Developmental Psychology
Essential Sources for Your Project
PsycINFO
The most important index to the literature of psychology. PsycINFO contains bibliographic references and summaries of the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines. Produced by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO provides access to books, book chapters, journal articles, dissertations, and technical reports.
PsycINFO uses search terms defined in the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.
Currently, we provide access to PsycINFO via CSA which searches all PsycINFO journal, book and chapter records from 1840 to present. Links are included for the full text of APA journals covered by PsycArticles.
You will want to consult the guide to fields in PsycINFO records in order to take advantage of the advanced features. You should also consult the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (RRef. [q.] Z695.1.P7 T48 2001) or use the online Thesaurus Search. See the "Searching PsycInfo on CSA" guide for more information.
PsycArticles
Full-text articles dating from 1985 to the present from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe & Huber. PsycArticles is searchable in a number of different ways, including by authors' names, by words from the titles of articles, by words from the titles of journals, and by keywords (words from the article title, abstract, or the full-text). Thesaurus searching is not available. Click on the Browse button to scan the titles available.
Don't stop with these sources--you may also need to consult the databases listed below under Finding Articles.
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Additional Sources for Your Research over the Term
Encyclopedias and DictionariesAPA Dictionary of Psychology.
A good source for brief definitions of unfamiliar terms.
Ref. BF31 .A63 2007
Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. 1994. 4 vols.
Intended for use by both students and research professionals. Articles on "all aspects of human behavior... " Bibliographies follow articles. Volume 4 includes an index.
Ref. [q.] BF31 .E5 1994
Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2000. 8 vols.
Entries are alphabetically arranged and cover both subject and biographical information. Many entries include a short list of references, although you need to turn to the bibliography in Volume 4 for a complete citation. This is a good place to begin research on a topic. It provides definitions, historical background, general information, and, usually, references to other sources of information.
Ref. [q.] BF31 .E52 2000
Encyclopedia of School Psychology.
Includes information on psychological, educational, governmental, legal, and other policy elements related to schools and school psychology.
Ref. [q.] LB1027.55 .E523 2005
Handbook of Child Psychology. 4 vols.
Contains topically arranged, detailed essays with extensive bibliographies on a wide variety of topics. You will need to consult both the tables of contents and the indexes for each volume. The articles will also have a table of contents/outline at the beginning.
[q.] BF721 .H242 2006
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Finding BooksTo find items owned by the library, search LUCIA. Try a Subject begins with search, for example, developmental psychology. LUCIA will suggest related terms which can also be searched. You may want to consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or LCSH, a guide to the terms commonly used in catalogs like ours. Known informally as "the big red books" the LCSH can be found on the Ready Reference shelves behind the Reference desk on the first floor of the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
To combine terms for a different kind of search, try a Keyword Anywhere search. LUCIA will look for the terms you specify anywhere in the important areas of the cataloging records, and display a list of those records. You can search for phrases like "cognitive development" by using quotation marks, or for individual terms connected by logical operators like and or or, for example, child* and attach*. The asterisk acts as a truncation symbol and tells LUCIA to search for all variations on words starting with child: child, children, and so forth; and attach: attached, attachment, etc. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH, or target your keyword search by using the Subject Keyword option. This tells LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records only.. To see how this works, compare a Keyword Anywhere search with a Subject Keyword search for child development.
Books are arranged on the library's shelves by Library of Congress Classification. This is a system which organizes materials by general subjects. Once you have a call number from searching LUCIA, see this guide to call number locations at Mudd and the library floor maps to find out where a book might be on the shelves.
Search LUCIA for materials in our library; try WorldCat to find materials beyond the Mudd. Make sure you've thoroughly searched our library before going to WorldCat. See a reference librarian if you need help.
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Finding ArticlesThe best index to use will depend on your topic. Be sure to check the Electronic Resources page for other options. A number of our resources provide complete full text. Some of our indexes include:
Academic OneFile.
Includes broad coverage of academic periodicals. Full text is provided for some articles.
EBSCOhost.
A single Web source for multiple databases. Contains broad and specialized
coverage of academic and general periodicals. Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Academic Search Elite may be particularly useful; you may also want to consult ERIC or MEDLINE.
Many other indexes from related disciplines might be appropriate to your research, for example, indexes from the fields of education, sociology, or gender studies. See a reference librarian for other suggestions.
You may also want to browse some of the library's psychology journals. The titles of these can be found by searching for subjects like psychology--periodicals or social psychology--periodicals or by a Subject Keyword search for psycholog* and periodicals.
Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, try the 
button to see if that particular article is available. For some sources, you might also want to try looking in LUCIA and in BESS, an
automated search of the library's full text databases.
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Finding Government DocumentsMost United States Government Documents are not cataloged in LUCIA. There are several ways to search for government documents, but those listed below will be the most direct. You might also want to take a look at the library's Guide to Understanding the Government Document Numbering System before you head to the Documents shelves on the second floor. Be sure to look at the sources listed on the Lawrence University Government Documents page.
Google U.S. Government
The popular and helpful Google search applied specifically to finding government information. Searches local, state, military, and national government Web pages.
GPO Monthly Catalog
Catalog of US government publications, covering 1976 - current. Searchable in many ways, via FirstSearch.
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications.
An annual index is included at the end of each yearly volume, or you can search the
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government
Publications, 1900-197l.
Reference Indexes
Wisconsin Government Documents owned by the library are cataloged in LUCIA, and can be located using searches like those described for Finding Books. The Wisconsin Administrative Code and Register is available online, as is a list of Wisconsin State Agencies.
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Finding Tests and MeasuresUse the library's research guide to "Finding Psychological Tests, Scales and Measurements"
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Web ResourcesAmerican Psychological Association (APA)
Lots of good information -- even more if you're a member. The APA Monitor is worth reading.
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
Adopted by the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives in 2002.
Internet Resources for Psychology
Links to a number of useful resources, from the librarians.
There may be web other Web resources available that apply to your research. Try looking at sources that select the best of the Web, like these:
While Google is often a first choice for many people when they search the web, you may also want to look at Google U.S. Government, which searches local, state, military, and national government Web pages. In any case, it's important to think carefully about information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources. The library's Web Wise Guide to Searching give some helpful inside tips. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL.Top
Style ManualsAcademic Citation and Writing
Style manuals of the humanities, physical sciences, and the social sciences in the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
APAStyle.org
Explains the APA official style on citing many kinds of electronic information and communications, including e-mail.
Citing Electronic Documents
This page provides guidance on citing electronic documents and links to other guides, some on specific styles of documentation.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. 2001
The last word on how to cite the psychological literature. Also included are specifications and procedures to follow in submitting manuscripts for publication in various journals.
RRef. BF76.7 .P83 2001
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About Research in PsychologyRemember that in any written work you produce your sources must be fully documented. It may help to look at the information on style before you start your research, so that you will have all the details required for documentation at hand when you need them. Then as you write, go back to the resources on style for details on the exact format of your citations.
The sources listed in this guide were chosen for the broad coverage they provide. Direct links are provided to Internet resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new databases and indexes; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.
Evaluating the resources you find is an essential part of the research process. See this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles and this guide to evaluating Internet resources.
As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
[q.] = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and M class scores; at end of classes in other collections
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