LIBRARY
Psychology
A guide to finding information
Finding books
The Library Catalogue provides details of all
the material held in the Library, including their
location on the shelves (shelfmarks).
Many e-books are also available and can be
located through the library catalogue. Please
note that not all books are available
• Annual Reviews
electronically.
Examples from reading lists:
Discovering Statistics using
IBM SPSS Statistics by
Andy Field. Fourth edition.
Available in print (300.285
FIE).
Psychology by G. Neil
Martin, William Buskist and
Neil Carlson. Fifth edition.
Available in print (150 PSY)
and as an e-book.
Research methods and
statistics in psychology by
Hugh Coolican. Sixth edition.
Available in print (150.72
COO) and as an e-book.
Psychology is a multi-disciplinary subject so
you will find that there is relevant material in
several areas of the Library. Here is a list of
some useful shelfmarks.
150
150.195
150.287
150.72
152
152.1
152.4
153
153.12
153.15
153.7
153.9
154
155
155.2
155.4
155.8
158
158.7
301.2
370.15
401.9
610.19
612
612.82
616.804
616.89
WWW.BROOKES.AC.UK/LIBRARY
General Psychology
Psychoanalysis
Psychological testing and
measurement (see also 152.8)
Research methods
Experimental and physiological
psychology
Sensory perception
Emotions
Cognitive psychology
Memory
Learning
Perception
Intelligence
Dreams
Developmental psychology
Personality
Child psychology
Cross-cultural psychology
Applied psychology
Organisational psychology
Social psychology (see also
302)
Educational psychology
Psycholinguistics
Health psychology
Human physiology
The brain
Neuropsychology
Abnormal psychology and
psychiatry
Finding Journal Articles
Journal articles are excellent sources of scholarly information and ideal for assignments and
research. Journal articles communicate research and can include reports of empirical studies,
literature reviews, theoretical articles, methodological articles, or case studies. Many journals are
peer-reviewed; they have been critically evaluated by other experts in the field before publication.
The Library subscribes to a wide range of journals in print and electronic format.
Electronic Journals
Using the EJournals tab on the Library webpages gives you access to a complete list of our full text
electronic journals. Just type in the journal title to search.
Print Journals – Use the link to the Library catalogue on the Books and Ebooks tab on the Library
webpages to search the library catalogue to find out if we have the print edition of a journal. Not all
ejournals are listed on the library catalogue, which is why there are two places to search.
Databases:
If you need to find research on a specific topic, then you need to use a database. They are indexes
to journal articles and other up-to-date information on your assignment or research topic. They
provide full bibliographical details of each article (author, title, journal title, volume, and page
numbers). While some databases provide a direct link to the full text, others will only provide an
abstract (summary) and the reference (or citation) that you need to locate the full-text article.
PsycINFO - contains nearly 4 million records from 1597 to the present, with comprehensive
coverage from the 1880s onwards. It is a broad-based Psychology database for the behavioural and
social sciences. Its coverage includes abstracts of books, journal articles and dissertations, as well
as documents with scores or tests appended. It is a good international database with coverage of
journals from more than 50 countries.
Web of Science - contains the Social Sciences Citation Index, the Science Citation Index, the Arts
and Humanities Citation Index and two Conference Proceedings Citation Indices. It provides
bibliographic information and abstracts from a wide range of key journals for all aspects of
Psychology.
Other useful databases:
A further list of databases you may wish to use can be found on the Subject Help pages for
Psychology. www.brookes.ac.uk/library/psych.html
Choosing Information Sources and Further help
If you want a good overview on the types of information resources you should use during your
course, then have a look at the Internet for Psychology Virtual Training Suite website
(http://www.vtstutorials.co.uk/) . There is a whole host of information about when you should use
which resource, and how you can be sure that it is of good quality.
Once you have chosen your source of information (journal article, book, webpage etc) - you need to
critically evaluate it to ensure it is appropriate to use. The Library Guide on Critically Evaluating
Resources is a useful starting point, and can be downloaded from the Psychology webpages.
A list of useful websites are available on the subject help webpage for psychology.
www.brookes.ac.uk/library/psych.html
Psychological tests
Psychological tests are not available through Oxford Brookes Library. However, some academic
libraries do hold tests. Search COPAC (www.copac.ac.uk) for information on their collections.
(COPAC is the union catalogue of research libraries from U.K. Universities and national institutions
such as the British Library). You will need to contact the institution in question to find out access
rights and you may require your tutor/supervisor's permission. (It is recommended that you talk to
your tutor about psychological tests to ensure that you use the most relevant one and they may also
be able to advise you on their location.) This is a list of all psychological tests on COPAC, if then add
a couple of words (e.g. test name or test subject area) in the search box at the top right-hand side of
the screen, you can narrow your search down.
You may also find, that the first article about a specific test contains the test in the appendix of the
article.
Other sources of Tests are listed on the Psychology webpages.
Useful Reference Works
Annual Reviews
These describe recent advances in research and are useful starting points for obtaining a list of
references to the important literature on a subject. Examples include:
 The Annual Review of Psychology (150.5 ANN and available electronically)
 Advances in Child Development and Behavior (155.405 ADV and available electronically)
 Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (301.1 ADV)
 Advances in the Study of Behavior (156 ADV)
 Psychology of Learning and Motivation (153.15 PSY)
Encyclopaedias
Encyclopaedias are useful for finding summaries of a particular subject and may provide references
to other material. Examples include:
 Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (302.03 BLA)
 Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology (150.3 CON)
 Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence (153.903 ENC)
 Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (302.03 ENC)
 MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (153.03 MIT)
Dictionaries
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Concise Dictionary of Psychology (150.3 STA)
Dictionary of Cognitive Psychology (153.403 STU)
Dictionary of Developmental Psychology (155.03 STU)
Dictionary of Psychological Testing, Assessment and Treatment (150.28703 STU)
A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (150.1952 RYC)
A Student's Dictionary of Psychology (150.3 STR)
More information
Find more information about Psychology resources on the Library webpages for psychology
(www.brookes.ac.uk/library/psych.html).
If you need any help or further information please contact Katherine Staples your Academic Liaison
Librarian at Headington Library, JHB310, John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy
Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP. 01865 485074 kstaples@brookes.ac.uk
KJS 09/15