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Education Resource Guide

Finding Information

Finding background information

Reference books, such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias and handbooks are a useful starting point when beginning your research. The Reference collection in the Huxley Library is located on the main entry level.

Dictionaries provide definitions, and help you to understand the terminology.

Hux R370.3 LAWT	Dictionary of education. 1993
Hux R371.903 VERG 1997	Dictionary of special education and rehabilitation. 1997
Hux RQ370.3 LEON	Learning theories, A to Z. 2002
Hux R370.30994/P1	Penguin Macquarie dictionary of Australian education. 1989

Encyclopaedias give a general overview of a topic, and may also provide a list of books and journal articles for further reading.

Hux R371.903. REYN 2002	Concise encyclopedia of special education. 2nd edition, 2002
Hux RQ370.3 ENCY 2003 vols 1 -8	Encyclopedia of education. 2nd edition, 2003
Hux RQ370.78073 ALKI 1992 vols 1-4	Encyclopedia of educational research. 6th edition, 1992
Hux R370.3 HUSE 1994 vols 1-12	International encyclopedia of education. 2nd edition, 1994
Hux R371.3078 PLOM 1996	International encyclopedia of educational technology. 2nd edtion, 1996
Hux RQ370.3 WORL 2002 vols 1-3	World education encyclopedia. 2nd edition, 2001

Handbooks

Handbooks, guides and directories give detailed information on specific topics.

Hux R370.994005/A2	Australian education directory. 2004
Hux RQ370.117 BANK 2004	Handbook of research on multicultural education. 2nd edition, 2004
Hux R371.95 HELL 2000	International handbook of giftedness and talent. 2nd edition, 2000
Hux RJ378.005/W1 Auch S378.058 WORL 2003	The world of learning 2001. 51st edition, 2000 The world of learning 2003. 53rd edition 2003 also available online

Finding books, audiovisual, etc.

Printed material for Education is mainly located in the Huxley Library on the Callaghan campus.

Browsing the shelves may be useful in certain circumstances, but to ensure that you have your topic covered, you should use the Library catalogue, NEWCAT, to search for items. If you have a reading list, then search by author or title.

To find books and audiovisual material on a particular topic, use the Subject or Word search options in NEWCAT.

Often the Word search is the easiest way to find suitable titles. Type in keywords related to your topic and the catalogue will search for your terms in the title, author, notes and subject heading fields. The words should be separated by and, e.g.

discipline and students
discipline and teachers
literacy and numeracy

When you find a useful book, check the subject headings that have been given to it. This will help you with further searching.

Note that the Library catalogue uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings, which uses American spelling and terminology. Use the most specific subject heading, e.g.

child development
educational psychology
learning
literacy
schools

Subheadings help you find specific information more quickly, e.g.

child development testing
learning disabled children
literacy Australia

Specialised sources of information

AusStats database provides online statistics on educational topics at both state and national levels.
NSW Board of Studies syllabus documents and support material, HSC and School Certificate examination papers
NSW Department of Education and Training policies on school discipline and welfare and aboriginal education, information for teachers and parents on NSW education

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