Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

I. Searching for a book in the reference room

The Reference Room’s books are organized by subject categories. To determine the
category where a reference book would be classified under, look at the list posted on the
door of room 118 labeled “Library of Congress Classification Schedules.”

For example, to find reference books on psychology, look at the list and determine where
“psychology” would fit in. You can find reference books on “psychology” in the sections:
“B-BJ” and “RJ”.

Here are some reference books that will help you in your research:
• International Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis &
Neurology – multi-volumes (REF RC334 I57)
• APA Dictionary of Psychology (REF BF 31 A65)
• Handbook of Psychology – multi-volumes (REF BF 121 H1955)

I highly recommend scanning the following resources. These are located in the index
area.
• Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (REF Z 695.1 P7 T48 1997)
• Psychological Abstracts – multi-volumes

II. To access the library’s resources if you are off campus:

Go to the library home page http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary and directly to the

library databases (like PsychInfo). Enter your Blackboard username and password.

III. Searching for a book in the catalog from the Minuteman Library Network
http://library.minlib.net/search~S15

To conduct a subject or keyword search, enter a phrase in the search box and select
“subject” or “keyword” and “Framingham State College” in the drop down menus. To
search for books in other libraries, select “All locations” instead of Framingham State
College.

For example, here’s a keyword search to find books on “plagiarism”.

Once you find a book, write down the call number to help you find the book in the
library.
Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).
 Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

All full-time and part-time Framingham State College students can borrow books from
the Whittemore Library, as well as other libraries within the Minuteman Library
Network. Day and evening students must register with the library to activate the student
ID barcode or student ID number. Borrowing privileges will expire when the student and
are no longer affiliated with the college.

I recommend that you do not limit your search only to Framingham State College. You
can always request a book from another library within Minuteman Library Network.
Usually books requested from the network are received within the week. You can also
order books from the Virtual Catalog, and the WorldCat database. These requests take
more time to process.

Once you register your library card, you are able to request books and articles through
interlibrary loan (ILL). You can request a book or article through interlibrary loan at
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/illform.htm.Your request might take more than two
weeks to fulfill. Please contact Neil Conrad at 508.626.4690 for questions on ILL.

IV. Searching for Scholarly Articles:

For a listing of all of our research databases, go to the A to Z list on the library webpage.
If you are off campus, you must authenticate by entering your network account.
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/finding/articles.htm

You will find relevant articles in the following library databases:

• PsychInfo
• PsycArticles
• Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
• PsycCritiques

(If an article is available online in a FirstSearch database, it will prompt you for a full text
password. The password is fsc.)

Searching in EBSCO’s Psychology Databases

Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).
 Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

When you get some results, select articles by “adding them to a folder”.

Open the folder icon at the top of the page once you have selected the articles. In the
folder view, select the articles that you would like to print, email, export, or save.

Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).
 Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

To find out how an article is cited, select the title of the article and select this icon.

EBSCO formats the article in a number of citation styles:

If you come across a bibliography that contains citations and would like to view any of
the articles online, enter the name of the journal in the Full Text Journal Finder.
(http://pj8tr3fm5l.search.serialssolutions.com/)
Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).
 Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

If the journal is available online, the results will list the research databases that contain
full text articles of the journal.

If an article is not available full-text, you can check to see if the library carries it in print
(http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/finding/periodicals_subj.htm). For questions on
our print journals, please contact Deb Hogan, periodicals supervisor, at
dhogan@frc.mass.edu.

V. Searching for scholarly articles in Google Scholar

Go to the library homepage and select the link A to Z List of Databases. Go to the
GoogleScholar link. On the GoogleScholar page, go to the link Scholar Preferences and
make sure that Framingham State College is listed as a preferred library.

Also select RefWorks as a preferred Biblographic Manager:

When creating a search in GoogleScholar, you do not need to link terms by “and” for
example: cyberbullying MySpace
Further instructions here: http://library.fscmedia.com/2008/02/16/try-google-scholar/

VI. Other suggestions:

When you are ready to cite your resources for your paper, a great resource is the Duke
University Libraries – Citing Resources page: http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/.
You can house your citations and format your bibliography through the citation
management software called RefWorks. For information on RefWorks, go here:
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/instruction/RefWorksCentral.htm

Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).
 Research Methods: Guide to Library Resources and Services

Check out the Psychology E-Resources guide to help you in a selection of a resource:
http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/finding/psych_resources.html

You have access to the pdf of APA’s Style Guide to Electronic References. Instructions on
how to view the guide are here: http://www.framingham.edu/wlibrary/instruction/apa.htm

Please post a message in the “Ask A Librarian” forum, if you have questions on any
aspect of research.

Questions? Post your questions in the “Ask A Librarian” forum on the Discussion Board
or email (reference@frc.mass.edu) or call us at (508.626.4653).