Library

Early Childhood Development Resources - LPC Library Research Guide

Please ask a reference librarian for assistance at any time. We will be glad to help!

 

Reference Sources

Use reference sources for background information, broad overviews, and summaries. The reference collection includes general and subject specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographies, directories, almanacs, and atlases. Reference books cannot be checked out from the library but may be photocopied.

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Print and Audiovisual Materials: Library Catalog

Use the online catalog to find materials in the library. The catalog includes all books and audiovisual materials LPC Library owns. Search for a book or video by the author, title, subject, or keyword.

Examples of subject headings:

Early childhood development is a broad term to use in searching the catalog. More specific terms or focus will narrow the search:

 

Books: Selected Titles

 

Children's Activities/Play

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Childcare/Daycare

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Child Development/Childrearing/Parenting

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Child Education/Curriculum

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Child Psychology/Abuse/Special Needs

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DVDs and Videos: Selected Titles

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Periodicals and Electronic Print Resources

Periodicals in print and in electronic print resources (databases) provide in-depth analyses of events and trends, research studies on particular subjects, and professional literature. Las Positas College subscribes to several excellent journals in the field of early childhood development as well as some popular magazines that may report on issues of interest.

Selected List of Magazine and Journal Titles

Electronic Print Resources

In addition, magazine and journal articles are available by using electronic print resources (online databases). These online databases can be accessed in the LPC Library or from home from the LPC Library Homepage.

Examples of Electronic Print Resources (online databases) for Early Childhood Development


CQ Researcher – Explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. Topics are available from social and teen issues to environment, health, education, science and technology dating back to 1991.

EBSCO Databases:
Academic Search Premier provides full-text articles for more than 4,500 serials, including full text for more than 3,700 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals.

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. It also features abstracts and indexing for nearly 850 journals.

Health Source: Consumer Edition is the richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide, providing information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. It features searchable full text for nearly 150 journals.

Primary Search is designed specifically for elementary school libraries and public library children’s rooms. It contains the full text for more than 70 popular, elementary school magazines. In addition another 100 magazines are indexed and abstracted. Full text is also available for over 100 student pamphlets.

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection provides nearly 575 full-text publications, including nearly 550 peer-reviewed titles. It covers topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry and psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods.

ERIC contains more than 2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citations and abstracts from over 1,000 educational and education-related journals.

TIP: Limit EBSCO databases searches by "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" or "Full Text" by selecting the appropriate boxes in the basic search screen. Specific publications can be searched by limiting search to the name of the magazine or journal. Once you search, EBSCOhost databases categorize the results as articles from academic journals, magazines, or newspapers. You may click on "academic journals" to limit your results to articles from academic journals.

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Internet Resources

Internet resources can supplement or enhance your research. Be cautious of information found on the Web since the quality of sources varies tremendously on the Internet. It is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, evaluate the quality based on the following criteria:

Examples of Relevant Web Sites

Alameda County – Local county government site has links to numerous state and local government organizations and programs.

California Child Care Resource and Referral Agency – Child Care Resource and Referral (R&R) agencies are located in every county in California. R&R services support parents, providers, and communities in finding, planning for, and providing affordable, quality childcare. Select your county to access contact information for the R&R in your area.

California Research Bureau: Preschool and Childcare Enrollment in California – Prepared at the request of Assembly member Wilma Chan and was written by Elias Lopez and Patricia L. DeCos, January 2004.

Eden I & R – Local social services database providing information and referrals to low cost housing, emergency shelters and social service agencies for Alameda County.

Early Childhood.com – Includes special articles, web links, arts and crafts ideas for the early childhood educator and parent. Primarily features information and curriculum planning for children from the infant/toddler ages to the kindergarten/primary grade level.

National Center for Early Development and Learning – NCEDL is a national early childhood research project supported by the US Department of Education's Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), formerly the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). Administratively based at the FPG Child Development Institute, NCEDL is a collaboration with the University of Virginia & UCLA.

Tufts University Child & Family Web Guide – This is a specialized web directory that links to the best sites about infants, children, and teens. Graduate students and faculty in child development have systematically evaluated all the sites listed to give the public easy access to the best child development information on the Web.

Librarians’ Internet Index – Available from the LPC Library homepage, this is a highly recommended subject directory that will lead to evaluated, reliable sources on any topic.

Citing Sources

Follow the format recommended by your instructor or ask a librarian to show you a "style manual." LPC Library Citation Style Guides are available from the LPC Library Homepage, as well as the online resource, NoodbleBib, a bibliography composer. .

SUGGESTION: Keep printouts of sources, or write out all pertinent information on author, title, publisher, date, or Internet address to identify where the information came from.




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Library Telephone: 925.424.1150
Library Fax: 925.606.7249

Page last modified: May 01, 2008