Subject Guides: Education: Find resources

Books and Journals

Books are a great place to start your research. They contain useful summaries about what's happening in your field and can help you to establish the key theories and background of your research. As well as books specifically covering your subject, the Library also holds lots of titles to help you develop your study skills.

Books contain references to other resources that you can explore for more in-depth information when you have understood the basics.

Journals, sometimes called periodicals, are collections of articles published regularly. Articles contain the most-up-to-date research content and often go into more depth than books. They are a fantastic source of criticism and discussion of research.

How to find them

Use YorSearch, the Library catalogue. Some books will be available as e-books that you can access online from anywhere; look for the Electronic resource link in YorSearch..

Each of your modules will have a reading list of suggested books and all of your core or essential readings should be available for you to access online.

Many of the books you need will be located in the K section of the Library for Education, although you may also need to look elsewhere.

If you know the name of the journal you need, you can search for it in YorSearch. Most journals can be accessed online by logging in with your University username and password; look for the Full text available link. Some will also be available in print in the Library.

Official Publications

The Department for Education was formed in May 2010 and is the official government department reponsible for education (excluding Higher Education) and children's services. Their website provides details of Official Education Statistics in the UK.

Useful websites for teachers

These websites will be especially useful for students on PGCE programmes and are of interest to anyone wishing to keep up to date with issues relating to teaching and learning in schools.

ASCD.org
The ASCD website provides access to a whole range of resources and information relating to teaching, learning and educational leadership.
BBC Education
The Glossary of Education Reform
An online resource describing widely used school improvement terms and concepts.
The Guardian - Education
Sec Ed.
A website dedicated to secondary education. Provides access to blogs, best practice and news articles.
The TES
Provides access to news, educational materials and jobs for teachers.
UK Government - Education, training and skills
You can sign up for updates related to education, training and skills on this page.

Department of Education New Publications

The Department for Education run a number of RSS feeds from the latest news to the latest statistical releases. This is the feed for new publications:

Legislation, Past and Present

See the Law Subject Guide for full details of searching for legal sources.

Quick links:

For current UK legislation in education, start with a search on Westlaw UK:

You may also find it helpful to look at this free online site: Legislation Online

For past legislation, search Justis:

Theses and Dissertations

Information about theses is available on the main Library website.

All University PhD and MPhil theses are available via YorSearch. Masters theses for some subjects are held in the Library for 6 years.

All York research students registered in or after October 2009 are required to upload their theses into White Rose eTheses Online , a shared online respository for doctoral level theses from the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds.

You can also access theses from outside the University:

British Library EThOS Service
The British Library's electronic online theses service. Free access to over 400,000 full-text theses from UK universities.
Proquest Dissertations and Theses - UK & Ireland
A comprehensive listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland since 1716.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Use for searching for international theses.

Databases

To start a more detailed search for articles and other research evidence, you'll need to use online databases. These are collections of resources that allow you to search for articles from hundreds of different journals at the same time.

Key databases for Education

British Education Index (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
The British Education Index provides information on research, policy and practice in education and training in the UK. Strengths include aspects of educational policy and administration, evaluation and assessment, technology and special educational needs. It covers all aspects of education from preschool to higher education. Sources include education and training journals, mostly published in the UK, plus conference papers and internet grey literature. Some international literature is included.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

Accessibility information
ERIC (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
The ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature. ERIC provides ready access to education literature to augment American education by increasing and facilitating the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research. ERIC provides coverage of journal articles, conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs. The database is updated monthly.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

Accessibility information
Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,500 serials publications, and also abstracts of books, book chapters, and dissertations. The database is updated monthly.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

Accessibility information

Additional Education related databases

OECD iLibrary Education Statistics This link opens in a new window
This database contains an up-to-date selection of comparative education statistics and indicators from OECD and non-OECD countries. It provides information on the human and financial resources invested in education, on access to, progression and completion of education, on how education and learning systems operate, and on the returns on educational investments.

For the Education at a Glance annual reports please see the entry for OECD iLibrary Education Books.

IRIS Repository
IRIS is the digital repository of second language research instruments. Search, download and adapt materials for your own research

Other useful databases

Anthropological Index Online This link opens in a new window
Index to current periodicals in the Museum of Mankind Library (incorporating the former Royal Anthropological Institute library).
ASSIA (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
ASSIA (Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts) indexes around 650 English language social science journals. Subject coverage includes social services, health, employment, ethnic studies, education, criminology, and related areas.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

Accessibility information
Box of Broadcasts (BoB) This link opens in a new window
You will need to register for an account the first time that you access Box of Broadcasts.

Please note that you may only access and use Box of Broadcasts in the United Kingdom..
Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an on demand TV and radio service for education. Users can record programmes from over 65 free-to-air channels and access an extensive archive of programmes already available. Users can also create clips from programmes and compile playlists.

Please note that you may only access and use BoB in the United Kingdom.

For help with this resource, take a look at the BoB FAQs.

Accessibility information
Digital Theatre Plus This link opens in a new window
Provides an insight into theatre from production to performance through access to streaming video. The material in Digital Theatre Plus includes:

- Productions (high-definition films of leading British theatre productions).
- Behind-the-scenes documentaries and interviews with professional theatre makers.
- Study guides written by practitioners and academics.
- Teaching support demonstrating practical techniques.
- Curated collections of filmed performance from around the world.

Accessibility information
Emerald Journals This link opens in a new window
Gives access to the full text of over 100 Emerald titles covering management, library and information management, applied science and technology.

Accessibility information
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
For alumni access please the Virtual Library JSTOR section on Alumni Learning.
A digital archive collection of core scholarly journals starting with the first issues (many of which date from the 1800s). See JSTOR's online help guide for further information.

Accessibility information
Nexis This link opens in a new window
Personalisation is available via the link above.

Alternative link without personalisation if you have problems with the link above (please clear the cookies and cache in your browser): Nexis.
Nexis is a major source of global news and business information. It provides full-text access to over 34,000 publications, with more than 12,000 news sources including UK daily and regional newspapers, current affairs magazines, and professional journals. Updated daily; back issues archive varies by title.

Nexis also includes 80 sources of company information, plus thousands of biographies of government officials, politicians, celebrities, investors and business contacts.

Accessibility information
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Linguistics This link opens in a new window
An up-to-date and authoritative guide to the literature across a wide range of topics relevant to the study of linguistics. Sources covered include journal articles, reference works, monographs, book chapters, glossaries and data sources.

Accessibility information
Oxford English Dictionary Online This link opens in a new window
For access off-campus select the Sign in through your institution option on the OED site.
Search on words, definitions, etymology and quotations. The OED Online contains the complete text of the 20-volume Second Edition, first published in 1989, together with later additions. New and revised entries are added every quarter.

Accessibility information
Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
A fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of over 100 dictionaries, companions, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Accessibility information
PsycINFO (Ovid) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
PsycINFO is the American Psychological Association's bibliographic database. PsycINFO contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports, as well as citations to dissertations, all in the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines. Journal coverage includes international material selected from more than 1,900 periodicals written in over 35 languages. Current chapter and book coverage includes worldwide English-language material published from 1987-present. Over 80,000 references are added annually through weekly updates.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Personalisation options are available via the link above.

Alternative link without personalisation if you have problems with the link above (please clear the cookies and cache in your browser): Scopus.
An abstracting, indexing and citation database covering peer-reviewed research literature and web sources in the natural sciences and medicine, social sciences, arts and humanities.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.
For help using this resource for bibliometrics see Bibliometrics: a practical guide.
For further information about Scopus metrics see Elsevier's Research Metrics Guidebook.

Accessibility information
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science provides access to the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

For help using this resource for bibliometrics see Bibliometrics: a practical guide.

Accessibility information

Conference papers

British Educational Research Association (BERA)
Includes details of the annual BERA education conference.
Guardian Education: Conferences
Information from the Guardian Newspaper (UK) about conferences in the fields of education, together with general links to education sources.

Statistics

All of the online data collections which the Library subscribes to are listed on the E-resources Guide Datasets and Statistics list.

Other useful websites

Advance HE Knowledge Hub
Brings together thousands of higher education resources in one place.
Higher Education Policy Institute
Independent think tank that promotes Higher Education policy debate.
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Produces Higher Education statistics that are published as open data.
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)
Independent charity working to maintain quality and standards in Higher Education. Website provides access to reports and subject benchmarks.
Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)
UK based learned society that aims to advance understanding of Higher Education through systematic research and scholarship.
Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA)
The professional association for staff and educational developers in the UK, promoting innovation and good practice in higher education.

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