Special Education

Resources of interest in special education and disabilities studies

See also related guides education | psychology | social work |
speech and hearing

 

Sections of this guide: Encyclopedias   |  Reference Works  |   Databases and Indexes | Subject Headings|     Call Numbers   |  Organizations & Societies | Other Important Resources  |   Web Resources Books in PSU Library; an online licensed resource limited to PSU users (requires proxy server authentication for remote users); a resource on a computer in the PSU Library Research and Learning Center on the 2nd floor of the Library; a resource on the Web.

Encyclopedias Provide excellent background/overview information. An excellent place to begin research. Contain articles written by experts for a general audience. Provide indexes indicating scope of coverage of a topic and pinpointing in which articles a concept will be discussed. Provide bibliographies for further reading. Encyclopedia Of Disability And Rehabilitation Encyclopedia Of Special Education : A Reference For The Education Of The Handicapped And Other Exceptional Children And Adults The Family Encyclopedia Of Child Psychology And Development Encyclopedia of Human Behavior The Gale encyclopedia of medicine Gallaudet Encyclopedia Of Deaf People And Deafness Handbook of Child Psychology v. 1. Theoretical models of human development / v. 2. Cognition, perception, and language / v. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development / v. 4. Child psychology in practice Handbook Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry V. 1. Infants And Preschoolers : Development And       Syndromes V. 2. The Grade School Child : Development And       Syndromes V. 3. Adolescence : Development And Syndromes V. 4. Varieties Of Development V. 5. Clinical Assessment And Intervention Planning V. 6. Basic Psychiatric Science And Treatment V. 7. Advances And New Directions Medline Plus Health Topics Encyclopedia Go to top of page

Reference Books Handbooks, dictionaries, statistical sources, tables; detailed or procedural information specific to the subject areas addressed. The Blackwell Dictionary Of Cognitive Psychology Comprehensive Textbook Of Psychiatry/VI Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders : DSM-IV.   Brief descriptions of disorders and syndromes. International Dictionary Of Medicine And Biology Learning Disabilities Sourcebook Magill's medical guide : health and illness Principles of Internal Medicine Resource Guide To Special Education : Terms, Laws, Assessment Procedures, Organizations Stedman's Medical Dictionary Health Reference Series Go to top of page

Databases and Indexes Magazine, periodical and journal articles provide information on current developments, research trends, experiments and hot topics in a discipline. For every discipline, there are specific databases or indexes that provide article level information. Once articles are identified through the database or index search, look up the source journal in Vikat, PSU Library's online catalog, to locate them in the library. For a complete list of online databases and indexes, see the Library's Online Databases pages. Exceptional Child Education Resource "ECER, Exceptional Child Education Resources, is the proprietary database of The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), ERIC EC's host organization. It is devoted exclusively to the published professional literature in special education, gifted education, and related services." "Some overlap exists between the ECER and ERIC databases. Approximately half of the database records that go into ECER also appear in ERIC. This overlap applies primarily to unpublished documents (curriculum and teaching guides, reports, etc.) and articles in core special educational journals." See http://www.ericec.org/ecer-db.html for more complete description of the differences between ERIC and ECER. ERIC Database (Ebscohost) ERIC is THE major database for education (including special education).   Department of Ed's interface to ERIC ERIC Thesaurus online Professional Development Collection Provides " abstract and index coverage for over 585 well-known professional development titles, and searchable full text for 504 journals covering the most current topics in the field of education." Health Source Plus Provides consumer health information PsycINFO The psychological and related disciplines literature. This database is particularly strong for human and child development topics CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) The CINAHL (Nursing & Allied Health) database provides comprehensive coverage of the English language journal literature related to nursing and the allied health disciplines. Focus is more towards clinical and research rather than in school settings. Medline (PubMed interface) A database providing citations to the medical research literature. (Ovid interface) Health and Psychosocial Instruments Provides citations to journal articles about measures and instruments. Helpful in identifying instruments and assessing their value. Mental Measurements Yearbook Primary source for identifying tests and measures. Includes test descriptions and extensive scholarly test reviews. Go to top of page

Subject Headings Subject headings allow you to search library catalogs for materials on a particular topic. Often subject heading searching can be more productive than searching by simple keywords. Listed here are some major subject headings of interest for research in special education and specific disabilities. Copies of the complete set of the Library of Congress Subject Headings are available at the reference desks throughout the library.      special education developmentally disabled children gifted children learning disabilities exceptional children Down syndrome children with disabilities (prior to ~1999:physically handicapped children) hearing impaired children children with visual disabilities   Go to top of page

Call Numbers Browsing the library shelves by call number ranges is another strategy for locating information on a topic; call numbers can help you get to the "right neighborhood" in the library stacks. RC 321-571 Neurology and Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry RC 346-429 Neurology, Diseases of the Nervous System (including speech disorders) RC 554 -569.5 Personality Disorders, Behavior Problems RC 569.7-571 Mental Retardation RE 48 Blindness in Children RF 110-320 Otology, Diseases of the Ear RJ Pediatrics RJ 496 language, speech and hearing disorders and development RJ 138-134 Developmental Disabilities LC 3950-4806.5 Exceptional Children and Youth, Special Education BF 712-724.85 Developmental Psychology BF 721-723 Child Psychology HQ 767.8-792.2 Children, Child Development (including child rearing, child life, play, socialization, children's rights) HV Social Service to:      701-1420.5 Children      873-887 Destitute, Neglected, and Abandoned                     Children       888-907 Handicapped Children       1421 -1441 Young Adults, Youth, Teenagers       1551-3024 Persons with disabilities (including blind, deaf,        persons with physical and mental disabilities)   Go to top of page

Organizations Often the best way to find information on a topic is to look for material published by a professional society  or an organization. Council for Exceptional Children Oregon Department of Education, Office of Special Education American Foundation for the Blind National Center for Accessible Media U.S. Dept. of Education. Office of Special Education Programs   Go to top of page

Important Resources These sources don't fit any particular category, but are important for the discipline. IDEA Practices Web Accessibilty in Mind   Go to top of page

Web Resources ERIC/OSEP Special Project Research briefs from U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Special Education funded projects. National State Policy Database Large Print and Speech Access to the World Wide Web Council for Exceptional Children Portal for special and gifted education resources. Former Special Education ERIC clearinghouse. Family Village National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities       Curriculum Resources Blindness Resource Center Go to top of page

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