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TIPS & STRATEGIES
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1) Use the Descriptors that the Database Suggests
    FACT - Databases have their own tags. E.g. LibCat uses personnel management instead of human resource
    management. ERIC suggests family work relationship instead of work and life balance.

    STRATEGY- Start with your own words. From the result, select the best article. Use its descriptors to search
    again.

2) Use * Truncation Character
    FACT - A word may have different variants. E.G. theory, theories, theorist, & theoretical. If you want to
    include all of them into one search, take the root and truncate the search term.

    STRATEGY - theor* and personnel management  [ Note: Other commonly used ones-  !, ? ]

3) How Do I Know If It is Scholarly?
    FACT - Most databases provide limiters or filters to allow you to limit results to those scholarly sources.

    STRATEGY - i) Do a general search first, and then apply the filters, and ii) Use ulrichsweb.com

4) Search by Title
    FACT - Most databases provide search by Title. Title search is one of most EFFECTIVE ways to increase
    search relevancy. Rationale: if an article carries the search term in its title, it is most likely it is about
    the interested topic.

    STRATEGY - Do a general search first. Then switch it to Title field search.

5) Five Ways to Get Full-text Copies
    FACT - there are many ways to get a text copy of the article.

    STRATEGY- i) The article has a full text link, ii) Use the database's full text filter, iii) A "find text@tamu"
    link is available, iv) The Library has the journals in print. Use GET IT to get a PDF copy, and V) Use GET IT
    to borrow it from another library.
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I.   LIBRARY WEBSITES - http://library.tamu.edu/

     Books & More - LibCat's quick search.
     Articles - Searching against a group of databases. [To select the Education databases, click Articles >More
     Options> EDUCATION]
     E-Journals - Type in a journal name
     Databases (recommended) - Type in a database name

II. KEY SERVICES POINTS

     Subject / Class guides - Subject guides with recommended databases.
     Chat - Live chat with a librarian online.
     Get it - Interlibrary loan service or ask the Library to scan a journal article in print and email you the PDF.
     Writing Help - University Writing Center for student writing assistance on Evans Library's 2nd floor

III. FINDING BOOKS  -   http://libcat.tamu.edu
         
     Examples:
   - education research: fundamentals for the consumer   (keyword Title search)
   - personnel management AND theor?     ["theor?" will retrieve theory, theories, theoretical, etc]
   - employee retention   (keyword)

    Useful subject terms   [Note - Select "Subject Heading Keyword Search" under Search Type]
    Personnel management, Personnel management --Research --Methodology, Major Education
     Human Resource Development,  Personnel management --Handbooks, manuals, 
     Employees – Recruiting, Employees --Training of --Handbooks, manuals, Employee retention,
     organizational change     

    Reference Materials at TAMU Libraries:
  - Handbook of human resource management practice
  - The human resources program-evaluation handbook
  - Frontline HR: a handbook for the emerging manager

IV. FINDING ARTICLES

    Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)
    Multi-disciplinary full-text database including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. Contains full text for nearly
    4000 scholarly publication. Index coverage back to 1965

    Examples:
    Start with work and life balance> switch it to  work-balance relationship recommended> Select
     Scholarly (Peer-reviewed) Journals > Select Full Text

    Start with work and life balance > switch it to  work-balance relationship recommended by the
    database >add polic* From "Select a field, selet [Ti- Title]
 
    ERIC  (Ebsco) 1966-   
    An excellent education database

    Examples:
    World and life balance            [ERIC suggests work family relationship]
     human resource development OR hrd AND Evaluation methods  
                                 
    Education Full-Text (Wilson) 1982-  
    Abstracted coverage since 1994 and full text coverage since 1996. 

    Example:  career development AND theor*       

    ABI/Inform (ProQuest) 1971- 
    Business periodicals covering management, human resources, organizational behavior, managerial
    economics, information systems, telecommunications, and more. Full text begins in the mid-1980’s. 

     Examples:
     organizational research [limited to “document title”]
     design* w/4 intervention*  [citation & abstract]
     organization development and theor* 

    Business Source Complete [Ebsco] -    
    Management, marketing, economics, finance and accounting and more.  
 
    Example:  - personnel management   [TIPS: then limit it to “academic journals”]  

    Google Scholar    
    Example:     employee turnover
  
    TIPS:
    1) It will find both books and articles
    2) Results will be ranked by the number of citations, an indicator of their impact.
    3) Also use the citations to find the related articles
    3) Key authors  [placed at the bottom]
    4) Use the "fulltext@tamu" link to get articles or books from the library's databases]