Psychology Library Guide
In This Guide
Finding Books
Finding Articles on Psychology
All About PsycINFO
Websites
Contact the Library
Librarian for Psychology
Emma Fernandez (she/her)
efernandez@stephens.edu
(573) 441-5129
Library Contact Info
library@stephens.edu
Front Desk: (573) 876-7182
Text the Library: (573) 475-4211
Chat (when available)
"The Librarian is IN." Click to chat.
Chat is offline. Please call or email us.
Finding Books
Resources
Stephens Library Catalog - Search the traditional catalog for Stephens College books, videos, and more.
MOBIUS Catalog - Search the MOBIUS Consortium catalog and request physical/print books be sent to Stephens for pickup. Books are generally ready to be picked up in two to three work days.
eMO Electronic Books - Search and view over 250,000 electronic books. Entirely full-text.
Physical Book Locations
Psychology books are located in the following sections (second floor of the Stephens Library):
BF – Psychology
HN - Social history/social problems/social reform
HS - Societies
HT - Communities/classes/races
Search Tips
Search the Stephens Library Catalog to find physical materials and eBooks held at Stephens Library. The MOBIUS Catalog is also a good option to broaden your search for print books to libraries across Missouri.
Try using the phrase “psychology” to get started, or use more specific terms for the field you’re researching.
Use the advanced search function and search for these phrases as subject terms to find materials about that term (rather than narrowing to a specific title).
Here are some other examples:
Anxiety
Depression
Interpersonal relations
Decision making
In addition, use the filters on the left hand side of the catalog to narrow or broaden your search.
Finding Articles on Psychology
Resources
Behavioral and Mental Health Online
Content types: video, books, and documents. Contains more than 2,500 videos and almost 3,500 books, documents and transcripts.
Child Development & Adolescent Studies
Content types: articles, books, reports. Variety of current and historical literature related to the growth and development of children through age 21.
Content type: articles, books. Journal articles, chapters, books, dissertations, and reports related to behavioral science and mental health, with ninety-nine percent of the covered material peer-reviewed.
Content types: articles. Resources covering all areas related to abuse: family, emotional, sexual, physical, and more. Contains more than 77,000 records.
Search Tips
Break your research question into essential key words and connect with AND.
exercise AND mental health
Use synonyms and connect them with OR
adolescents OR adolescence OR teens OR teenagers OR young adults
Use truncation (*) to get plurals and alternative endings.
educat* = educate, education, educating, educated, etc.
Put quotes around a term that’s a phrase to keep the words together.
“body image”
When you find a good article, look at the works cited or reference list at the end to help identify other useful resources on the same topic.
When searching these databases, you will likely come across articles that are not immediately available. In such cases, choose to “Request It” and complete the process. Articles usually become available within one business day, although it can take as many as five days. You can review your request history and make requests from scratch using Interlibrary Loan.
All About PsycINFO
PsycINFO indexes psychological research and its applications. Source types include peer-reviewed journals, books and book chapters, dissertations, conference proceedings, etc. It is produced by the American Psychological Association and is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health.
What’s in PsycINFO?
PsycINFO includes features such as First Posting for journal records ensuring access to the earliest publication of a journal article. It also includes books, book chapters, dissertations, and reports about psychology and related disciplines, including psychiatry, education, linguistics, neurosciences, pharmacology, and social work.
Subject coverage includes:
Applied psychology
Communication systems
Developmental psychology
Personality
Lifespan
Psychological and physical disorders.
Each record contains a bibliographic citation, abstract, index terms from the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, keywords, classification categories, population information, the geographical location of the research population, and cited references for journal articles, book chapters, and books.
The APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms allows researchers to search APA databases using a standard vocabulary.
You can search or browse for terms using the thesaurus and add them to your search. The thesaurus allows you to add more than one term and separate them using Boolean Operators. You can review scope notes and explode terms to expand your search.
Searching PsycINFO
Unique search options or fields are included on the Advanced Search page as different facets and look-ups. The facets make it easy for researchers to limit to specific populations, methodologies, and locate supplemental data.
The look-up options include location, classification, and test & measures.
Each Look-up provides a search and browse function and the ability to add multiple terms separated by Boolean Operators similar to the thesaurus.
PsycINFO allows you to refine your search by:
Date published
Language
Age of subject population (from infants to very old)
Methodology of research (e.g. qualitative vs. quantitative studies, systematic reviews, clinical trials)
Population (human or animal, male/female, inpatient/outpatient)
Geographic location
Click on "Thesaurus" in the top menu for a list of key terms that bring together related concepts.
Websites:
Psychology Today: View the latest from the world of psychology: from behavioral research to practical guidance on relationships, mental health and addiction.