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Finding Books

Reference books are good for getting background information on topics and for finding bibliographies -- lists of relevant books and articles. Looking through reference books may help you define your topic more clearly and help you focus in on what interests you about your topic the most.

Some Online Reference Books:

Virtual Reference Library: Education

Some Print Reference Books:

The following are some of the reference titles available. Browse the call number range REF L 100 - REF LC 5000 for additional ones.

Encyclopedia of Associations READY REF AS22 4704 .E5 2007 (by Reference Desk)
CQ Researcher 2005: No Child Left Behind REF H 35 .C672 2005
CQ Researcher 2000: Special Education REF H 35 .C672 2000
Education (Opposing Viewpoints) REF LA 217.2 .E37 2005
Clashing Views on Controversial Educational Issues REF LA 217.2 .T35 2001
Encyclopedia of Education REF LB 15 .E47 2003
Encyclopedia of Educational Research REF LB 15 .E48 1992
Encyclopedia of American Education REF LB 17 .U54 2007
The Praeger Handbook of Latino Education in the U.S. REF LB 17 .U54 2007
Has No Child Left Behind Been Good for Education? REF LB 2806.22 .H37 2008
Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education REF LC 3707 .E523 2008
Bilingual Education (At Issue) REF LC 3731.B5517 2008
Encyclopedia of Special Education REF LC 4007 .E53 2007
Learning Disabilities (Contemporary Issues Companion) REF LC 4704 .L394 2004

Other Books

Use our Online Catalog and the I-Share Catalog to locate circulating books, other reference books, government documents, and audiovisual items. You will need the 14-digit barcode from your student ID to order books through I-Share. Allow 3 days for books to arrive.

You may find additional government documents in GPO Access: Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Books or government documents that can't be found in I-Share can often be obtained through ILLiad.

Searching for Articles in Databases

Search in these databases for journal articles on your topic:

 ERIC (citations and some full text of articles on education)
Professional Development Collection (abstracts and some full-text of articles for educators)
Current Contents (citations and abstracts of articles in the natural and social sciences)
ArticleFirst (citations of scholarly articles)
JSTOR (full text of scholarly articles across a range of disciplines)
Project Muse (full text of scholarly articles across a range of disciplines)
PsycINFO (citations and some full text of articles from the field of psychology)
SocIndex (citations and some full text of scholarly articles from sociology)
Academic Search Premier (citations and some full text for articles across a range of disciplines)

For newspaper or popular magazine articles:

(Academic) Lexis-Nexis (full-text)
Chicago Tribune (full-text)
America's News Magazines (full-text)

Retrieving an actual article through a database that contains some or no full-text articles:

If there is an HTML or PDF full text link right in the database you have searched in, click on the link, which will open up a window with the article. Then print or, in some cases, email or save the article.

If there is not a full-text link right there, this database does not have the full text of the article. HOWEVER, you may still be able to access the article, even by just a few clicks. Click on "Find It--Check Lake Forest College."  The article may be
  • in another database that the Library has. If the window that opens has a "Full text may be available via" link, click on it to try to go to the full text of the article.
  • in a print copy of the journal that the Library owns. If the window that opens has a "May be owned in print" link, click on it to open a new window leading to the journal's Library catalog entry to see if the Library owns the print version of the appropriate issue.
  • obtainable through interlibrary loan. If the window that opens has a "Request article via Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad)" link, click on it to open a new window that allows you to request the item.

For additional databases and articles, go to the Library's list of Databases. For passwords, call the reference desk at x5074.

Finding additional book or article citations:
Google Scholar

Relevant Library Journals

See a list of relevant journals by looking at our journal categories. Click on Subject Area, and then choose Arts and Humanities as a category and Education and Careers as a subcategory.

Relevant Web Sites

Frontline: Testing Our Schools
National Education Association (NEA): Issues and Action
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Hot Topics

Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE): ED.gov (US Department of Education): Internet Public Library: Associations on the Net

Sometimes useful information can be found on the Internet with a search engine such as Google. Using Google: Advanced Search can often generate more relevant results.

Be sure to evaluate any resulting website carefully. Read the content of the website thoughtfully. Consider--among other characteristics--authority (the authors of the website and their qualifications), objectivity, accuracy, currency, and presentation.