PsycINFO
Volume 31
•
Issue 6
•
2012
PsycINFO News: How Are We Doing?
T
his is the last issue of 2012, and as we prepare to start the next
volume of the PsycINFO News (Vol. 32!), it seems like a good time
to find out how well this publication is doing its job keeping you
informed. We took a look back at the newsletter, which started as a
print product in 1981 mailed to a list. By 1995 we’d made the leap
to the Web, and a PDF version of the newsletter was available for
download. Differences in technology aside, the nature of the content
has been relatively consistent over the years. We’ve concentrated on
keeping you informed of training events, new products available,
documentation resources, and sample searches.
For a look at how times have changed, here is what a
neuropsychological assessment search (on CD-ROM as well as
online) on the Ovid platform from Volume 15 in 1995 looked like:
In this issue
1
PsycINFO News: How Are
2
Get More: New Records in
3
We Doing?
PsycTESTS; ALA Midwinter;
Journal Publication Schedules
Have You Seen the Free
Search Help Resources for
Students Available from
APA?
Get More: Webinar Training;
Student Training
4
overnment Agency
G
Materials in PsycEXTRA!
In Search of: Using Fields
and Limits in PsycTESTS
New From APA: Searchable
Conferences Field;
PsycTESTS Population Groups
continued on page 2
PsycINFO
2
Volume 31 • Issue 6 • 2012
PsycINFO News: How Are We Doing?—continued from page 1
It looks better today,
doesn’t it?
Over time, the newsletter issues have
become more frequent (six times a
year instead of four) and waxed and
waned in size. At times we’ve tried
to cover issues of broader interest
to information professionals, such
as our relationship with HINARI,
an examination of the APA–vendor
relationship, and embedded
librarians. More recently, we’ve gone
for a shorter, sleeker, newsletter with
interactive features.
One thing we’ve never done in any
detail, however, is ask your opinion
about the newsletter. Are we giving
you useful information? How much
or little of it do you actually read?
Is there something else you’d like
to see? Is the format workable? Is
it convenient? Is six times a year
reasonable or was four fine?
So we’re giving you a little notice:
In the first issue of 2013 we’ll be
including a link to a survey about the
newsletter. We hope you’ll be willing
to take a few minutes to help us
make this newsletter as useful a tool
as possible. As always, thank you for
all you do.
Get More:
New Records in PsycTESTS®: If you have
access to PsycTESTS on the APA PsycNET
platform, you can receive an email alert every
time we add new records. Simply log in to your
My PsycNET account, click on the PsycALERTS
tab, and select PsycTESTS Updates. Check off
the box next to “Notify me when a PsycTESTS
update is published” and you’ll receive an
email when we add new test records.
ALA Midwinter: As always, representatives from APA will
be at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. For details
about our special events, visit http://bit.ly/PIexhibits
Journal Publication Schedules: In 2013, three
APA journals will begin publishing more frequently.
Developmental Psychology and Health Psychology will both
begin to publish monthly. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind
and Brain will begin publishing quarterly, in March, June,
September and December.
3
PsycINFO
Volume 31 • Issue 6 • 2012
Have You Seen the Free Search Help
Resources for Students Available From APA?
D
id you know that APA offers a host of free
teaching tools for psychology research that are
perfect for undergraduate students? Not only can you
find video tutorials, training webinars, and reference
guides that will help students learn how to efficiently
search scholarly research databases, but you can
provide links to website materials, podcasts, and
application guides that will help them explore topics
in psychology and human behavior.
Improving Research Skills
Let’s start with the materials you can use to help
them improve their research skills:
Video Tutorials are a terrific resource. We create them
for all major platforms that provide access to the
APA databases. For example, if your institution uses
EBSCOhost, this video will explain why and how to
use the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms in
under 3 minutes.
We have more than 80 videos, all available on
YouTube, that clearly and quickly demonstrate
practical tips for using the databases. Just visit http://
www.youtube.com/user/PsycINFO and look for the
playlist for your platform. In addition, APA grants
permission for librarians or other research instructors
to link to these tutorials from your own websites
and other resources intended to assist students and
researchers in their work.
Would a webinar aimed at the new researcher in
psychology be useful? Just ask. If you have at least
10 students who could benefit, one of the PsycINFO
Department trainers would be happy to customize
a session. This free training is available on our
databases on the major platforms (APA PsycNET,
EBSCOhost, OvidSP, and ProQuest) between the
hours of 8:30 and 5:30 Eastern Time. Just email us
at psycinfo@apa.org and we’ll contact you to discuss
your needs.
For the student or faculty member on the go, you
can provide Quick Reference Guides for PsycINFO®
that fold to the size of a credit card for quick referral.
Email us at psycinfo@apa.org and tell us what
platform you use and how many you would like (up
to 500), and we will ship them out – free of charge!
You will also find PDF versions posted on our website.
You can link them to your LibGuides or learning
management systems, or print them directly if you’re
in a hurry!
Exploring Topics in Psychology and Human
Behavior
Not surprisingly, one of the best places to go for
information about psychology and human behavior
content is the APA website itself. Linked to our
homepage at www.apa.org you’ll find information
about psychology topics, a psychology newswire, and
links to the most viewed content on the website.
Students curious about the kind of content available
in the APA databases can explore the archives of
search examples and accompanying podcasts.
Content is available for PsycEXTRA®, our gray
literature database that contains very current
information and hot topics; for PsycBOOKS® classic
books, which examine the fascinating history and
core theories of psychology and related disciplines;
and PsycCRITIQUES®, which provides current
reviews of important new works in psychology.
PsycCRITIQUES is a terrific source for teachers to who
are looking for course material and students who are
looking for topics. You may subscribe to the podcasts
from our webpage or iTunes.
Our Application Guides also give search hints and
examples for a variety of topics found in PsycINFO
and PsycEXTRA. For example, you can find guides
on content ranging from consumer psychology and
marketing to neuroscience to religion and spirituality
to sports.
And we always value your input. Like what you see?
Let us know. Have an idea for a new topic or training
product? Please contact us with questions, ideas, and
suggestions. We can be reached at psycinfo@apa.org
or 1-800-374-2722.
Get More:
Webinar Training: New online training sessions
announced through May 2013: http://www.apa.
org/pubs/databases/training/webinars.aspx
Student Training: Did you know that we offer
webinars for students? We’d like to revitalize them
and would appreciate your input on what topics
might be useful. Send a note to psycinfo@apa.org.
4
PsycINFO
Government Agency
Materials in PsycEXTRA®
M
aterials from many government agencies –
federal, state and local – are available in
PsycEXTRA. But did you know you can also find
information from our international counterparts?
It will come as no surprise that health policy
researchers look at the reports and materials
produced by governments around the world. In
this issue, we’ll take a look at materials from the
Australian Government’s Department of Health and
Ageing.
The Department of Health and Ageing is focused
on policy advising and research for a wide variety
of issues, such as hospital funding, national drug
strategy, blood and organ donor policy, health
promotion and more. Their purpose, as stated on
their website, is to foster “better health and active
ageing for all Australians.”
Searching by Australian Government, Department
of Health and Ageing as Content Owner, I found
materials dating back to 1989, though more than
half are from the last 10 years. As of November
2012, every result for this content owner has the full
text available!
Taking a closer look at the results, I found many fact
sheets and patient handouts, and lots of reports.
Several editions of Australia’s national standards
and guidelines for mental health services and policy
are available, allowing the researcher to trace the
development of these policies from the present day
back to 1992.
One of the more recent reports available looked at
models of care for children and young adults with
mental health problems. I also spotted an analysis
of the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak, in which the
department explores the country’s response to the
virus, and makes recommendations for the future.
In looking through the results, it becomes clear
that one big focus of the Department has been
drug and alcohol abuse. There are a variety of fact
sheets available, as well as curricula for working with
children and young adults, focusing on education
as well as rehabilitation – certainly a gold mine for
anyone in the US who is trying to develop a similar
program.
Volume 31 • Issue 6 • 2012
In Search of:
Using Fields and Limits
in PsycTESTS
W
e are pleased to announce that our PsycTESTS
database is now available on all of our major
platform vendors. PsycTESTS has a unique set of fields
and limits, and taking advantage of them is the key
to finding a useful set of search results. We’ll go over
the fields and limits available, and also show you
where the full test instrument is located on each of
the platforms.
To view the tutorial, please visit http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=UM-NZ9YVut8
New From APA:
Searchable Conferences Field: We have recently
added “Conference” as a searchable field on the
Advanced Search Screen for APA PsycNET. The
field is available for PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES®,
PsycBOOKS and PsycEXTRA.
PsycTESTS Population Groups: A recent update
to PsycTESTS expanded the fields examined for
“Population” searches. When searching only
PsycTESTS, choosing the Population field will search
both the Population and Population Details fields.
PsycINFO
PsycINFO News is published bimonthly by
PsycINFO®
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE • Washington, DC 20002-4242
Telephone: 800.374.2722 • 202.336.5650
• Fax: 202.336.5633
E-mail: psycinfo@apa.org
Web: www.apa.org/pubs/databases
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