Psychology

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

To save time, use the indexes of the reference books, usually in the back of the book or in the last volume.

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library. (Note: This is a subscription database. ACC students, faculty and staff may log in from off-campus with their campus network user names and passwords.)

The following reference books in the Gale Virtual Reference Library are of particular relevance to psychology: 

Child Development, 2002
Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco: Learning About Addictive Behavior, 2003
Encyclopedia of Aging, 2002
Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd ed., 2004
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2nd ed., 2002
Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol and Addictive Behavior, 2nd ed., 2001
Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed., 2001
Gender Isssues and Sexuality: Essential Primary Sources, 2006
International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family, 2nd ed., 2003
Learning and Memory, 2nd ed., 2004
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, 2003
Psychologists and Their Theories for Students, 2005

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

Under Subject Databases, look under the Social Sciences group for PsycArticles, ERIC (for educational psychology articles) and, under the FirstSearch databases, PsycFirst.

If you'd like to browse through psychology periodicals, the ACC Library subscribes to these print magazines and journals, located on the main floor:

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.

Updated June 2008/JM/FS