Finding Peer Reviewed Journal Articles @ Your Library

In this blog post is information on how to find peer reviewed journal articles in:

• Gale Resources
• JSTOR
• Explora (from Power Library)

Who should care?

     As I researched for this blog post, I found that JSTOR answers this question with "anyone looking for legitimate academic sources."  While I think you can definitely get legitimate academic resources without limiting to peer reviewed sources, I appreciate their point.  So, we'll go with it for now. 

Let's get started: 

In Gale Resources: 

(Student Resources in Context, US History in Context, World History in Context, Science in Context, and Opposing Viewpoints)

1) In the resource, click on "advanced search." 

2) In the advanced search, scroll down to find the boxes where you can limit by full text and peer reviewed journals. 

*While you are here, please note the other limiting options, including limiting the article search by lexile range.  Using this limiter will allow you to provide differentiated resources for your students! 

In JSTOR

From JSTOR support: 

"While nearly all of the journals collected in JSTOR are peer-reviewed publications, our archives do contain some specific primary materials (like some journals in the Ireland Collection and the 19th Century British Pamphlet Collection).Also, some journal content is much older than today's standard peer-review process. This means that, though all the information in JSTOR is held to a scholarly standard, not all of the publications are technically "peer-reviewed." At the current time there is no way to search JSTOR for only peer-reviewed publications. We often find that if you have questions concerning the academic legitimacy of a particular journal or book, your institution's librarian or your course instructor may be best able to answer those inquiries."

In Explora

1.  In the search bar, click on "Advanced Search." 

2.  In Advanced Search, scroll down and find the limiters for full text and peer reviewed journals. 

*While you are here, take note of all of the other limiters you may use!

Happy Searching! 

Taking Notes and Highlighting in Gale

(and Citations, too!)

What is Gale again? 

Gale is one set of databases that we own.  We have Student Resources in Context, a large database that is my one-stop-shop for all things research, U.S. History in Context, World History in Context, and Science in Context, our subject specific databases, and Opposing Viewpoints in Context, focusing on controversial issues.  

Where can I find them?

On West Library's libguides!  Just click on the "Library Resources" tab to see all of our digital resources.  For off campus access, the password is "library."

How can they help me and my students? 

The Gale resources organize and present reliable, valid, and varied source material from well known and established newspapers, reference books, magazines, academic journals, audio sources (like NPR), images, biographies and more in a super easy to use format.  This specific blog will show you how your students can:

1. Find a relevant article
2. Digitally highlight and take notes
3. Transfer that article, with their highlights and notes to Google Drive (and submit to Schoology from there).
4. Cite the source easily using Noodletools

I have made a video that walks through these steps and posted it here.  Below the video, I will provide written step-by-step instructions.  I am always happy to come to you or have your class in the library to work through these processes and more!

Finding an Article:

1) Go to West Library's Libguides: http://dasd.libguides.com/west
2) Click on "Library Resources" tab
3) Choose the appropriate Gale Database
4) Search for chosen topic  (If you click on "Browse Topics" you will see many of the topics covered in that database. There are many more covered, but these are the topics for which they have created subject guides.  Explore these-- so helpful!)
5) Select the article
6) Read article, and highlight selected sentences with your mouse.  Once you release the mouse, you will have the option to highlight in a specific color and take notes.
7) When finished, choose "download" on the right hand side and download into Google Drive (it is helpful to already be logged in).
8) If you need to cite the source, choose "Citation Tools" on the right hand side.  Here you may select your citation format: APA, MLA, or Chicago.
9) You can either copy and paste your citation or export it into Noodletools (it is helpful to already be logged in and have the project created).

If you or your students need additional help with any of these tools or steps, we would love to help in the library!

School Libraries Work!

Scholastic has recently released the 2016 Edition of School Libraries Work!, a compendium of research that compiles results from three major studies on school libraries implemented in South Carolina, our own Pennsylvania libraries, and Colorado.  It has been updated to provide highlights and new reports from 22 additional states.  In all, the research "continues to show that school libraries and school librarians are a powerful force in the lives of America's children."

Summary of Findings from the Pennsylvania Studies

(phrasing taken directly from the studies)

• Students in schools with well-supported, resourced, and staffed school libraries achieved a higher level of academic success. 
• Consistently, reading and writing scores were better for students who had a full-time, certified librarian than those who didn't.
• Black, Hispanic, and students with disabilities or who were economically disadvantaged benefitted proportionally more than students in general.
• The impact of school library programs was greater proportionally on writing than reading scores.
• Staffing libraries with certified librarians can help close achievement gaps among the most vulnerable learners.  

Awesome!  Now that we know how much of an impact a staffed school library can have on its population, how do we ensure that we have effective programs? 

School libraries have maximum impact when they: 

• Have collaborative reading programs
• Select and provide resources that meet the learning needs of all students
• Assure seamless integration of technology, teaching, and learning
• Provide resources to support state and national standards
• Offer resources that enhance leveled classroom collections
• Encourage students to independently seek, access, and use information

Certified school librarians have maximum impact when they:

• Promote reading advocacy by matching students to books in all formats, including print, audio, and e-books
• Teach information skills
• Collaborate with teachers to meet the intellectual needs of students
• Organize, manage, and maintain a collection of valuable resources
• Provide resources and activities for students that are meaningful now and in the future
• Share the findings of reading research with teachers
• Promote resources and activities that spark student interest in reading, learning, and achievement throughout the school years
• Maintain a supportive environment in the library and network environment to increase student satisfaction and achievement
• Collaborate with teachers regularly to provide resources and activities for course, unit, and lesson integration
• Provide leadership in the school for achieving school missions, objectives, and strategies
• Manage information by providing intellectual and physical access to information in print, media, and online resources, either local or web-based

Quality school library programs have maximum impact when they:

• Encourage classroom teachers to integrate literature and information skills into the curriculum
• Offer opportunities for teachers and school librarians to collaborate on projects that help students use a variety of resources, conduct research, and present their findings
• Are supported fiscally and programmatically by the educational community to achieve the mission of the school

Great, but how does that apply to me? 

We’d like to encourage you to work with us towards these goals.  We have wonderful library programs here at DASD, but they can always improve.  Look at the bullets above-- is there an area where you could collaborate with your librarian? Invite your librarian into your classroom?  Use the library resources and instruction a bit more?  We are always looking forward to collaborating with you to help our students be successful in all curricular areas and are excited to continue these conversations at each of our schools!

If you wish to read the entire compendium, please visit this site to receive a free download of the full study. 

D-West Library Report: September