InfoGuides: EDSP 6364: Legal Issues in Special Education: Databases

How to Use the Education Databases

Watch the video below to learn the tips and tricks of searching the education databases.

Start Here

Chronicle of Higher Education This link opens in a new window
Same-day access to the news, career, and research articles and notes published in the major trade journal for higher education. Includes contents of weekly print issue, and online news features. Special topics include faculty, students, research, athletics, money, and information technology. Basic search results will return articles that match any one or more of the terms entered. See Search tips below for information on narrowing search results.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: 1995-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to search a phrase, use a plus sign (+) to require a term, use a minus sign (-) to exclude a term, use a tilde (~) to search for synonyms.
ERIC (U.S. Dept. of Ed.) This link opens in a new window
Educational index of research documents, journal articles, technical reports, program descriptions and evaluations, and curricular materials. Consists of the print indexes Resources in Education (RIE) and the Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE)
Format: Citations, Coverage: 1966 - present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Default search is keyword, and assumes AND between search terms. * will match multiple characters anywhere after the first three characters in the word. Phrases should be enclosed in quotation marks. Supports Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT, . Advanced Search also allows searching by title, author, journal title, source intitution, and/or sponsoring agency
Gale General OneFile This link opens in a new window
Access to nearly 14,000 periodicals, newspapers, reference books, and multimedia sources, along with over 200,000 images, 3,300 audio files, and thousands of videos. Particularly useful for general reference queries, business searches, and current event research.
Gale OneFile: Educator's Reference Complete This link opens in a new window
More than 1,100 periodicals and 200 reports covering such educational specialties and topics as technology, bilingual education, health education, testing, administration, funding, and policy.

Other Databases with Important Content

Start your search with the words "Special education" (in quotation marks) and go from there.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Detailed full-text issue reports on topics in the news.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: CQResearcher: 1991-present; Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Supports Boolean AND, OR, and NOT. Also w/# for terms within # words of each other. Use quotation marks for phrase searching. Can specify search limited to title only, or to all text.
eBook Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Online collection of 200,000+ texts, fully viewable onscreen. Most of these ebboks can also be downloaded to a personal device. Most allow unlimited simultaneous users; each book's record in the database will indicate if there is any limit and, if so, whether it's been reached. Search by title, author, subject, and keyword, full-text, publisher, publication date and ISBN.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Mostly 1990 - present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to phrase search. Allows Boolean AND, OR and NOT searching. May limit to language and publication date.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google scholar is a specialized Google service that searches the web for journal articles, books, and other material that MAY be scholarly. Use the special link above for authenticated access to full text articles when off campus.
Format: , Coverage: Varies, mostly mid 1990s - present, Truncation and Wildcard: None and None, Search Tips: To search specifically for an author, use the format author:"j smith" or author:smith. The "Advanced Search Page" allows greater specificity. Words can be searched as exact phrase, without a specific word, in specific publications, with specified authors, and within a specified time frame. Google Scholar will also search within subject areas. Using a + in front of a common word (such as the, and, or) makes sure the term is included in the results. Using a - in front of a term excludes items containing the word.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
** Expanded access continues as we work to implement a new contract for JSTOR's new all-access model, which will provide access to all archival journals and primary source content. **

Back volumes for 2,890 journals from the very first issue but usually excluding the most current 2-5 years, though almost 100 with coverage through the most recent issue. General subject areas include art & architecture, Asian studies, botany, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, language & literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology and statistics.
Format: Majority full-text; some additional full-text via link resolver, Coverage: Dates vary with beginning date of journal., Truncation and Wildcard: + and ----, Search Tips: Boolean commands are supported. Use quotation marks to search keywords as a phrase.
SpringerLink This link opens in a new window
Primarily scientific journals, with particular emphasis on mathematics, physics and engineering. Publisher is European, so some journals are not in English. Contains about 1,200 peer-reviewed journals.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies, mid 1990s - present., Truncation and Wildcard: No and No, Search Tips: Default choice in advanced search is citation, so switch to articles by text tab to keyword search. Dropdown menu allows searching by All Words, AExact Phrase or Boolean Search. Search is by Author, Title, Abstract (including title), or Full-text (including title and abstract). Select Recency or Relevancy to sort results. To search by publication dates, or specific publication names, click the button labeled Show Advanced Options. Also browseable by publication, by publisher, or by online library (broad subjects such as chemical sciences, computer science, economics, etc.)
Taylor & Francis Online This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full-text database with an international perspective. Numerous specialized journals especially in education, social and behavioral sciences, communication, and business, but also otherwise across the arts and humanities, physical and life sciences, health sciences, and engineering, More than 1400 journals are available.
Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies by title, many are 1997 to present, Truncation and Wildcard: Select 'stemming' and n/a, Search Tips: Be sure to check 'Only content I have full access to' to limit to items immediately available in full-text.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Westlaw simplifies your starting point for legal research. Try Westlaw's new interface for searching and accessing case law, US Code Annotated, statutes, court rules, regulations, and secondary sources including law reviews and journals as well as reference materials.