Library Guides: Education: Background Information

Overview of Education

Education research is the scientific field of study that examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning takes place throughout a person's life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods.

American Educational Research Association

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Dictionaries are most often collections of words in one or more specific languages, usually arranged in alphabetical order, providing information like word meanings, usage, etymology, and, when they contain more than one language, translations. Some dictionaries include information more commonly found in encyclopedias. Encyclopedias are collections of information on terms, figures, eras, locations also arranged alphabetically, and, alongside definitions of terms, they also include more in-depth general information on a topic. Encyclopedias can be general or subject-specific.

College blue book, 36th ed This link opens in a new window
Guide to thousands of 2- and 4-year schools in the U.S. and Canada. Covers the expected listings and detailed descriptions, degree programs offered, scholarships, and occupational education programs.
Encyclopedia of African American education This link opens in a new window
Overview of educational institutions at every level, from preschool through graduate and professional training, with special attention to historically and predominantly Black colleges and universities.
Encyclopedia of bilingual education This link opens in a new window
The Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education is embedded in several disciplines, including applied linguistics, politics, civil rights, historical events, and of course, classroom instruction. This work is a compendium of information on bilingual education and related topics in the United States with select international contributors providing global insight onto the field.
Encyclopedia of diversity in education This link opens in a new window
From A-to-Z, this Encyclopedia will cover the full spectrum of diversity issues, including race, class, gender, religion, language, exceptionality, and the global dimensions of diversity as they relate to education. This four-volume reference work will be the definitive reference for diversity issues in education in the United States and the world.
Encyclopedia of educational leadership and administration This link opens in a new window
Presents the most recent theories, research, terms, concepts, ideas, and histories on educational leadership and school administration as taught in preparation programs and practiced in schools and colleges today.
Encyclopedia of educational psychology This link opens in a new window

Encyclopedia of School Psychology
Comprehensive guide to the field of school psychology featuring the latest research on school learning, motivation, and educational assessment. Entries on psychology, education and counseling, child development, and special education address student success, behavior disorders, intelligence testing, learning disabilities, strategies to improve academic skills, and more.
Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Reference Universe to find just the right article(s) to begin your research, build a bibliography and establish a solid research foundation. This online database searches the complete indexes of more than 10,000 reference titles. Nearly 2,000 of these titles are online editions.

InCites : Journal citation reports This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive resource that allows users to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from scholarly and technical journals from publishers in over 80 countries. It is the only source of citation data on journals, and includes virtually all areas of science, technology, and social sciences.
National faculty directory This link opens in a new window
"Provides names, departmental affiliations and institutional addresses of professionals at thousands of American colleges and universities, as well as at approximately 200 Canadian institutions that use instructional materials primarily in English."--Publisher's description.

Biography

Biography provides a description of a person's life, detailing the basic facts like birth and death, education, family background, etc. but also portraying the individual subject's experience of those life events.

Julian Samora Library and Archives Institute for Latino Studies
The Julian Samora Library at the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame collects, preserves, and provides access to rare books, manuscripts, personal papers, archives, and oral histories related to the Latino experience in the United States with a particular focus on the Midwest.