Library of Congress Classification

Materials in Reference Collection

Indexes and Databases

Internet Resources

Introduction

Psychology is a field of study in which scientific methods are used to obtain reliable knowledge about behavior and mental processes. Psychology is not to be confused with psychiatry, the medical specialty that is devoted to the study and cure of mental illness. Among the fundamental research concerns are the reasons human beings behave the way they do, how they develop and how they differ

Library Of Congress Classification

Library materials are organized by a system created by the Library of Congress that groups materials based on what they are about. This LC system uses letters and numbers to determine the call number of a book, which serves as that book’s address within the collection. The advantage of this system is that books about the same subject, say the French Revolution, should be in the same area. Find a good book on your subject and you should be able to find others in the same area.

The Library of Congress system places all books on psychology in class BF. This class is further broken down into subclasses that define more specific subjects. Some important subclasses are listed below. Click here for a more complete look at the Library of Congress Class B.

Specific books and other library materials can be found by searching the Online Catalog. This is a catalog that not only lists the collection of the Rockhurst University Greenlease Library, but can also be used to see the collections of the other MOBIUS libraries. For more information about the MOBIUS consortium, visit their website at https://mco.mobius.umsystem.edu/. One can search by title, author, subject and keyword to find books owned by the library. A good research strategy is called subject heading tracing. This strategy involves first doing a keyword search to find books relevant to a topic. Once a ‘good’ book is found, look at its subject headings. Then do a subject search and type in that subject heading. You should find other books on your topic this way.

Materials In Reference Collection

The library’s reference collection contains materials that are quite useful to students in psychology, including dictionaries, encyclopedias and other sources. These reference items include:

Biographical Dictionary of Psychology
Ref. 109 A1 Z85 1984

The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology and Related Fields
Ref. BF 77 K35 1990 – On Reserve

Comprehensive Handbook of Psychological Asessment
Ref. BF 176 C654 2004

Dictionary of Psychology and Psychiatry
Ref. BF 31 H2 2003

Directory of Unpublished Experimental Mental Measures
Ref. BF 431 G625

Dictionary of Theories, Laws and Concepts in Psychology
Ref. BF 31 R625 1998

Encyclopedia of Clinical Assessment
Ref. 698.4 E5

Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence
Ref. BF 431 E59 1994

Encyclopedia of Psychology
Ref. BF 31 E52 1994

Handbook of Child Psychology
Ref. BF 721 H242 1998

Handbook of Psychology
Ref. BF 121 H1955 2003

Magill’s Ency of Social Science: Psychology
Ref. BF  31 M33 2003
This four volume set, for general readers, covers the history of the field and the core aspects of behaviorism, cognitive psychology, psychoanalytic psychology, diagnoses, disorders, treatments, tests and notable people.  Volume IV contains a categorized bibliography and index.

Survey of Social Science: Psychology Series
Ref. BF 31 S79 1993

Tests in Print V: An Index to Tests, Test Reviews, and the Literature on Specific Tests
Ref. BF 698.5 B878

Indexes And Databases

Indexes and databases are tools used to find journal articles about a particular topic. Some are used primarily for academic research, while others can be used to find popular articles to practice one’s reading skills. Some are available only in print, while others will be electronic and may even contain the full-text of the article. See our Electronic Resources page for a complete list of electronic indexes and databases.

Psychological Abstracts
(INDEX AREA Ref. BF 1 P65)
This index gives users access to 1,500 books and 1,300 journals in the English-language annually from all areas of psychology and related disciplines. This index is available electronically as PsycINFO in EBSCOhost. Full text of journals published by the American Pscyhological Association and allied organizations indexed in PsycINFO can be found in a companion databases, PsycARTICLES, in EBSCOhost.

Connect to PsycINFO in EBSCOhost

Connect to PsycARTICLES in OVID

Social Sciences Index, 1974-Present
(INDEX AREA Ref. AI 3 R491)
This is an index to English language periodicals about the social sciences, including psychology. The online version is Social Sciences Abstracts.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
This database offers full-text of a variety of sources in business, law, government, general medical news and other related disciplines.

A user's guide for this database is available in PDF format via Adobe Acrobat.

For information on how to cite sources retrieved from Lexis-Nexis Academic, go to Citing Print and Electronic Sources in Research Papers.

Encyclopedia of Human Relationships is a full text encyclopedia on relationship science from Sage Publications. Results can be printed or emailed. Citations can be downloaded to RefWorks or other bibliographic management programs.

JSTOR
This is an electronic archive of scholarly journals in a variety of disciplines, which have been digitally reproduced to provide access to the backfile of each title. Some titles go back to the 19^th century. JSTOR will not include the last 2-5 years of the journals.

Internet Resources

For those with internet access, the web is a great way to find resources. From online dictionaries and magazines to recipes and music, the web has it.

The American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/
The American Psychological Association is an organization dedicated to the advancement of psychology as a science and a profession. This website has information of interest to health professionals, educators and scientists, students and the general public.

The American Psychological Society
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/
This website is a source for the latest information about the Society and the field of psychological science. It includes information about conventions, membership, publications, and provides links to government agencies, psychology departments, psychological societies and related organizations, and other sites of interest.

Encyclopedia of Psychology - Psychology Websites
http://www.psychology.org/
Located at Jacksonville State University, this is a good site to browse for information on psychology topics, including career, organizations, paradigms and theories, people and history.

Highwire Press
http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl
Selected full-text articles from journals published by Highwire Press in the areas of life sciences, medicine (including psychology and psychiatry), physical sciences, and social sciences.

Psychology Library, Princeton University's Selective Listing of: Internet Resources in Psychology and Related Disciplines
http://www.princeton.edu/~psychlib/links.htm
Includes links to career information, organizations, subject listings, statistics, academic programs, tests, writing/style information, and grant information.

Psychology Online Resource Central
http://www.psychcentral.com/
Psychology Online attempts to present some of the best links on psychology to share with students and colleagues. Some of the categories included are: APA writing links, career information, discussion and news groups, graduate school info, library links, media sites, online journals, psychology home pages, and tips for students.