Library & Web Resources

For your psychology assignments (e.g. research papers and projects) you will need to know how to find and use scholarly sources in psychology. These are not usually found in your public library; they must be accessed through the Capilano Library and its databases such as PsycINFO. You can not use newspapers, magazines, self-help books or popularized reports of psychological research unless specifically requested by your instructor, as these are often abbreviated, inaccurate or sensationalized. You must know how find and read original source material, using academic or scholarly published sources of information. For example, to write a paper on eating disorders, look for psychology journal articles or a scholarly review of research on eating disorders in the Capilano Library or on the PsycInfo database. These must be written or edited by psychologists. Self-help books found in your local library would not be acceptable sources (as they are often not written by psychologists). Our Capilano library has many psychology texts and journals that are at the appropriate level. A Library Research Skills class reviewing these resources will occur in your first course in psychology (in Psyc 100).

Research Journal Literature - Useful information on research journals and links to journals available on the Web.

Using PsycINFO - PsycINFO is an extremely useful database, a collection of abstracts of all scholarly psychology publications. Link here for a brief handout on what PsycINFO is, and how to use it. You can access PsycINFO through the Capilano University Library's database page.

Finding & Using Journal Articles - a handout and tutorial on finding and understanding psychology journal articles.

Web Resources

The web also can be a source of "cite-able" scholarly sources. However, most of the information you will access on the web in a psychology topic will be far too elementary, or without scientific foundation, or simply incorrect. We have therefore provided lists of weblinks, organized according to the topics covered in your Introductory Psyc course, so you can easily find scholarly, trustworthy sources for your assignments.

Web Links by Topic - annotated links to interesting web pages, organized by chapter in your Intro Psyc textbook.
Psychology Meta Sites - Psychology sites which also have a large number of links to excellent psychology websites.
Topic Area Searches - several websites specific to topics in psychology.

Videos in our Library and on the Web

Videos used in our Psyc 100 and 101 courses are also now available on the Internet. Go to the Annenburg site to download the Mind videos or the Discovering Psychology series.

Link here for a list of psychology videos available in AV Services in the Capilano Library.