Review your syllabus and course notes to clarify what is
expected and what you need to inform your research. Make
notes about authors, major figures, and alternative terms you
have come across in your reading and class lectures. Keep in
mind that many terms, especially legislation, can have more
than one title or identifying words. (Example: The "Brown
Act" is actually the "Ralph M. Brown Act" and is found
in the California Code as section 54950.
You need a variety of sources from books, articles and
legal rulings and interpretations to inform your research in
preparation for your presentation. Many of the sources given
below should be useful to you in fulfilling your
administrative responsibilities.
Books
To find books, either do
KEYWORD searches using terms from your class readings and
notes, TITLE searches for
specific works, or SUBJECT searches for the
topic you are addressing.
Reference Books (in library use) These are works like
encyclopedias, directories, and government publications
that do not circulate from the library. They may be
quick overviews or in-depth studies and are frequently
useful for short facts or overviews, dates,
statistics and bibliographies of sources.
Circulating Books (check out and take
home) The majority of the
collection is on our shelves, but some books
are available in full text through the catalog. When
you see an online connection offered, click on that link to
read the book online (access is in 2 hour increments.)
Some sources for this project are:
West's California Codes. Education Code
(Official print version) (REF KFC 648 .A336 A193 2005,
older in Book Stacks)
Yearbook of Education Law
(REF KF 4102.5 .Y4, older editions in Book Stacks)
Education Index
(coverage of 7/69-6/94 indexes articles not found in
most databases)
(REF Z5813 .E23)
Encyclopedia of Education (REF LB 15 .E47
2003)
Condition of Education (GOV DOCS ED
1.109) also on
web
Digest of Education Statistics (GOV DOCS ED
1.326) also on
web
Finding Books
CSUSM Library Catalog Do a KEYWORD search on the topic by typing the word
or phrase in the search box. Since keywords can
have multiple definitions and therefore, uses, once you
locate a useful title, examine the SUBJECTS for precise
'labels' to identify your topic. While looking at each
item, note authors who are writing on your topic and the
call number for browsing the stacks. Check to see that
they have bibliographies (listing of the research
sources used) to substantiate the book's claims. A
scholarly publisher is helpful also!
TIP: When looking for
a person as a topic or author of a work, search using the lastname,
firstname format
Possible Subject Headings: Educational equalization -- Law and
legislation
Children with disabilities -- Education -- Law and
legislation -- United States
Educational law and legislation --
United States
Sex discrimination in education --
Law and legislation -- United States
Example of Catalog Screen
San Diego Circuit
This is a catalog of materials from San Diego County
universities including CSUSM. If you need to find more
material on a topic or a copy of a CSUSM book that is
checked out,
search to the Circuit collection by clicking on the
CIRCUIT button towards the top of the screen. When you
find an item you want, request the item through the
"request this item" link and pick it up at CSUSM.
Journal Articles
Journals
are a good source for finding very
detailed information on your topic. To
find articles, you need to start with a research
database and
preferably one that indexes scholarly
sources as they
are based on careful research and go through a high-level
review prior to publishing.
Use the
link to find full
text if it is not available in the database you are
searching, and if time allows,
Interlibrary Loan for documents that we don't own full
text.
Education: Legal
Lexis Nexis Academic
Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal,
and reference information. Great place to find those cases!
LexisNexis Congressional
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information
including bill tracking, hearing testimony, Congressional
Record, and Federal Register.
Education: General
ERIC
A national database of education literature, including
reports and journal articles. This is
enabled to locate journal article text.
Academic
Search Premier (EbscoHost) Full-text. A multi-disciplinary database
offering full text for nearly 1,850 scholarly journals,
including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed titles. Use
the peer-reviewed limiter to focus on more scholarly materials.
CQ Researcher
Explores a single "hot" issue in the news in-depth each
week. Topics range from social and teen issues to
environment, health, education and science and
technology.
PAIS
An important index to political, economic, and social
issues in current debate.
There are ways to search the
internet quickly and effectively. Use Advanced or Expert
Search whenever possible to focus your results and
eliminate sites you can't use (e.g., those in languages you
cannot read.)
For some help on evaluating websites for scholarly (or at
least better-quality) content, click
here.
Finding better information on the web
Google is the librarian's favorite due to the result
ranking system used--the more sites that link to the
page, the higher on the results list (a type of 'peer
review'.)
Limit to high quality domains: .edu
(university servers), .org (museums and
associations) or .gov (US Federal government).
Use appropriate language to accurately describe your
topic.
Spell names or phrases accurately.
Look for bibliographies or references to the works
used for the site's contents.
Know your topic!
Carefully evaluate what you find for bias,
conflicting, outdated, or incomplete information.
Internet Sources: California
California Law--hosted by the Legislative Counsel of
California. Select the Education Code option to
search only that part. (Education is Title 5). Official
print version is in CSUSM REF KFC 648 .A336 A193 2005
California Code of
Regulations offered by the Office of Administrative
Law is the list of rulings on how to comply with the
law.
Hastings Law Library (University of California) Legal
Research Databases This page provides access to California Ballot Propositions Database from
1911-on and the California Ballot Initiatives Database
from 1912-on. Useful for seeing what funding and legal
issues have been on the California ballot and how they
fared at the polls.
FindLaw.com California Case Law--Looking for a court
ruling? This site starts with 1934 (registration is
required for free access.)
Internet Sources: Federal
United States Code--The laws of the land (Education
is Title 20). Download the entire title or sections of
the title from this
link.
Code of Federal Regulations--offers current and
historical regulations. Updated each July 1, so you will
also need to check the List of Affected Sections
available from this site for any changes. (Education is
listed as 34 CFR)
THOMAS--Federal
legislation on the Internet from the Library of
Congress. Searchable by Congressional session starting
with the 93rd Congress.
As you write your paper, if you are using passages and
ideas from the sources you've found, you must cite them in a
bibliography in order to avoid plagiarism. In order to cite
your resources properly, the following links are provided
for APA style.
APA: Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association. 5th ed.
Washington, DC : American Psychological
Association, 2001
Note: APA has added updated information
on citing electronic resources. Download
the
PDF format here or come to the CSUSM Library
to view a print version of this addition for
free:
PN171.F56 A63 2007 Binder
Need More?
Toni Olivas,
Education Librarian
(760) 750-4333 or come by my office (KEL 3427)
link to find full
text if it is not available in the database you are
searching, and if time allows,
