the Deck of . . . The ACRL 2017 Databases Lunch & Learn

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Welcome to “From the Deck of . . .” an irregular series in which we highlight search demos and other information from the slide decks we create for our live training sessions. You can view and download these materials from the PsycINFO SlideShare account.
At the recent Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference, we presented two training sessions. During our APA Databases Lunch & Learn, we looked at some of the fields and features added to PsycINFO® in August 2016. Among the search examples for this section of the presentation was an explanation of how and why you might use the Medical Subject Headings, or MeSH terms, that have been added to PsycINFO.

In PubMed, a health sciences database from the National Library of Medicine, articles are indexed with MeSH terms, which work similarly to the Index Terms in PsycINFO. (For a more in-depth explanation, see our post PsycINFO Expert Tip: Searching by Keyword, Index Term, and More.) About 30% of the articles indexed in PsycINFO are also included in PubMed. When you find one of those articles in PsycINFO, you’ll now see the MeSH terms assigned by PubMed, as well as the article’s PubMed Identifier (PMID). How can this information be of use to your health sciences researchers and students?

Researchers are increasingly aware that research relevant to their interests may be available outside their specialty. For example, perhaps you’re working with someone who’s looking at brain inflammation and its impact on mood. They’ve found some information in PubMed, but would like to recreate their search in PsycINFO to find additional resources from psychology.

One easy way to find the relevant terms from the PsycINFO Thesaurus is to start by looking at some of the useful articles the researcher has already found in PubMed. By using the PMIDs to find some of those articles in PsycINFO, you can review the MeSH terms and the PsycINFO Subject Headings assigned to the article. From there, you can rebuild the search using terms from the PsycINFO Thesaurus.

A slide from the ACRL 2017 Databases Lunch & Learn.

To review the full search example, take a look at the slides from our APA Databases Lunch & Learn. You’ll also find some sample search scenarios for PsycTESTS®, and a brief review of APA Style CENTRAL®.

Webinar Alert: APA Style CENTRAL® Trainings for April 2017

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

 

APA Style CENTRAL® is the newest member of the APA Style® family, launched in July 2016.

APA’s training specialists have developed several webinars for librarians, instructors, and students that include content overview and a live demonstration of features.

Click on any session link to register (all times are EDT).

The Online Introduction introduces librarians to the platform:

Teaching with APA Style CENTRAL details how faculty, librarians, and other instructors can use APA Style CENTRAL in teaching APA Style:

Writing Papers in APA Style CENTRAL teaches end users how to create and save papers using APA Style CENTRAL:

For more information, and to see the full schedule, visit the APA Style CENTRAL webinars page.

Webinar Alert: PsycINFO Sessions for Students & Faculty – April 5-7, 2017

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

Our next series of PsycINFO® webinars for students and faculty will run on April 5, April 6, and April 7 from 11 – 11:30 a.m. EDT (UTC−04:00). The sessions may be attended separately, but we encourage those who are interested to take all three, so we offer them on consecutive days:

We will provide information relevant to all search platforms including APA PsycNET, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest. The platform demonstrated will be based on the needs of the attendees of each session. For more information on this series, including full descriptions, please visit our database webinar training web page.

These webinars are an ideal way for students to get a refresher on PsycINFO if they have had a previous training session. Please help us spread the word to interested students and faculty!

APA Style CENTRAL – Using Embed Links

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Today we’d like to highlight one of our APA Style CENTRAL® handouts, “Embedding APA Style CENTRAL Content Using HTML” (PDF, 955K). Please feel free to link to this handout where students, faculty, and researchers will find it!

You can embed any learning object in the APA Style CENTRAL Learning Center (quick guide, tutorial, self-quiz, or sample) into any webpage where you can add or edit HTML. The available embed codes can be used with platforms such as LibGuides and WordPress, as well as your institution’s Learning Management System (LMS).

The embed code supplies a thumbnail image, summary, and direct HTML link to the specific learning object, providing flexibility in configuring access to this content for students and other users.

The handout on Embedding APA Style CENTRAL Content Using HTML covers:

  • How to access the HTML code for embedding a learning object;
  • An example of an APA Style CENTRAL tutorial embedded into a LibGuide;
  • An example of a sample paper embedded into WordPress; and
  • Details on embedding content for course instruction into your institution’s Learning Management System (LMS).

Want to learn more? You’ll find this handout on our APA Style CENTRAL Handouts and Guides page, where we will continue to add handouts and documentation for users and administrators as they become available.

Do you have a “how-to” question about APA Style CENTRAL or some aspect of it you’d like to know more about? Please let us know!