Introduction

This Subject Guide is a collection of many types of resources (in print and online) that have been reviewed by librarians and are the best places for you to begin your research in Psychology.

The Guide

• Finding Books – This section lists specific Reference Books that may be helpful to you and provides tips for finding other books using the library catalog.
• Finding Articles – this section identifies the online databases (OR should we say ‘electronic resources’) you can use to find journal, magazine or newspaper articles on your topic. A list of the important journals in this field also appears here.
• Finding Web Sites – This is a very selective, annotated list of websites that may be useful to someone doing research in this subject area.
• Citing Sources – This section provides a list of the citation styles used in this discipline. For each citation style there are links to sample paper formats and sample citations for books, journal articles, web sites and many other resources.

Please send your comments and questions to Robert Flatley, the library liaison to the Psychology Department.  If you need help your research, visit or contact the Rohrbach Library Reference Department. Email us at refquest@kutztown.edu or phone 610-683-4165. Reference librarians are available 7 days a week. Reference desk service hours during the regular semester are:

Finding Books

This section is designed to help you locate books on your chosen subject. When you are starting your research, we recommend that you start by finding reference books. These books can help you gain a working knowledge of your topic. Reference books contain broad factual overviews of a subject and will help you refine your research topic.

Non-reference books contain more specific, in-depth coverage of a given subject. To access these books, you can browse the library's collection or use the online catalog to perform a search for books on your particular topic. A reference librarian can show you how to perform a subject heading search, which is a particularly effective way to locate books on a specific topic.

We welcome your input! If you feel we should add a book to our collection, email the Psychology Subject Guide Liaison.

Reference Books

Below is a selection of useful reference books. Please browse the Psychology area of Reference (BF Section) for more titles or ask a reference librarian for assistance.

Encyclopedias/General References

• Encyclopedia of Psychology BF31.E52 2000
• Encyclopedia of Mental Health RC437 .K34 2001
• Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence BF431 .E59 1984
• Encyclopedia of Adult Development BF724.5 .E53 1993
• Publication Manual of the APA BF76.7 .P83 2001
• Graduate Study in Psychology BF77 .G73 2005
• Cambridge handbook of psychology, health, and medicine R726.5 .C354 1997
• Companion encyclopedia of psychology BF31 .C66 1994

Psychologists, Past and Contemporary

• Biographical Dictionary of Psychology BF 109. A1Z85 1984
• A Pictorial History of Psychology BF81 .P47 1997

Dictionaries and Thesauri

• Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms Z695.1.P7 T48 1997
• The Dictionary of Psychology BF31 .C65 2001
• Dictionary of psychology BF31 .C72 1999

Parapsychology

• Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology BF1407 .E52 1984

Tests & Measurements

• Mental Measurements Yearbook Z5814.P8 B932 Annual

Browse The Main Collection

If you would like to browse our collection, visit the following locations in the main collection:

Subject Headings

You can also find books using the online catalog. The following subject headings are recommended:

• Psychology
• Parapsychology
• Occult sciences

Finding Articles

The best way to find articles is to use the library's electronic databases.  These databases allow you to access thousands of magazine, journal, and newspaper articles via the Internet.  You must be a registered student to access the library's databases.

• General Databases
  Click above for a list of databases useful for all types of research. These databases are the best place to get started on your research
• Psychology Databases
  Click above for a list of psychology specific databases. These databases are generally appropriate for more in-depth research.

Journal Subscriptions

If you are searching for a specific journal do a Journal title search using the Library Catalog. This will search the library’s print and electronic journal subscriptions.

• Type in the title of the journal in the search box.
• Then click on Journal Title Search in the Search by box (to the right of the search box).
• Please note: The catalog will display the library’s print holdings (designated as Periodical Collection) first followed by electronic holdings (designated as Online Subscription). If you do not get any results you will need to request that the library order the article for you. If you need assistance please go to the Reference Desk or ask for help in Periodicals Department (RL203).

Web Resources

The reference librarians at Kutztown University have evaluated and recommend the following websites:

Psychology Associations

•  American Psychological Association
   APA Homepage. Contains links and info on all aspects of psychology.
•  American Psychological Society
   APS Homepage. Conferences, news, publications and links for psychology researchers.
•  Guide to Professional Societies
   Columbia U. site providing access to major professional organizations related to psychology.
   

General Resources

• Psych Central: Dr. John Grohol's Mental Health Page
   Includes mailing lists, newsgroups, web sites, symptoms list, articles, print sources.
• PsychWeb
   Excellent resource providing a wide variety of information, especially for teachers and students.
• Current Topics in Psychology
   A well-organized collection of articles, Web sites and research tools.
• Mental Health on the Internet
   Contains information on medications, disorders, diagnoses and full-text articles.
• MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences
   Provides Encyclopedic information as well as some scholarly articles.

Research Resources

• Psychcrawler
   Index to psychology related Web sites providing articles and other information.
• APA Books
   Database of psychology related books providing abstracts of the books.

Famous Psychologists

• Freud, Sigmund
   Annotated collection of links, papers, books and journals on Sigmund Freud.
• James, William
   Extensive site includes his writings, philosophy, complete book chapters, and links.
• Jung, Carl Gustav
   Web links, biographical info, articles, conferences on Jung and Jungian thought.
• The B.F. Skinner
   Includes the full text of a brief autobiography written by Skinner.

Behavior & Personality

• Personality Page
   Web site on how and why people develop different personalities.
• Personality Theories and Theorists
   Excellent Web site listing the major theories, theorists and other Web resources on the topic.
• The Personality Project
   Comprehensive source for personality studies from Northwestern University.

Tutorials/Subject Guides

• CyberLab for Psychological Research
   Site created by Dr. Megan Bradley, a professor at Frostburg State University, to aid psychology majors with their research projects.

Evaluation

• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
   Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources.

Citing Your Sources

The following online guides will help you create properly formatted papers and citations.

• Duke University Libraries Citing Sources Guide. Excellent resource including examples from all major formats in MLA, APA, and Chicago Style.
• Using MLA Format - Online Writing Lab (OWL) - Purdue University
  Includes parenthetical citations, quotations, and creating a works cited page.
• Rohrbach Library's MLA Style Electronic Citation Guide (PDF)
  Includes alphabetical list of databases along with service names and vendor URLs for citing articles retrieved from databases such as EBSCO or ProQuest.
• Using APA Format - Online Writing Lab (OWL) - Purdue University
  Same format for APA style. For electronic sources you may also want to try APA's electronic references guide.
• Chicago/Turabian Documentation
  Online style manual from the University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Chicago Style Guide
  Includes basic guidelines for citing references in a bibliography.