Research and Instruction Services
Sources for H-396: Research Experience in Risk and Prevention: Childhood Focus

• Encyclopedias and Handbooks
• Finding Books
• Finding Articles
• Finding Statistics
• Using Google
• Finding Full Text of a Specific Article
• Accessing Books and Articles not Available at Harvard
• Research Consultations
• Writing Consultations
• Research Methods Consultations
• Ask Us

Encyclopedias and Handbooks

Subject encyclopedias and handbooks provide a solid overview and identify key scholars and works in a given field. Examples include the Cambridge encyclopedia of child development (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005) and the Encylopedia of applied developmental science (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005). Use the HOLLIS Catalog to find appropriate titles, or Ask Us for recommendations.

Finding Books

Use the HOLLIS Catalog to find books, journals, manuscripts, government documents, visual materials, data files, and more owned by the Harvard University Libraries. Note that while HOLLIS includes journal titles, it does not index the articles within them. Information on Finding Articles.

To research a topic in HOLLIS, use the "Expanded Search" link and enter relevant keywords in the search boxes. Be sure to enclose phrases (e.g. "early childhood") in quotation marks or click the "two-word phrase" radio button. Focus your search by combining terms for the two or three most important apects of your topic (e.g. "child abuse" AND "child development"). Once you find a relevant book, review the subject headings (located in the field labeled "Subject") to find other terms to use in additional searches.

Specialized topics may benefit from a look beyond Harvard's collections. WorldCat contains over 47 million records for books, journals, dissertations, and more owned by over 40,000 libraries (including Harvard). Information on Accessing Books and Articles not Available at Harvard.

Finding Articles

Use the following indexes to find scholarly journal articles and more by topic or author:

• Academic Search Premier — Multidisciplinary; covers about 4,700 journals and magazines
• Education Abstracts — Covers around 525 English-language education journals and yearbooks from 1983 —
• ERIC — Covers over 800 education-related journals, as well as conference papers, research reports, state, federal, and local education documents, and selected books
• Family and Society Studies Worldwide — Covers journals focusing on family and gender related topics from a wide range of social science disciplines
• PILOTS Database — Produced by the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, this database includes over 22,000 entries covering published international literature on traumatic stress
• PsycINFO — Covers over 1,800 psychology journals and dissertations in more than 24 languages; also includes book chapters and books in the English language
• PubMed — National Library of Medicine's index to medical journals
• Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) — Covers more than 1,725 journals across 50 social sciences disciplines. Use the "Cited Reference Search" option to find articles that cite a previously published work.
• Social Services Abstracts — Covers around 1600 journals and dissertations on social work and human services, including community and mental health services, social and health policy, and family and social welfare
• Sociological Abstracts — Covers more than 2,000 sociology-related journals; also covers selected books, dissertations, conference papers, and book reviews

Finding Statistics

Use the following sources to find statistics about children or early childhood education:

• Digest of education statistics
• ChildStats.gov — Data from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, a working group of Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families
• KIDS COUNT — National and state level data on children and families
• Statistical Abstract of the Unites States

Using Google

Search the open web for current government publications, academic working papers, association newsletters, conference proceedings, curriculum materials, and more. Many research centers such as the Harvard Family Research Project publish their research on the web. Google Scholar will find citations to scholarly articles, papers, and books, but it offers only a small fraction of what is available through library resources such as the journal article indexes listed above.

Finding Full Text of a Specific Article

Use Find It @ Harvard to locate online or print access for a specific article.

Accessing Books and Articles not Available at Harvard

Current HGSE students and staff may request books and photocopies of articles not owned by Harvard.

• Book Request Form
• Article Request Form

Research Consultations

Make a one-hour appointment with a librarian to:

• develop a research strategy
• identify and learn about relevant sources
• work on any research-related question, problem, or skill

To arrange a research consultation, contact the Reference Desk (617-495-3421/617-495-3422) or a Research and Instruction Services staff member.

Writing Consultations

Make an appointment with a writing coach to:

• define a research question
• organize the content of your paper
• review and revise drafts
• cite sources appropriately

To arrange a writing consultation, click on the "how to sign up for a writing consultation" link in the Gutman Library box of MyGSE.

Research Methods Consultations

Visit the Research Methods Services Web page for information about assistance with both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

For additional information or assistance, contact Gutman Library Research and Instruction Services (617-495-3421/3422 or reference@gse.harvard.edu) or stop by the Gutman Reference Desk.