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Education resources and support

Your Subject Librarian

Your Subject Librarian

Sue Chubb

Other Education Library Staff can answer your more general library queries.

Recommend other items

Education resources are available in these branch libraries

Most education resources will be found in the Education Library.

Other related resources can be found in the Arts and Social Sciences Library:

  • Research Methods
  • Management
  • Psychology
  • Sociology

New books

  • New books and reports are displayed on the New Book Display shelves in the Education Library for one week, during which time they may be reserved at the Library Issue Desk but not borrowed.

Course based materials

Materials to support Education courses are available in the Education Library:

  • Duplicate copies of some recommended textbooks (for example, books in high demand for essays and
    assignments) are kept in the Short Loan Collection (SLC)
  • Tutors may also make materials for study available on Blackboard.

Thesis collection

Graduate School of Education, Masters, PhD, MPhil and EdD theses are held in the Education Library Thesis collection. They may be consulted within the library, please ask at the Library Issue Desk if you wish to see any.

How to find books, journals, and more

Inter-Library Loans and ILL vouchers

The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service can be used to obtain Items not held in print in the University's branch libraries or available online. There is a charge for this service, though it may be possible to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher to pay for this:

  • GSoE academic and research staff can usually obtain Inter-Library Loan vouchers from the Education Library. If you wish to make several ILL requests or if you wish to request an ILL voucher for a research project, please inform Education Library staff, that this is the case before you request your ILL.
  • Education postgraduates will usually be able to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher; these are held by the School in the Student Services Office on the 1st floor of the GSoE. Please ask for any further information you require in the Education Library.

Information for academic staff and researchers

  • Our Research support pages cover finding information, managing information, and exploiting your research, together with sources of further help and advice.
  • Each academic department in the university has its own library representative, whose duties are detailed in these guidelines. The Library Representative for Education is Dr Paul Howard-Jones
  • Book purchase recommendations can be made to the Subject Librarian for Education.
  • New journal / database subscription requests can be made to the Subject Librarian for Education or to the Library Representative for Education, although you will need to suggest how we might fund a new subscription.
  • If you are a new member of staff, please do contact your Subject Librarian to discuss how the library can best support you, your research and your students.

Databases

MetaLib: your resource gateway provides access to a vast range of online resources, including databases, search engines, subject gateways, and selected Internet resources.

  • Education databases via MetaLib (cross-search list)
    This link takes you to the list of education databases (or those containing some useful education content) and other information resources, such as education gateways, that you can access via MetaLib. You also have the option to Cross-search the content of many of these resources once you have logged into MetaLib For details of a particular resource click on the Information icon next to the resource name. Alternatively, Education databases via MetaLib (list with brief details) lists the same databases, but with brief details displayed against each. Click on the Info icon to display the full details.

The following guides to literature searching in general and to searching individual education databases are available here and have been produced by the Education Subject Librarian:

Internet links

Using the Internet

  • Internet for Education - a web-based tutorial on Internet information skills for education. The tutorial will help you discover key Internet sites for education, improve your searching skills and learn how to use the Internet to find useful information on education.
  • Internet Detective - a 'teach yourself' tutorial from Intute, designed to help you develop the critical thinking required for Internet research.

Gateways and Resources for general sources of UK education information

  • Information services from the British Education Index - The British Education Index office in Leeds University Library provides a number of information services relevant to the work of researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the fields of education and training. Each of the five different services has its own web pages.
  • Institute of Education, (University of London) Library and Archives -The Institute has the largest collection in Europe of books and journals on educational studies. The website provides information on accessing the Institute's Library as a visitor and the site also provides useful information concerning the library's collections and links to online education resources.
  • Teacher Training Resource Bank - although no longer being updated TTRB is still a useful resource which draws together research and evidence to give teachers in training and school based mentors access to an extensive database of professional and teaching resources.
  • Intute: Education and Research Methods - although no longer being updated, since Intute closed in July 2011, the Education and Research Methods section of the Intute information gateway is still very useful, detailing high quality resources targeted at students, staff and researchers in higher and further education.
  • BBC News Channel - Education - for current news on education in the UK, covering all levels from primary through to University.
  • BBC Learning - the BBC provides an ever increasing array of educational resources for adults, children, parents and teachers. Resources include educational games, revision activities/aids and online courses.
  • NSPCC Inform - The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children hosts a variety of information resources including their own research publications and statistics, briefings, fact sheets and reading lists relating to child welfare and child protection in the UK

UK - Government and official organisations for Education

  • Department for Education - formerly the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The DfE is the UK's official government department with responsibility for education and children's services, involving all aspects of policy affecting children and young people. The site contains news and information from the department and gives access to many full text douments on government policy on education and to research publications and education statistics.
  • Estyn - is the official government office for Education and Training in Wales. It's aim is to raise standards and quality of education and training in Wales through inspection and advice, in support of the vision and strategic direction set out by the Welsh Assembly Government.
  • Ireland - Department of Education and Skills
  • Scottish Government Education and Training - The Scottish government has responsibility for education at all levels, from primary education through to further and higher education in Scotland. The web site has information sections on Early Education, Schools, Universities, Lifelong Learning, Work based training and Employment and Careers.
  • Education Scotland - Information and resources on all aspects of education in Scotland including news, events, reports and includes the Parent Zone, Communities, National Qualifications Online and 5-14 online resources for teachers.
  • Guide to Education and Training in Scotland - Information on the education and training provision in Scotland from pre-school to higher education.
  • Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (new OFSTED) - this body inspects and regulates care for children and young people and inspects education and training for learners of all ages. It has responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England, both state and independent schools and for inspecting all 16-19 education through colleges. OFSTED also inspects local education authorities and teacher training institutes. Details of the findings of all inspections are published in Inspection reports
  • National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) - The National College for School Leadership merged with the Teaching Agency in April 2013 to form a new government agency, the NCTL, created to enable and support the development of a self improving and school led system. The agency states it's aims as being to improve the quality of the workforce and to aid schools to help each other improve.  
  • The Register of Regulated Qualifications - The Register contains details of Recognised Awarding Organisations and Regulated Qualifications in England (Ofqual), Wales (DCELLS) and Northern Ireland (Ofqual for vocational qualifications and CCEA for all other qualifications.)

UK Government and international education resources

  • British Council - The UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations whose stated purpose is to build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries.
  • DFID (Department For International Development) - formerly the ODA. The official UK government department that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works toward the eradication of world poverty.
  • Create - Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity. CREATE is a five-year programme of research funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with partner institutions in the UK, Bangladesh, Ghana, India, and South Africa. CREATE has developed a collaborative programme of research to analyse policy and practice designed to reduce educational exclusion and expand access to basic education for children between the ages of 5 and 15 years. At least 250 million fail to access secondary schooling to grade 9. CREATE’s research aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the reasons why so many children fail. A variety of full text publications are also available from the Create website.

Local Council Education Departments

UK Education Research organisations and bodies

  • ESRC - The Economic and Social Research Council funds research and training in social and economic issues.
  • BERA - British Educational Research Association - The Association aims to promote and develop an independent and thriving research culture by encouraging an active community of educational researcher. BERA aims to promote discussion and co-operation with policy makers,other national education research bodies, teachers, lecturers and their professional associations.
  • BECTA Archive - The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency was the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning, it closed in January 2011. The website however has been archived and a number of BECTA's full text research publications, and some statistical data, looking at the impact of ICT on education, are available through this archive.
  • EPPI-Centre - The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre, aims to make reliable research findings about health, education and welfare available to those who need them. The Centre writes and supports others to write comprehensive summaries of this research, known as systematic reviews and provides access to these through its Evidence Library on the website.
  • National Foundation for Educational Research - their stated mission is to contribute to improving education and training both nationally and internationally, by undertaking research, disseminating the findings and by providing information services.

Higher education resources

  • HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) - promotes and funds high quality teaching and research in England by distributing public money to universities and colleges.
  • HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) - the official body responsible for the collection and publication of statistical data about higher education.
  • ESCalate - the national subject centre for Education closed in December 2011. However the website now acts as an archive for the work that ESCalate facilitated between 2000 - 2011 when it produced and disseminated resources for staff and students in Higher Education and Further Education involved in Education Studies, Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning and Initial Teacher Education. The archive gives visitors access to ESCalate documents including a number of full text academic papers and conference publications. The website also provides links to a large number of resources for education and gives details of ESCalate grant funded projects.
  • The Higher Education Academy - an independent organisation funded by the four UK HE funding bodies and by grants whose mission is to provide expertise and resources to support the higher education community in order to enhance the quality and impact of teaching and learning The work of the Academy focuses on 3 main areas, Academic Practice Development Teacher Excellence and Institutional Strategy and Change. The Academy also provides support for individual disciplines including Education.
  • Universities' Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) - acts as a national forum for discussing matters relating to the education of teachers and to the study of education in the University sector; it contributes to the formulation of policy in these fields.
  • Gov.UK Education and Learning - a UK government information service for adult learners, higher education students and young people, together with information for parents about education and their children.

European sources of educational information

  • EURYDICE - The Eurydice Network provides information on and analyses of European education systems and policies. It consists of 40 national units based in 36 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme. It is a comprehensive source of information on the education systems of these countries covering pre-primary to higher education. National summary sheets describing the education system in each country are available from Eurypedia - the European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems.
  • European Commission - Education and Training - The EC proposes legislation to Parliament and the Council and administers and implements EC community policies. The EC education and training initiatives aim to improve the quality of learning by developing and implementing lifelong learning strategies and co-ordinates action to achieve common aims on school, higher, adult and vocational education across Europe, by the exchange of good practice. It also focuses on the development and administration of funding programmes.
  • European Educational Research Association (EERA) - The Association aims to foster the exchange of ideas amongst European researchers, promote collaboration in research, improve research quality and to be able to offer independent advice on educational research to European policy-makers, administrators and practitioners.

International bodies and organisations for Education

  • UNESCO - including an Education resource page on international issues and developments in education worldwide.
  • UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning
  • International Bureau of Education - acts as UNESCO's centre specialising in contents, methods and structure of education. It builds networks to share expertise on curriculum development in all regions of the world and aims to introduce modern approaches in curriculum design and implementation. At it's international conference on Education, national reports on the development of education are presented for many individual countries.
  • OECD - the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has an Education page which gives detailed information on education in individual countries, provides statistical information and links to publications, documents, conferences and news, relevant to education and skills training.
  • The World Bank - states that promoting education is central to it's goal of reducing poverty and has an education website World Bank Education - detailing reports, statistics, documents and news on education throughout the world.
  • The World Bank eAtlas of Global Development - The World Bank eAtlas of Global Development maps and graphs more than 175 thematically organised indicators for over 200 countries, letting you visualise and compare progress on the most important development challenges facing the world, including access to education.
  • U.S. Department of Education - The Department's mission is to foster educational excellence, ensure equal access to education and to promote student achievement. The Department oversees research in American schools, establishes education policy and collects statistical information which may be viewed at the National Center for Education Statistics
  • Global Campaign for Education - The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a civil society movement that aims to end the global education crisis and hold governments who have promised to provide education for all accountable. Their mission is to make sure governments act to deliver a free, quality, public education for everyone. The GCE's membership is open to national coalitions and international and regional organisations that advocate quality public education for all.
  • NationMaster - An international data resource, enabling a comparison of general statistics across countries, including education statistics. Maps and country profiles are also available and data is sourced from the following organisations, the CIA World Factbook, the UN and the OECD. Provides a good concise overview of each country, the aim of the site is to be a one stop shop for country statistics.
  • ELDIS (Electronic Development and Environment Information System) - ELDIS is an information gateway providing access to development and environment information.and aims to share the best in development policy, practice and research. Eldis provides selected content covering over 7,500 development organisations. country profile information and resource guides, dossiers and a large number of full text documents with over 1,600 of these covering education.

Quick reference tools

Resource Location and Classmark (shelf location)
Acronyms and initialisms in education: a handlist in the Education Library at Gen. Ref. [LB15]
Annual abstract of statistics. (HMSO) - includes a section on education in the Arts and Social Sciences Library at Statistics HA1122.A2
British Education Index - an indexing serial giving details of mainly British journal articles published on education topics in the Education Library at Indexing Serial Bri
British Education Thesaurus 2nd edition - for use to identify subject terms when searching the online British Education Index database in the Education Library at PC Area
Commonwealth universities yearbook in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LB2301]
Dictionaries of education in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LB15]
Doing a literature search :a comprehensive guide for the social sciences in the Education Library at LB2369 HAR
Education at a glance : OECD indicators in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LA102 Edu]
Education authorities directory and annual in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[L915]
Education in the UK : facts and figures in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LA232 MCK] and at LA232 MCK
Education statistics for the United Kingdom (HMSO) in the Education Library at the Library Counter
Education Statistics: Actuals and Estimates (CIPFA) - statistics of education in local authority and Grant Maintained Schools in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LA232 EDU]
Education year book in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[L915]
Europa World of learning in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LB2301]
Google for dummies in the Education Library at PC Area
Google power :unleash the full potential of Google in the Education Library at PC Area
Guide to official statistics in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[HA50]
How to find out in education: a guide to information sources in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[Z5001]
How to find information: a guide for researchers 2nd ed. in the Education Library at LB2369 RUM
International encyclopedia of education 3rd ed. in the Education Library at Gen. Ref.[LB15]
Internet research skills :how to do your literature search and find research information online in the Education Library at HM35 ODO
Law of education in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LA232 LAW]
Primary education directory in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[L915]
Search strategies for the Internet :how to identify essential resources more effectively 3rd edition in the Education Library at

Oversize TK5105 BLA
Social Trends (HMSO) - contains a section of educational statistics, but categories vary from year to year in the Education Library at Gen.Ref. [AX] and recent years online (via MetaLib)
Statistical Bulletin (National Statistics Bulletin) - an irregular bulletin designed to make key educational statistics quickly available in the Education Library at HMSO Statistics
Statistics of Education (DFEE) - multi-volume work covering: Student Support; Students in Further and Higher Education; Public Examinations, GCSE and GCE; Schools; Teachers in service in the Education Library at the Library Counter, with back issues at HMSO Statistics
The extreme searcher's guide to Web search engines :a handbook for the serious searcher in the Education Library at TK5105 HOC
Thesaurus of ERIC descriptors - for use to identify subject terms when searching the online ERIC database in the Education Library at PC Area
University Statistics in the Arts and Social Sciences Library at Statistics L341.S86
Whitaker's almanack in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[AY]
World Education Report (UNESCO) in the Education Library at Gen.Ref.[LA102 Wor]
World Yearbook of Education in the Education Library at L101

Information skills training for postgraduates

  • All Education students are offered library tours and/or an induction session arranged early in their first term.
  • Research students have an additional 'literature searching and information skills' session, taught by the Subject Librarian.
    The session is time-tabled into the following units for research students, 'Understanding Educational Research' and 'Core Skills for Educational Research'.
  • A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Self-learning resources

  • Video tutorials - topics include the Library Catalogue, understanding references on reading lists, using the MetaLib resource gateway, off-campus access to eResources, etc.
  • Finding and using information pages - covering key aspects of information skills, including researching a topic, effective use of Google, evaluating your search results, avoiding plagiarism, etc. Also includes a Jargon-buster page.
  • Library guides - downloadable guides to each branch library, our main search tools, special library services, etc.
  • External resources for developing your information skills - including online tutorials and downloadable guides.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Referencing guidance

Referencing

It is important that any sources you use in preparing your written work are acknowledged and accurately cited. This allows anyone reading your work to find the sources you have used for your ideas, arguments and findings and also to verify any quotations you have made. It is also important to use a clear and consistent style of citation.

  • The University of Leeds has produced a useful general guide on Referencing which gives guidance on different, well known referencing styles, accompanied by examples of how to use each reference style when citing different types of material.
  • The following publication is also available in the Education Library, 'Cite them right: the essential referencing guide' by Richard Pears and Graham Shields, Palgrave Macmillan 20010. This publication is available at LB2369 PEA
  • There are many guides to different, widely used citation styles available, for example the Harvard Style of referencing is a popular one preferred by some academic staff in the Graduate School of Education. However, always check with your tutor or supervisor which style they wish to use before you start writing, this information may also be given in your programme or course handbook.
  • Harvard Style - The following online guides give you detailed information about how to use the Harvard style in citing your references, both in the main body of your work and in compiling your bibliography of references at the end.

  • Kingston University Information Services Citing References using the Harvard Style

  • Harvard Referencing - the guide to citation and referencing from the University of East London Library and Learning Services
  • Referencing @ Portsmouth Guide - This useful guide authored by the University of Portsmouth Library, provides users with an interactive referencing guide which follows various styles, one of which you can select is Harvard APA style. This style is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This resource also provides guidance on referencing material which is not covered in the manual, but which is based on general APA principles. Users can select from the interactive guide the type of material they wish to reference, and then see an example/s of how that material should be cited.
  • General referencing guidance
    includes Why reference? What is included in a reference? Referencing styles, How to reference, Links to useful sites on referencing, and brief details of EndNote and EndNote Basic referencing software (see the EndNote referencing software section below for more details).
  •  

Journal title abbreviations

Literature references are often written with abbreviated terms. Probably the most troublesome are abbreviated journal titles which can make finding a journal difficult.

If you are unable to find the abbreviation you are looking for, please ask a member of the Library staff for assistance. Alternatively, these online resources may help:

Unofficial abbreviations

Sometimes very short unofficial abbreviations are employed in reference books or journals.
Please note: these should not be used in the references that you write, unless they are stipulated by the body or journal that you are submitting your work to.

Writing for the subject, and how to avoid plagiarism

  • Various guides to research writing are available at classmark LB2369 in the Education Library - to check what is available, it is best to use the 'Basic Search' option on the Library catalogue, choose 'Field to Search' and on the drop down menu for this option select the 'Shelflist (all library classmark schemes in one)' search, this will find both items on loan, and those kept behind the Issue Desk, as well as the books currently on the shelves at the LB2369 classmark location.
  • General advice on writing and style guides
  • Our Plagiarism: information and advice for students page explains what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and the consequences of plagiarism.

EndNote referencing software

EndNote is the University of Bristol's recommended bibliographical management software, which can be used to collect, store, organise and manage references, and to output them as reference lists or bibliographies. A particularly useful function is 'Cite While You Write', enabling you to format Word documents, producing bibliographies and adding references within the text.