Counseling Tutorial

What are the best resources to use for your topic?

Counseling uses the same types of information resources described in Module 1: books, journal articles, the occasional magazine or newspaper article, reference sources, and Internet sites. In addition to these sources, the Wright State University Libraries offer users access to Counseling and Psychology related databases and online full-text journal collections through the Libraries' web site.

BOOKS
If you are unfamiliar with your topic, books are a good place to begin gathering background information. They often provide overviews or broad coverage of issues, concepts, theories, case studies, biographies, etc. But, because it can take more than a year for books to be published, they typically do NOT contain the most current information available. Later in this tutorial you will learn how to use the library catalog to find relevant books for your research.

JOURNALS
It is very important for you to use journal articles to find the most current information in Counseling. You will find citations to scholarly journal articles by using the online databases or print indexes appropriate for your Counseling topics. A descriptive list of these databases and indexes follows.

REFERENCE SOURCES
Most Reference sources in Counseling provide you with basic factual information, summaries/overviews of issues, or statistical data. The format of these sources varies: print, microform, CD-ROM, or electronic. If you select Counseling under the RESEARCH GUIDES link, you will find even more subject-specific materials.

FULL-TEXT ONLINE BOOKS, JOURNALS, MEDIA COLLECTIONS
If you are unable to visit the library, you still have access to many full-text online resources through the library catalog. Under the FIND: BOOKS link on the Libraries' web site there are links to online reference ebooks. You can also search the WSU Library Catalog for ebooks. Online journals are in the EJC (click on DATABASES, then click on the letter "E," then click on "Electronic Journal Center."). Full text articles can be found in a number of databases--see the Counseling list.

INTERNET
You have access to selected Internet Counseling sites through the Counseling subject guide on the Libraries' homepage. These sites have been evaluated for their currency, authority, informational content/scope, and relevance.