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Search Engines (e.g. Google Scholar) |
Databases (e.g. APA PsycInfo) |
|---|---|
| Algorithms | Experts organize content |
| Keywords - consider all synonyms | Searchable indexed citations |
| Predatory journals | Experts collect quality subject-specific or interdisciplinary journals |
| Includes non-peer-reviewed | Limits easy to apply |
If you decide to use the library rather than a search engine like Google Scholar, start on the library homepage.
Then, see the box below. **NOTE - it has multiple tabs within the box! Be sure to check out:
Everything on the bottom left of the page are tutorials.
Click on the subject the most closely matches your program. For example, if you are in CMHC, click Counseling/Counselling (spelled twice since our Canadian campus has different spellings from our U.S. campus). You'll find a drop-down list which includes your program. Your program guide will provide various helpful hints & information for using the library at Adler University.
At the top of the homepage (below any alerts) you'll find a search box linked to the Adler Catalog.
This will allow you to search for books, book chapters, and videos.
Please review the tutorial on using our Catalog.
If you live in or near Illinois, you can borrow books through I-Share. Over 85 academic libraries are part of a consortium which exchanges physical books with each other, including some of the larger state schools, such as University of Illinois. Please go to to the guide below to set up an account and learn how to borrow books through I-Share.
There are two ways to find a journal article. The first is if you already know the citation. To find an article if you know in which journal it was published, see the previous tab in tis box: Catalog & Journal titles.
If you are looking for articles on a topic, go to Databases on the library homepage. Go ahead and do that now to see the list of all the databases we have.
Notice that we do not have a single search. This is not to put you through pain! Many students ask if we have EBSCO. We do not have the single search you're remembering from previous institutions. However, we do have scores of databases, some of which do use the familiar EBSCOhost interface.
We purposefully do not have a single search. This is because databases have wonderful tools which help you search efficiently and effectively. While a single search will always retrieve some results, they might not be the best results. At a graduate level, it is important that you are able to find the best results, which does mean using the best database for your topic. One way to find the best database is to start on your subject guide (see the box on this tab to "Subject Guides/Tutorials") where you'll find several databases I've curated for your program. A few to note:
For many of you, your papers will relate to counseling/psychology. So most of the time, you will start in PsycINFO.
Have you used Academic Search Complete before? It's great if your topic is multi-disciplinary. However, since it covers everythign from geography to math to social sciences, it can actually be too broad and miss some of the specialized articles for your topic.
ERIC is deals with education so it's helpful for any topic dealing with children, the education system, and/or trainings.
Some of our databases are of videos, not articles. These databases can be great if you want to add a short clip into a class presentation, for example.
For any topics related to gender issues: anyone along the gender continuum; heternormativity; how genders relate.
Many of your topics will overlap with sociology, so check out SocINDEX:
Check your specific program's Library Guide for more specific databases for your program.
The next tab, STEP 4: Navigate Databases will teach you how to effectively search in our databases.