Education Guide Ask Us

Databases listed below provide access to citations and often the full text of journal/magazine/other articles when UNB has an electronic subscription to the host or source publication. Where full text is not linked directly, there should be some facility (often denoted by the UNB sail logo) to "Check for Fulltext".

If you are unable to locate the item you are looking for at UNB, either in print or online, you can still submit a document delivery request.

Key Resources

See Additional Resources Hide Additional Resources

How to locate, access, and view eBooks in the UNB Libraries collection; includes downloading and installing the Adobe Digital Editions eBook reader:
https://youtu.be/DpjH4ZkDh98

Dissertations and theses

Dissertations and Theses (formerly Digital Dissertations) "is the single, authoritative source for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 graduate schools and universities." All PhD dissertations and Master's theses from depositing universities are available from 1997 onwards, unless the document's author has requested a temporary delay.

The Theses Canada Portal currently provides access to records from the National Library of Canada theses collection (from 1965), and access to fulltext for theses and dissertations submitted between 1998 and 2002.

Below is a small sample of the encyclopedias and handbooks available through UNB Libraries.

To find more, search UNB WorldCat from the Find Books tab in this guide and include, among your keywords, the term "encyclopedia" or "handbook" (e.g. search for handbooks on special education using terms such as: "special education handbook").  Limit by Format to "eBook" for web-available versions.

Key Resources

See Additional Resources Hide Additional Resources

Literature Searching Essentials

The following brief web tutorials are intended to acquaint you with tools and strategies for conducting and managing literature searches as a UNB scholar. Feel free to proceed sequentially or dive in where the need presents itself. Below we will cover:

1. UNB Libraries Website
2. UNB Worldcat for searching for books
3. Article searching with ERIC and other EBSCO-based resources
4. Searching for theses and dissertations with ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database
5. Google Scholar for finding articles and searching through "grey literature"
6. Zotero for citation management

Introduction

1. The UNB Libraries Website

2. UNB WorldCat for book searching

Does anybody even read books anymore? Well at the very least they skim them or else read them selectively - and often to great effect. While journal articles might be considered the primary unit of scholarly communication, books situate the highly specific info typical of research articles - say the mathematical achievement of 11 year old boys at an Anglican schools in Trinidad on the Secondary Entry Exam - in broader contexts - like the history and legacy of standardized testing in the Caribbean or comparing boys vs girls scores across all school types or different regions – the sort of contexts, in other words, that define academic and even societal discourses whatever the subject, period, or place.

But it’s not really my job to convince you of a book’s worth, only to show you how to find the ones you’re after.

More on retrieving research materials and document delivery: https://youtu.be/Ta9qicg1e10

More on eBooks at UNB Libraries: https://youtu.be/pNpW9mMRu-Y

3. Article Searching

When I was a youngster, the first floor of the Harriet Irving Library was nothing but big bound volumes of indexes and abstracts, floor to ceiling far as the eye could see, blotting out the sun. These were the ancestors of the article and research databases of today – oh and coffee back then? Forget about it! Get you thrown out on your head. My, how the times have changed. What hasn’t changed are many of the names we now associate with easy online access: ERIC, CINAHL, Dissertations and Theses, and many, many more have been around a long time, only now they’re joined by younger siblings like Academic Search Premier and Canadian Business and Current Affairs in a vast digital universe the access to which sometimes leaves you breathless.

So sit back, loosen up, and enjoy this double feature of ERIC and Dissertations & Theses, two titans in the realm of research literature, each available from UNB Libraries on a respectively popular platform - and learn how you make their power...your own.

ERIC on the EBSCO Platform

For those of you interested in learning more about how to break down a research question into its logical parts and put it back together in a manner that works well in ERIC on the EBSCO platform, have a look at the following document: SearchStrategiesForClassroomDesign_0.pdf

4. Dissertations and Theses on the ProQuest Platform

5. Google Scholar – the what, the why, the when, and then: the how

What – It's a treasure trove of research articles and so-called grey literature: technical and government sponsored reports, white papers, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations - and more.

Why – it’s easy to use and you don’t have to worry about mastering database- or discipline- specific controlled vocabularies - though they’re hardly a liability, just not everyone’s idea of time well spent - while leaving the sophistication of the searching up to Google Scholar leads to a lot of false positives - we’re talking...millions - the cream, if there is any, often mysteriously rises to the top...

And as you gain practice you get better at making the searching work for you. Another plus: a lot of international research, often housed in institutional repositories – like UNB Scholar here, or UWISpace in the Caribbean, not to mention the aforementioned grey literature - isn’t found in the subscription databases. And then there are some great features like tracing the influence of a piece of research into the future – from when it was published – not like the future future – though with Google I wouldn’t put it past them. Maybe in a future future upgrade.

The When – Whenever – start here or go directly to subscription databases, but ideally you will use them in tandem since there is bound to be areas where coverage doesn’t overlap – and you’re a serious scholar now.

And now, the How. These next two videos impart indispensable tips and tricks for using Google Scholar as a UNB student and, while they won’t constitute the most dynamic seven minutes of your life, they will more than pay for themselves in time saved and research accrued moving forward.

5 a. Google Scholar I

How to set up authentication or linking to UNB Libraries' full text journal and ebook subscriptions from within Google Scholar

5 b. Google Scholar II

The ins and outs of GS searching

6. Zotero for citation management

A software program that collects, manages, and cites research sources, Zotero is easy to use, works with your web browser where you do your work, and best of all it's free. With one click, Zotero will save web pages, books, PDFs, abstracts, and almost anything else with all its citation information. Learn more here:
https://lib.unb.ca/guides/view/index.php/683

Bonus content: Marc's welcome to Fall 2023

Zotero for citation management

A software program that collects, manages, and cites research sources, Zotero is easy to use, works with your web browser where you do your work, and best of all it's free. With one click, Zotero will save web pages, books, PDFs, abstracts, and almost anything else with all its citation information. Learn more here:
https://guides.lib.unb.ca/guide/206

Citations

• Purdue OWL: APA formatting and style guide
• Purdue OWL: Chicago style and formatting guide
• Plagiarism: what it is and how to avoid.