Tag: APA PsycNet

Webinar Alert: Tour the New APA PsycNET Interface

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

Please join us for a brief tour of the redesigned APA PsycNET® platform, which will launch in mid-July!

This 30-minute webinar will highlight the contemporary new “look and feel” of the APA PsycNET search platform and other changes. Highlights include:

  • Technology upgrade: A new cloud-based environment and other behind-the-scenes infrastructure improvements for enhanced system performance, reliability, and search precision
  • Responsive design: Improved content rendering and functionality across all devices, including mobile
  • Content discovery: Addition of a new “Related Content” section providing links to up to 25 similar items, and options to explore trending topics
  • Search tools: Addition of the “Test Lookup” tool, enhanced access to the integrated APA Thesaurus, and platform-wide access to your recent searches

This overview is intended for anyone who uses APA PsycNET through an institutional or personal subscription, including librarians, students, researchers, and professionals.

Register for a session using one of the links below (Note: All times are Eastern Daylight Time / UTC-4):

For more information about using APA PsycNET, see our YouTube playlist of APA Databases on APA PsycNET.

Webinar Alert: Touring the New PsycTHERAPY Interface

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

The American Psychological Association updated the interface for its PsycTHERAPY database in June 2017.

This webinar provides a tour of the new interface including:

  • Navigation through the site
  • Video commands
  • Creating Clips
  • Making and editing Playlists
  • Creating Bookmarks

July 13, 2017, 2:00 – 2:30 pm EDT — http://apadatabases.adobeconnect.com/psyctherapy1/event/registration.html

July 25, 2017, 4:00 – 4:30 pm EDT — http://apadatabases.adobeconnect.com/psyctherapyii/event/registration.html

 

We also have a short video tour of PsycTHERAPY’s new interface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbt4tkfYFFk

 

Additional information about PsycTHERAPY is available at http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psyctherapy/index.aspx

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 ALA Midwinter 2017 Lunch & Learn

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

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 our SlideShare account.

We recently presented our Lunch & Learn training session at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting & Exhibition. During the session, we reviewed PsycTESTS®, an extensive collection of psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other instruments. Over 42,000 tests are represented in the database, and a full or partial version of the measure is available for about 50% of them.

PsycTESTS is a wonderful resource for students learning to conduct measures, or researchers developing their own tests. In addition, many of the tests included can be used for non-commercial research and educational purposes, which includes general clinical use. (For more information, see our post How Permissions Work in PsycTESTS.)

During our session at ALA Midwinter, we reviewed the record structure of PsycTESTS, which is very different from a database like PsycINFO®. In PsycINFO, one article is represented by one record, which contains information about the article, taken from the article itself. In PsycTESTS, a test can be represented by multiple records, which contain information about the test, taken from a source document. A source document is typically a journal article, book chapter, technical report, or dissertation.

Visual representation of PsycTESTS record structure at http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psyctests

A visual representation of the record structure for PsycTESTS.

 

Every test in PsycTESTS is represented by a Test Master Record, which displays basic information about the test. You’ll also see either a Test Development Record or a Test Primary Data Record, which provide additional information about the test.

  • The Test Master Record provides basic information about the instrument and links to other records, which contain information from source documents, such as a journal article or book chapter:
    • Test Development Record: provides information describing the development of the measure
    • A Primary Data Record is provided for commercial tests, or tests with no source document (for example, a historical test)

A small number of tests will have an additional record or records:

    • Test Use Record: provides information describing a new use of the measure (for example, an article that reports on using a test developed for adults with children)
    • Test Review Record: provides information about an evaluation of the measure

The way these records are connected, and how they interact with one another, varies widely depending on how you access PsycTESTS: via APA PsycNET®, EBSCOhost, Ovid, or ProQuest. To see what a PsycTESTS record looks like on your platform, take a look at the slides from our Lunch & Learn. You’ll also find some sample search scenarios for PsycTESTS.

The presentation also included an overview of incorporating APA Style CENTRAL® into your teaching, and a look at some new and forthcoming publications.

Related Resources:

A “Getting Started with PsycTESTS” guide is available for each of the major vendor platforms. This handout demonstrates the various fields and features in PsycTESTS. To download or link to this resource, visit our Search Guides page.

Setting up a PsycTESTS Search

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

topPsycTESTS® is a research database that provides information on tests mined from the scholarly literature in PsycINFO®. Nearly 40,000 unique tests are represented in PsycTESTS, organized into 15 instrument types and 30 classifications.

There are a number of ways to search for a test, including the author name, keywords, test name, or test construct. (A construct is the concept the test is measuring, such as Confidence or Anxiety.)

PsycTESTS also includes limits, or controlled lists of values, that can be set before you run the search, toward the bottom of the advanced search page, or after you run the search, along the side of the search results page. These limits include:

  • Administration Method – how the test is given to participants, such as Paper or Interview.
  • Fee – indicates whether or not there is a fee for test use.
  • Instrument Type – the primary testing category of the instrument, such as Checklist or Task.
  • Permissions – the level of permissions needed in order to use a test. The Permissions statement may grant use for non-commercial research and teaching, or it may specify who to contact to obtain these permissions.
  • Supporting Documentation – supporting documentation types, such as instructor guide or answer sheet.

These next three limits may seem familiar from PsycINFO:

  • Age Group – specific population age groups that were the focus of the test.
  • Population Group – populations to which the test was administered. Possible values are Human, Animal, Male, Female, Inpatient and Outpatient.
  • PsycTESTS Classification – the general area of psychology that the measure is designed to assess, such as Human-Computer Interaction or Personality. (The PsycTESTS Classification system was created using the same principles behind the PsycINFO Classification Codes, but the codes and descriptors are different for these databases.)

There is also a Full Text Test Available checkbox that limits your search to records that have the PDF of the test attached to the descriptive record.

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Opening a record from the search results takes you to the Test Master Record, which provides a profile and descriptive summary of the test.

Test Master Records have one or more Test Child Records that include information related to the test’s development, use, or review.

Child records may be:

  • Test Development: discusses the development of the test. You’ll see this for most of the tests in the database.
  • Test Review: reviews the test – this is available for a small percentage of the tests.
  • Test Use: reports on a new use of the test – for example, a researcher may have taken a test designed for adults and administered it to teenagers. This is also available for a small percentage of tests.

For more detailed information for your platform – APA PsycNET®, EBSCOhost, Ovid or ProQuest – please view our presentation on SlideShare.

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