IST 605: Makerspaces 101

Database Tips:

• Use advanced search features when available
  • Advanced searching allows for more precise searches, saves time, and improves the quality of information retrieved
• Use boolean operators in your search
  • use "AND" to narrow your search and retrieved records containing all of the keywords specified
    • e.g. "makerspace AND STEAM"
  • use "OR" to broaden your search and retrieve results containing any of the keywords
    • e.g. "Makerspaces OR fablabs OR hackerspaces"
  • use "NOT" to exclude a particular keyword from your search
    • e.g. "makerspaces NOT academic libraries"
  • The order of boolean operators matter!
• To search for an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the phrase
• Field searching can allow for you to specify the part of the record in which your search term should appear. Using the advanced search feature, you can select the desired field from the dropdown menu next to the search bar.
  • Common search fields include author, title, abstract, subject, and publication date
  • e.g. If you wanted to search for results by a specific author then you would type the author's name into the search bar and select the author search field using the drop down menu located next to the search bar
• Truncation searches can be used to find results using all possible endings of a root word
  • e.g. "educat*" will retrieve results involving educate, education, educators, educational, etc.
• Look at the publication date, keep your resources as current as possible

Academic Search Ultimate is a scholarly, multidisciplinary database that includes more than 9,000 full text periodicals (over 7,900 are peer reviewed) in the fields of social sciences, humanities, science, and technology. This database contains coverage from 1990 to present day as well as some resources indexed as early as 1887. Academic Search Ultimate is updated daily. The vendor for this database is EBSCO.

• A help module for EBSCO databases is located here.

With coverage from 1966 to present day, Educational Administration Abstracts contains over 200 journals published within the United States and several Western European countries on issues and topics related to primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational programs and facilities as well as all areas of educational administration, including educational leadership, educational management, and educational research. This database is updated twice a month but is not offered in full text. The vendor of this database is EBSCO.

• A help module for this database is available here.

Education Source includes full text for more than 1,700 journals, 550 books and monographs, education-related conference papers, book reviews, and over 100,000 controlled and cross-referenced names of educational tests. Education Source covers information from early childhood to higher education including information on topics such as but not limited to adult education, distance learning, social issues, student counseling, makerspaces, government funding, and continuing education. The vendor of this database is EBSCO and this database is updated daily.

• A help module for this database is available here.

Providing coverage from 1966 to present day, ERIC or the Educational Resources Information Center provides access to education literature and resources in the Current Index of Journal in Education (CIJE) and Resources in Education (RIE). ERIC provides access to the full text of more than 2,200 digests and more than 1,000 educational and education-related journals. This source is updated quarterly and its vendor is EBSCO.

• Here is a link for a tutorial of advanced searching using EBSCO.
• The help module for the database is located here.

Google Scholar offers access to various articles, papers, books, theses, and more within a number of different fields of study. This database is updated daily. There are some limitations of Google Scholar that should be considered when using this source. First, Google Scholar does not provide criteria on what they consider "scholarly" so resources found on Google Scholar may vary in quality making it extremely important that the user is reviewing and evaluating the resources for its accuracy, quality, and authority. Secondly, users should be aware that they may come across articles or e-books that they might be prompted to purchase. It is important that the user knows that they should not be paying for any resources and instead can check to see if their library contains a subscription to the database or journal that the resource is published in.

• For help using Google Scholar, click here.

Coverage from 1968 to present day, INSPEC is the world's largest bibliographic database in the field of physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control engineering, and information technology. INSPEC has selected full text and is updated daily.

• For help searching in INSPEC, click here.

Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text or LISTA includes access to full text indexes of more than 550 core journals, 50 priority journals, and almost 125 selective journals. This database also contains full text for over 270 journals and nearly full text for an additional 20 journals. LISTA includes coverage on subjects such as automation, care and restoration of books, cataloging, censorship, circulation procedures, classification, copyright, electronic searching, government aid, library equipment and supplies, publishing, rare books, reference services, librarianship, online information retrieval, information management, and more. This database includes selected resources from 1965 and is updated every two weeks. The vendor for this database is EBSCO.

• A help module for EBSCO databases is located here.
• A video tutorial for basic searching on EBSCO databases is located here.

Coverage from 1967 to present day, PsycINFO provides access to international literature in psychology and related behavioral and social sciences including psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, education, pharmacology, and linguistics. PsycINFO provides full text and is updated weekly. The vendor of PsycINFO is ProQuest.

• A user guide is located here. (There are helpful videos located at the bottom)
• An advanced search help module is located here.