Reference Sources (Books and eBooks)
Reference materials are an excellent starting point for acquiring a broad overview of your topic. They are reserved for in-library use only. Depending on your topic, you may want to consult the following tools:
DIRECTORIES
Canadian Directory to Foundations & Grants
A listing of the family, corporate, community, and special interest foundations whose main activity is grant-making.
REF 001.44 CAN 2 vols
Associations Canada
Contact information and profiles for Canadian organizations, and international groups relevant to Canadians, including industry, commercial, and professional associations, registered charities, special interest and common interest organizations.
REF 061.1 ASS
Lakeland Link—Community Services Directory - brief profiles and contact information for programs, support, and services for communities within the boundaries of the Lakeland Health Region.
REF 362.025 LAK
DICTIONARIES
Dictionary of developmental disabilities terminology
618.9285889 ACC
The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes
REF 398.8 OXF
Canadian Children's Books: a Critical Guide to Authors and Illustrators
819.099282 JON
Oxford English Dictionary [20 volumes]
REF 423 OXF 1989
If off-campus, contact Public Services Librarian for username/password.
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Encyclopedia of Sociology
Covers a broad scope of sociological topics including community, family, drug abuse, rural sociology, and suicide.
REF 301.03 ENC 4 vols.
Encyclopedia of Child Abuse
Provides an overview of the social problem of child abuse, based on clinical research, surveys, and statistics.
REF 362.7603 CLA
The Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood & Adolescence
Over 800 entries covering child development, including key theories and issues, prominent scholars, terms, and concepts.
REF 305.231 GAL
The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature
Contains plot summaries, biographies, character summaries, fairy tales, and folklore.
REF 808.809282 CAR
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development An authoritative, accessible and up-to-date account of all aspects of child development. Covers everything from prenatal development to education, pediatrics, neuroscience, theories and research methods to physical development, social development, cognitive development, psychopathology and parenting. It also looks at cultural issues, sex differences and the history of child development.
Handbooks
Children with disabilities
REF 618.92 CHI 1997
Children's health [2 volumes]
REF 618.92 CHI 1999
Handbook of developmental disabilities
REF 618.92 HAN 1996 (2 copies also available in non-fiction).
Developmental disabilities in infancy and childhood [2 volumes]
REF 618.9285889 DEV
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a clinical workbook
REF 618.928589 BAR 1998
General Collection
e-library & Library of Congress Subject Headings
The e-library is the Library's computerized catalogue. It is the listing of books, videos, and journals available in the Library. You can locate material on specific topics by performing a Subject Heading search. Portage College Library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Some sample headings for Cooking you can perform a search on in the e-library:
Child care
Handicraft
Early childhood education
Child psychology
Child development
Play
The Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification System to group books and videos together by subject on the library shelves. The call number on The e-libary corresponds to the number on the label on the spine of the book (e.g. 155.4 BEE).
Examples
155 and 305 - Child development
370s - Education
398 - Folklore
700s - Art
Periodicals: Newspapers, Journals & Magazines
Periodicals are published at regular intervals, generally more frequently than annually. Each issue is numbered and/or dated consecutively, and normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings. Scanning current issues of periodicals in your subject area can be useful when you are trying to think of a topic. The following can be found in the Portage College Library's periodical reading area.
Behavioral Disorders
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities
Parents
Psychology Today
Working Mother
YC Young Children (in library and online)
Education & Treatment of Children (online only)
Finding Journal Articles
An electronic database is an index of articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Portage Library subscribes to a number of Web-based electronic databases. The databases that you will find useful for your studies are:
Academic OneFile has extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects. With millions of articles available in both PDF and HTML full-text with no restrictions, researchers are able to find accurate information quickly. Includes full-text coverage of the New York Times back to 1995. Updated daily.
Academic Search Complete is the world's most comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals; includes full text of Education & Treatment of Children since 1990.
Child Development & Adolescent Studies includes all of the issues of Child Development Abstracts & Bibliography from 1927 - 2001 plus new coverage on Child Rights and welfare issues. Book reviews and abstracts from hundreds of journals and a bibliography of thousands of technical reports, books, book chapters, theses and dissertations covering biomedical and social sciences worldwide are indexed.
Education Research Complete is a bibliographic and full text database covering scholarly research and information relating to all areas of education. Topics covered include all levels of education from early childhood to higher education, and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, and testing. Education Research Complete also covers areas of curriculum instruction as well as administration, policy, funding, and related social issues.
ERIC (the Education Resources Information Center) is the authoritative source of information on education on topics such as student learning, integration of disabled students into regular classrooms, etc. Full-text articles are available.
Health Reference Centre Academic
Use this database to find articles on topics such as fitness, pregnancy, medicine, nutrition, diseases, public health, occupational health and safety, alcohol and drug abuse, HMOs, prescription drugs, etc. Full-text articles are available.
MasterFILE Premier
Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes nearly 500 full text reference books, biographies, primary source documents, and an Image Collection of photos, maps and flags. This database is updated daily.
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection covers topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods. Full-text articles are available.
Research Starters - Education offer 3,000-word topic overviews written by subject matter experts on 500 topics with links to key articles in associated EBSCO databases.
Also look for Research Starters in the bottom right hand column of any EBSCO results page.
Access to databases is restricted to the Portage College students, faculty and staff
WEB SITES
The Internet is a rich source of material. The sites listed here are just a starting point. If you are looking for a specific topic, try typing keywords into one of the basic search tools such as Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, etc.
2Learn
A site put together by educators. Click on NetSteps for links organized by topic and level.
Alberta Education - Special Education
Provides an access to Standards for Special Education and other provincial legislation materials in Alberta.
Alberta, Government of
Access a variety of Alberta Government information.
Alberta Learning Information Service-OCCINFO
Occupational descriptions for over 1000 careers, with particular reference to Alberta data. Outlines duties, educational requirements, working conditions, salary, and employment trends and lists contact information.
The Canadian Child Care Federation is pleased to launch the first set of new resources to help you build strong partnerships between families and child care practitioners in support of children’s social well-being.
Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children
The mandate of the Coalition is to ensure a collective voice for Canadian organizations and youth concerned with the rights of children as described in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit for Children Declaration.
CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit
Focuses on information for the small business owner. Provides access to sample business documents, including business plans. U.S. emphasis, but useful general information.
Children's Literature Web Guide
From the Library of Teaching Resources at the University of Calgary, great links to author information, awards, teacher resources, etc.
CIBC Aboriginal Banking
Dedicated to serving the needs of Aboriginal people in Canada, this site focuses on financial management information, lending guidelines, products, services, programs and small business information.
Early Childhood Educator's & Family Web Corner
Many links to explore including Health and Nutrition, Consumer Information, & Safety.
The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)
Provides access to a virtual library of educational resources and to the ERIC database which you can search for topics in early childhood education (indexing and abstracts only).
Harvard Business Publishing for Educators
Visit this site to view abstracts from the current issue of Harvard Business for Educators and search the archive.
LD Online
The leading Web site on learning disabilities for parents, teachers, and other professionals.
School Psychology Resources for Psychologists, Parents and Educators
Research learning disabilities, ADHD, functional behavioral assessment, autism, adolescence, parenting, psychological assessment, special education, mental retardation, mental health, and more.
Special Education Resources on the Internet (SERI) is a collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education.
Statistics Canada
A variety of statistical data, including: monthly and quarterly measures of economic performance for Canada and the provinces, annual data covering most aspects of Canada's economy, and statistical profiles of Canadian communities.
The Virtual Business Link
Includes information on how to start a small business and how to write a business plan.
