Apply by 3/31 for the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Do you work in an academic or health sciences library in the United States? Are you an early- or mid-career librarian? Are you looking for sources of funding for a conference you’d like to attend in late spring or summer?

If the answer to all of those questions is yes, please consider applying for an APA Librarian Conference Travel Award. There’s still plenty of time to get your application package together!

This program has a rolling deadline, and the next one is March 31. Submit your application for a conference taking place from May to August 2019. This includes – but is not limited to – LOEX 2019, the Medical Library Association Conference 2019, ALA Annual 2019, the ACRL Immersion Program and Teacher Tracks, and the APA Annual Convention.

The award is intended to help defray conference-related expenses for librarians with less than 15 years of experience after receiving their MLS/MLIS. 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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New Terms & Other Updates to the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms®

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

We recently released an update to the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms. The Thesaurus provides precise and consistent terminology for searching all APA research databases. We added 305 new “preferred” Index Terms and approximately 70 new non-postable or “use” references*.

Each item in the APA databases – journal articles, books and book chapters, dissertations, and more – is represented by a record that is indexed, or tagged, with Index Terms from the Thesaurus. The use of a controlled vocabulary allows someone searching a database to quickly find all items about a specific concept — such as Animal Behavior, Marginalized Groups, or Prescription Drug Misuse — no matter what terminology or keywords the authors used. 

Reflecting emerging areas, technologies, and social issues as well as changing nomenclature, this updated vocabulary will provide users with more targeted and efficient search and discovery. Additionally, we added new terminology in the expanding areas of psychological assessment, psychometrics, and research methods. You can view more details on our web page, What’s New in the 2019 Update, including a link to the full list of new and updated Index Terms (PDF, 135KB).

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Webinar Alert: Spring PsycINFO Sessions for Librarians

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

Join us this spring for a Beyond Subject Searching webinar – designed for librarians and other expert users of PsycINFO. If you’re looking to expand your search skills, or just need a PsycINFO refresher, we hope you’ll join us!

This one-hour session includes a behind the scenes look at the PsycINFO record structure and live search demos.

Learn how to use PsycINFO for more than just locating articles, such as identifying the types of research being done at a particular institution and finding journals in which to publish new work.

We’ll also search for information on grants and sponsorships, and on tests and measures and will highlight our Record Structure and Field Guide — tools that can help you become your library’s PsycINFO expert.

You can register with GoTo Webinar for one of the following times.

  • Tuesday, Feb 26, 2019 11:00 AM EST
  • Friday, Mar 22, 2019 10:00 AM EDT
  • Wednesday, Apr 24, 2019 2:00 PM EDT

Can’t join us at the times listed?

APA Librarian Conference Travel Award: Reflections from the Fall 2018 Recipient on the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Sigrid Brudie, MLIS of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) received the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award in the fall of 2018. She used the award to defray the cost of attendance at the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association’s (PNC/MLA) annual conference in Spokane, Washington in October. As one of only a handful of medical librarians in Alaska, APA was pleased to help Sigrid pursue this especially valuable opportunity for professional development, networking, and serving the field of librarianship.

Patti Avellanet of the Customer Engagement team for APA’s Databases & Electronic Resources recently talked with Sigrid to get her impressions of the conference. The following transcript of their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and context.

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New Handbook: The APA Handbook of Contemporary Family Psychology

Posted on by Marta Soto in For Librarians

The APA Handbooks in Psychology series was launched in 2011 to provide comprehensive overviews and in-depth study of specific subfields within

psychology. All of the Handbooks are included in the PsycBOOKS® database, and titles are also available individually.

The series currently contains 30 authoritative titles, including the 2014 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, APA Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology.

The most recent addition to this series is the APA Handbook of Contemporary Family Psychology, edited by Barbara H. Fiese and published in December 2018.

This Handbook lays a solid foundation for integrating theory, research, practice, and policy in contemporary family psychology. The vast scope of the handbook argues that family psychology has evolved to have a major impact not only on the practice of psychology, but also on how researchers in the field investigate the complexities of the human condition.

The handbook is composed of three volumes:

Volume 1 describes the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the discipline, including an overview of traditional theories; influential contemporary theories; and complex research designs, statistical modeling, and experience sampling, among other topics. The volume presents a lifespan approach to family psychology, recognizing the importance of addressing how families change over time, and it discusses different forms of contemporary families.

Volume 2 focuses on the application of family psychology to an array of mental and physical health conditions, societal issues, and shared systems such as schools and health care.

Volume 3 addresses contemporary couple, family, and parenting interventions grounded in family psychology theory and science, as well as issues related to family psychology training.

The vast scope of the handbook argues that family psychology has evolved to have a major impact not only on the practice of psychology, but also on how researchers in the field investigate the complexities of the human condition.

Visit the APA Handbook of Contemporary Family Psychology web page for more information, including the full table of contents and editor biographies.

PsycBOOKS users on APA PsycNET® (including subscribers to APA PsycNET Gold, Gold Plus, and Platinum), EBSCOhost, Ovid and ProQuest can access the entire series by browsing PsycBOOKS or by performing a title search for a particular handbook.

Institutions also have the option of purchasing handbooks individually. Print only, Electronic only, or Electronic + Print options are available through APA, with electronic access provided via the APA PsycNET® platform. For more information on pricing and availability, please see the APA Handbooks in Psychology institutional purchase page or contact us at quotes@apa.org.