Guides: Graduate Leadership Program Orientation: Part 3: Library Databases

What is a Library Database?

A library database is a tool that allows you to search for and find different types of information. For Education Leadership students that information might be scholarly peer-reviewed articles on teaching pedagogy for biblical worldview integration or it might be information on managing personnel at your schools. At Jenks Library we have several library databases you can search to help retrieve the information you need.

To select an appropriate database to use, first think about the type of information you are trying to find.

Are you looking for scholarly articles? - if yes, choose databases such as ERIC, Professional Development Collection, and Academic Search Ultimate that help you search by keyword to find peer-reviewed articles.
Are you looking for definitions, biographical information, or other background info? - if yes, choose databases such as those introduced in the "Part 2: Starting Points > Background Research Material" section, such as Credo Reference.
Are you looking for specific Education journals or magazines? - if yes, search Journal Finder to see if Jenks Library has access to your favorite magazines (see Part 4 for more details).

Go to the Jenks Library website at gordon.edu/library

Screenshot of library homepage with an arrow pointing to database tab

Find the online resource you need from the Library Databases page.

If prompted by the Gordon log in screen, log in to your Gordon email.

How to Search Library Databases

For your research in both leadership and education, we have many databases that will provide access to different kinds of information. The goal of this video is to introduce you to where you can find many of those resources from the library's database page. In particular, this video will demonstrate searching in the database ERIC, a great tool for education research, to find scholarly peer-reviewed articles on a topic.

Please note: the library no longer uses Blackboard for authentication to online resources. But our new login page still uses your Gordon username and password for access. Enter that information in the two boxes provided and you are in!

Having trouble playing the video? Watch here on the Jenks Library YouTube channel.

Start with these Library Databases

EDUCATION

ERIC This link opens in a new window
Articles, research reports, and digests from education-related journals and the U.S. Department of Education.
Professional Development Collection This link opens in a new window
Specialized information designed for educators, professional librarians and education researchers. Includes more than 450 full-text journals, of which nearly 300 are peer-reviewed.

SUBJECT SPECIFIC

Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing and full text of over 350 major religion and theology journals. Coverage begins in 1908.
APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
World's largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. Produced by the American Psychological Association, it includes more than 4 million bibliographic records and indexing of more than 2,500 journals.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive sociology research database that contains full text for more than 630 journals and magazines, as well as books, monographs, and conference papers. Covers various areas of study including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion and social work.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY

Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. Includes extensive coverage in key subject areas such as biology, chemistry, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers access to resources cited in key subject indexes. The combination of academic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books and videos meets the needs of scholars in virtually every discipline ranging from astronomy, anthropology, biomedicine, engineering, health, law and literacy to mathematics, pharmacology, women’s studies, zoology and more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A collection of core scholarly journals, many going back to the first volume. Emphasis is on back issue coverage and does not include the current 3-5 years, unless Gordon has a current subscription to the journal. JSTOR provides long term preservation for journals.

What Does Peer Reviewed Mean?

An article is considered "peer-reviewed" if it has been reviewed by scholars and professionals within the field of study for the article. This process involves reviewing how the article was written and the research involved. The review process involves an extensive exchange between the review panel and the author(s), and the article can only be considered for publication in a scholarly journal once it has been approved.

Ask yourself the following questions about the article you are viewing to determine if it is peer-reviewed:

Does the article contain an abstract?
Does the article contain a full bibliography?
Are the author(s') credentials easily identified?
Does the journal contain little to no advertising?
Is the language of the article intended for an informed
audience?
Is the article lengthy?
Does the journal description include the words "peer-reviewed" or "editorial process"?

Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles

Many of our databases make the process of locating peer-reviewed information very easy for us by providing a "peer-reviewed" search filter on the search screen. This search filter is automatically selected in our EBSCO databases.

Peer-Reviewed Sources
Use this information sheet for criteria to look for in a peer-reviewed article.