LibGuides: Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Information Sources in the Library

Articles

How to find scholarly articles

To find a specific article, search LibrarySearch using the article's title
To find articles on a particular topic, search the online databases listed in the Key Databases area of this section of the guide
Free Web-based resources, such as Google Scholar and CORE, are also very useful for locating scholarly articles

LibrarySearch is the Library’s main searching tool, enabling you to search the Library’s catalogue of books, e-book collections, online databases and journals, audio-visual content and more. Because it searches so many collections, it’s a great place to start your search to see the range of what is available on your topic, before going on to search specific databases and specialised collections for your subject area.

Books

Finding Books

How to find and borrow books

To find a specific book, search LibrarySearch using the book's title
To find books on a particular topic, search LibrarySearch using keywords and subject terms
Search results can be filtered on LibrarySearch to show print or electronic books by using the 'Available in the Library' and 'Available online' options in the 'Tweak my results' menu
Scholarly e-books are also freely available online from resources such as Google Books and Open Library (please note that the range of titles available is limited and full-text access is often restricted)

Find out more about searching for and borrowing e-books and print books, returning books, your borrowing entitlements, recommending new books, and what to do if you lose a library book by reading our Finding and Borrowing Books page.

While our Sighthill LRC holds the most of the books related to Learning and Teaching, please keep in mind that books can be held at any of our campus Libraries, including Craiglockhart or Merchiston. We organise books in the Library using the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme. This means that you will find books on the same subject grouped together on the shelves.

Module reading lists

You can usually link to your module reading list from the module's Moodle page, or you can search Reading Lists using the module code or title.

Ask the staff at the Library Help Desk or contact your Subject Librarian if you have any issues with accessing items on your reading lists.

Shelf Help and non-academic books

Aside from scholarly books, the Library also has a large collection of non-academic books, such as novels, poetry volumes, and non-fiction books on many different topics. You are also welcome to check out our Wellbeing Collection that provides a specially chosen selection of books, films, and apps to help you overcome experiences, thoughts, and feelings that can be stressful or uncomfortable.

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is an established international peer-reviewed journal which publishes papers and reports on all aspects of assessment and evaluation within higher education. Its purpose is to advance understanding of assessment and evaluation practices and processes, particularly the contribution that these make to student learning and to course, staff and institutional development.
Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research
Recognized as the leading international journal on higher education studies, this publication examines educational developments throughout the world in universities, polytechnics, colleges, and vocational and education institutions. It reports on developments in both public and private higher education sectors.
Higher Education Quarterly
Higher Education Quarterly is an international scholarly journal publishing research on policy, organisation, leadership, governance, management and the professions in higher education.
Higher Education Research & Development
Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) is an international peer-reviewed journal, established in 1982 as the principal learned journal of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA).
Higher Education Research & Development informs and challenges researchers, teachers, administrators, policy-makers and others concerned with the past, present and future of higher education. The journal publishes scholarly articles that make a significant and original contribution to the field of higher education.
Journal of Further and Higher Education
Journal of Further and Higher Education is an international, peer-reviewed journal publishing scholarly work that represents the whole field of post-16 education and training. The journal engages with a diverse range of topics within the field including management and administration, teacher education and training, curriculum, staff and institutional development, and teaching and learning strategies and processes.
The Journal of Higher Education
Founded in 1930, The Journal of Higher Education publishes original research reporting on the academic study of higher education as a broad enterprise. We publish the highest quality empirical, theoretically grounded work addressing the main functions of higher education and the dynamic role of the university in society.
The Review of Higher Education
The Review of Higher Education (RHE) is considered one of the leading research journals in the field as it keeps scholars, academic leaders, and public policymakers abreast of critical issues facing higher education today. RHE advances the study of college and university issues by publishing peer-reviewed empirical research studies, empirically based historical and theoretical articles, and scholarly reviews and essays that move the study of colleges and universities forward.
Research in Higher Education
Research in Higher Education publishes studies that examine issues pertaining to postsecondary education. The journal is open to studies using a wide range of methods, but has particular interest in studies that apply advanced quantitative research methods to issues in postsecondary education or address postsecondary education policy issues. Among the topics of interest to the journal are: access and retention; student success; equity; faculty issues; institutional productivity and assessment; postsecondary education governance; curriculum and instruction; state and federal higher education policy; and financing of postsecondary education. The journal encourages submissions from scholars in disciplines outside of higher education, and studies from outside the United States that address issues that are of interest to the readership.
Studies in Higher Education
Studies in Higher Education is a leading international journal publishing research-based articles dealing with higher education issues from either a disciplinary or multi-disciplinary perspective.
Teaching in Higher Education
Teaching in Higher Education has become an internationally recognised field, which is more than ever open to multiple forms of contestation. However, the intellectual challenge which teaching presents has been inadequately acknowledged and theorised in higher education.
Teaching in Higher Education addresses this gap by publishing scholarly work that critically examines and interrogates the values and presuppositions underpinning teaching, introduces theoretical perspectives and insights drawn from different disciplinary and methodological frameworks, and considers how teaching and research can be brought into a closer relationship.

To find a specific journal, search Journal Search using the journal's title
To find journals in a particular subject area, run a subject search on LibrarySearch selecting the "Journals" item type option
You can also use the Library's BrowZine service to search for and browse most of the Library's scholarly journals, easily review tables of contents, set up a personal library to follow your favourite titles, and download the BrowZine app to keep up with your journal reading on your mobile devices

Times Higher Education

Times Higher Education This link opens in a new window
The Times Higher Education (THE) magazine is published weekly and provides the latest news in the field of Higher Education. The online version contains the latest issues and a searchable archive. Book reviews, job advertisements, details of courses and information on funding opportunities are also available.
All University members have full access to the Times Higher Education. Register for an account using your University email address. See Times Higher Education Institutional Set-up for instructions. Please note that the THE app has been withdrawn by the publisher.
Times Higher Education’s privacy policy

Key Databases

Bibliographic databases

Sometimes called abstract and indexing services, these databases provide a descriptive record for an item, often including an abstract or short summary, but not the item itself. Often, however, a record will include a link to another database where the full text can be accessed (look for a link called "Check LibrarySearch for more information" or "Link to Full text" or something similar).

If there is no link, or the link isn't working, check to see if the Library has an online or print version of the journal using Journal Search, or ask the Library to get the article for you by submitting a Resource Sharing Request.

Listed below are the main bibliographic databases relevant to Teaching.

ASSIA Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts This link opens in a new window
ASSIA is an indexing and abstracting database covering health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. It provides a comprehensive source of social science and health information for the practical and academic professional.
ProQuest’s privacy policy
British Education Index This link opens in a new window
The British Education Index provides information on research, policy and practice in education and training in the UK.
EBSCO’s privacy policy
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new window
Anthropology, economics, political science and sociology - journal articles, books, reviews.
ProQuest’s privacy policy
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
This database contains more than one million citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations and technical reports, all in the field of psychology. It also includes information about the psychological aspects of related disciplines such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business and law.
EBSCO’s privacy policy
Research into Higher Education Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Research into Higher Education Abstracts, published on behalf of the Society for Research into Higher Education, exists to propagate knowledge about, and encourage discussion of, significant research into higher education.
Informa's privacy policy
Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window
The Social Science Citation Index provides researchers, administrators, faculty, and students with access to the bibliographic and citation information they need to find research data, analyze trends, journals and researchers, and share their findings.
Clarivate Analytics’ privacy policy

Full-text databases

These databases provide the full text of articles. Listed below are the main subject-specific full-text databases relevant to Teaching.

Education Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection provides access to ERIC, the leading index for education research, together with the full-text Education Database. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers and more, including full- text from hundreds of leading education journals.
ProQuest’s privacy policy
ERIC This link opens in a new window
The ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature.
EBSCO’s privacy policy
PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
This collection, published by the American Psychological Association and affiliated journals, provides access to the full spectrum of research in the field, from cutting-edge research from preeminent scholars to the historical underpinnings of the behavioural and social sciences.
EBSCO’s privacy policy
Social Science Database This link opens in a new window
The database provides extensive coverage, indexes and full text, across a wide range of social science disciplines including anthropology, communication, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology.
ProQuest’s privacy policy

Other Databases

Text databases

In addition to searching the key databases in your subject area, you also have the option to search the Library's multi-subject databases. Though they contain a wide range of journals across many different disciplines, these collections also contain journals relevant to Teaching and can be a useful source of articles.

Cambridge Core This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Core is a brand new platform for Cambridge University Press's academic content bringing together book and journal content.
Cambridge University Press’ privacy policy
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a highly selective digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. The collections include top peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports from trusted institutes, and primary sources.
JSTOR’s privacy policy
Oxford Journals This link opens in a new window
Search journals published by Oxford University Press.
Oxford University Press’ privacy policy
SAGE Journals Online This link opens in a new window
Search SAGE journal articles.
Sage’s privacy policy
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
ScienceDirect contains over 25% of the world's science, technology and medicine full text and bibliographic information.
Elsevier’s privacy policy
SpringerLink This link opens in a new window
SpringerLink provides full-text access to over 500 journals published by Springer. Subject coverage includes science, technology and medicine.
Springer’s privacy policy
Taylor & Francis Online This link opens in a new window
Journals published by Taylor & Francis.
Taylor & Francis’ privacy policy
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
Wiley journals cover a wide range of subject areas: life, health and physical sciences, social science and the humanities.
Wiley’s privacy policy

Multimedia databases

Aside from text databases, the Library also has a range of multimedia databases that provide access to multimedia sources, such as images, audio recordings, and videos.

Box of Broadcasts This link opens in a new window
BoB (Box of Broadcasts) National is an innovative shared online off-air TV and radio recording service for UK higher and further education institutions. It contains over a million items, including an archive of all BBC TV and radio content dating from 2007.
BoB enables all staff and students in subscribing institutions to choose and record any scheduled broadcast programme from 60+ TV and radio channels. You can also edit programmes into clips, create playlists, embed clips into Moodle, share items via social media and generate reference citations.

Please note that our BoB licence is for educational purposes only, and only for use within the UK.

Windows 7 users, please note that Internet Explorer is no longer supported.

BUFVC’s privacy policy
British Library Sounds This link opens in a new window
The British Library's Archival Sound Recordings website gives UK Higher and Further Education staff and students free access to over 12,000 recordings in a variety of subjects.
The British Library's privacy policy
SCRAN This link opens in a new window
Scran is a charitable online learning service with over 370,000 images and media from museums, galleries, and archives. Its charitable purpose is "the advancement of education by enabling public access to Scottish cultural resources and related material.
SCRAN’s privacy policy
VADS This link opens in a new window
VADS (the Visual Arts Data Service) is an online resource for visual arts. It has built up a considerable portfolio of visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK. VADS is run by the Library & Student Services department of the University for the Creative Arts.
Freely available.
University for the Creative Arts' privacy policy