Research Guides: Special Education: Getting Started

Education Librarian

She/Her/Hers

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Mullins Library
MULN 419

(479) 575-4937

Subjects: Communication Sciences and Disorders, Counselor Education, Education, Education Reform, Human Resource Development, Indigenous Studies, Occupational Therapy, Public Health, Public Policy

ERIC (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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ERIC (U.S. Department of Education) This link opens in a new window

This guide contains information to help you navigate through useful library resources for special education students, faculty, and other researchers. The following pages will aid in general library research, finding books and articles, professional resources, and managing your citations. Please contact us for further help and give us feedback on this guide!

Core Special Education Resources

APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
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Covers 1887-. Provides access to the international literature in psychology and related behavioral and social sciences, including psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, education, pharmacology, and linguistics. Indexes journals, as well as books, technical reports, dissertations, and other materials.
ERIC (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1966-. Complete database on educational materials from the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). ERIC indexes two different kinds of publication: journal articles and ERIC Documents or reports.
Cabell's Education Directory This link opens in a new window
Provides a directory of journals in the fields of curriculum and methods, educational psychology and administration, and educational technology and library science. Cabell's gives in-depth information on acceptance rates, manuscript guidelines, relative prestige, and the intended audience.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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Covers: mostly 1990s- with some content back to the 19th century. A general research database that includes both popular magazines and scholarly journals. Offers academic and trade journals, popular magazines as well as some books, reports, and websites. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for some journals.

Ebsco eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
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A collection of full-text electronic books purchased by the University Libraries.
Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
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Offers full-text electronic books in three categories:
those purchased by your UA librarians,
subscribed titles from the large Academic Complete collection,
and subscribed titles from the Arkansas State Library Traveler program, including College Complete, Schools and Educators Complete, and Public Library Complete.
WorldCat Discovery This link opens in a new window
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Describes items published since about 1000 and owned by libraries around the world. Types of publications include: books, journals, maps, slides, computer data files, magazines, musical scores, sound recordings, computer programs, manuscripts, newspapers, videotapes, bibliographies, master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and software. Items not held by the University Libraries may often be requested on ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan).
WorldCat.org This link opens in a new window
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WorldCat.org is open to all to use.
Describes items published since about 1000 and owned by libraries around the world. Types of publications include: books, journals, maps, slides, computer data files, magazines, musical scores, sound recordings, computer programs, manuscripts, newspapers, videotapes, bibliographies, master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and software. Items not held by the University Libraries may often be requested on ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan).
Google Books This link opens in a new window
A growing collection of records for both recent and long out-of-print titles. Because a search may retrieve results from the full-text of many books, Google Books is most useful in helping you to identify titles of interest in your research. A number of popular magazines and government documents have also been added to the Google Books service.

EThOS: Electronic Theses Online Service This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1970s- with some earlier documents. A cooperative project of the British Library, higher education institutions in Britain, and the Center for Research Libraries, EThOS serves as a gateway to theses written in the UK. Record date back to the 17th century, and a growing number of theses have been digitized for immediate delivery via the web.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1861- with comprehensive full text from 1997-. Provides citations to and full text of millions of works. It includes citations dissertations and theses back to the 18th century and full text for dissertations and theses from the 1990s to the present. See the More info link for exact coverage of UofA theses and dissertations in this database.
Dissertations that are not available for free download online can be borrowed free of charge via Interlibrary Loan.
Foreign Doctoral Dissertations (Center for Research Libraries) This link opens in a new window
Covers: 1900- .Search the CRL (Center for Research Libraries) collection of foreign theses and dissertations. CRL is a cooperative collection of esoteric materials. Because the LIbraries are CRL members you may borrow materials on Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad).Search by author, translated title, institution, country, year, or subject keyword. The University of Arkansas is a member of CRL and researchers can borrow these materials via Interlibrary Loan.

Professional Associations

National Association of Special Education Teachers
"The National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) is a national membership organization dedicated to rendering all possible support and assistance to those preparing for or teaching in the field of special education. NASET was founded to promote the profession of special education teachers and to provide a national forum for their ideas."
International Association of Special Education
"The vision of the International Association of Special Education (IASE) is to improve the quality of life and service delivery for all individuals with special needs. Founded in 1985, IASE members reside in 50 countries and include teachers, teacher trainers, professors, speech clinicians, psychologists, health care providers, social workers, counselors, family members and those associated with related disciplines."
Council for Exceptional Children
"The Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. We accomplish our mission through advocacy, standards, and professional development."

Relevant Statistics

ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
Covers: 1962- (some historical series are older). The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), established in 1962, maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. The ICPSR archive offers a large number of data sets on social attitudes, opinions, and behaviors, as well as census and other statistical sources.

ADE Data Center
Provides data systems, data tools, and informational reports for anyone interested in official data from the Arkansas Department of Education
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Programs and Lesson Plans

US Department of Education - OSEP Programs and Projects
"The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) supports a comprehensive array of programs and projects authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities."
Disabilities and Special Education
"This page contains links to lesson plans and resources for students with disabilities, particularly those receiving special education. It also contains lesson plans about individuals with disabilities."

Assistive Technologies

Explore AT
Explore AT (Assistive Technology) is a clearinghouse for information and resources on many different assistive technologies. You can find useful resources arranged by activity and disability.
TechMatrix
The TechMatrix was a product of the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI), previously funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) award #H327Z060003. The TechMatrix continues to be maintained and updated by American Institutes for Research (AIR) and is dedicated to improving the quality and integration of assistive and learning technologies to enhance the learning experience for students with disabilities and their classmates.
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
This site was created by Georgia Tech's Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA), with funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), and Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). The site provides a database of over 22,000 tools and products.
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials
This site provides resources for learning about and implementing accessible educational materials.