Education Law

Finding Books Using DELCAT

Use DELCAT, the Library's online catalog, to locate books, journal titles, media, and recent government publications in the Library's collections. DELCAT may be searched by author, title, Library of Congress subject heading, keyword(s), and call number. Printed and online guides to searching DELCAT are available. Please note that certain types of material are NOT in DELCAT. These include individual articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers; use library databases and electronic journals to identify articles on a topic.

Finding Articles Using Indexes/Databases

Use one or more of the following indexes to find journal articles, dissertations, ERIC documents, etc. The electronic databases are available from the Library's home page (http://www.lib.udel.edu) under Databases and on computers in the Library, with the largest concentration in the Reference Room.

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) LOCATION: Library Databases: ERIC is the premier U.S. national bibliographic database of education literature. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, ERIC consists of two files: Resources in Education, covering unpublished document literature; and Current Index to Journals in Education, covering published journal literature from more than 775 periodicals. ERIC is not a full-text database, except for ERIC digest records. Abstracts (summaries) are provided for each reference. Covers 1966 to present.

Education Full Text LOCATION: Library Databases: An electronic index to the 427 periodicals included in Education Index. It also includes the full text of more than 133 periodicals from some of the most important education journals from 1996 forward. Covers 1983-present.

Expanded Academic ASAP Plus LOCATION: Library Databases: Electronic index which covers news-reporting magazines, scholarly and professional journals, and the latest six months of the New York Times. Some articles have abstracts, others include the full text. Covers 1980 to the present. Updated daily.

LegalTrac LOCATION: Library Databases: LegalTrac provides indexing for more than 1,400 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals, and international legal journals.Coverage begins with 1980.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe LOCATION: Library Databases: A full-text database which provides complete articles from newspapers, magazines, and other sources. It is especially strong in its coverage of the legal literature. Updated daily.

Sociological Abstracts LOCATION: Library Databases: Electronic index which covers scholarly and professional journal articles in sociology, criminal justice, and related disciplines. Includes articles on legal issues. 1952 to the present.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses LOCATION: Library Databases: Electronic index which lists dissertations published at universities throughout the country and some foreign universities, 1861 to the present.

Index to Legal Periodicals & Books. New York: H.W. Wilson. 1952-. LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref KF8 .I54): Printed index to articles published in law journals. Includes table of cases. Since 1994, book chapters have also been indexed.

Locating Articles in the Library

To locate articles that are not available full text in the databases, use DELCAT to find call numbers and locations for the journals which contain these articles. You may search for an exact journal title (International Journal of Educational Research) or for keywords in the title (Education Law). But you cannot look up individual articles by author or title in DELCAT. If you cannot find a journal title in DELCAT, the Library may not subscribe to it. Ask at the Reference Desk for assistance.

DELCAT records for magazines and journals are identified by the format designation SERIAL, to distinguish them from books with the same title. Once you have located the DELCAT record for your journal, click on the appropriate link to find out what volumes and years the Library has (called holdings). If more than one location is listed, check each one to determine where the issue you need can be found.

ERIC documents with ED numbers are available on microfiche in the Microforms Area, where they are filed by the ED accession number; do not look for them in DELCAT.

Other Reference Sources

Deskbook Encyclopedia of American School Law. Rosemount, MI: Informational Research Systems. Annual. LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref KF4114 .D46) Latest ed. LOCATION: Morris Library (KF4114 .D46) Earlier eds.

Murdick, Nikki L. Special Education Law. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002 LOCATION: Morris Library - (KF4210 .M87 2002)

Klicka, Christopher J. The Right to Home School: A Guide to the Law on Parent's Rights in Education. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2002. LOCATION: Morris Library - (KF4222 .K56 2002)

U.S. Supreme Court Education Cases. Birmingham, Ala: Oakstone, 2000. LOCATION: Morris Library - (KF4110.3 .U15 2000)

Valente, William D. Law in the Schools. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice-Hall, 2001. LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref KF4119 .V28 2001)

Yearbook of Education Law. Topeka, KS: National Organization on Legal Problems of Education, 1988 - . LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref LB2514 .Y43) Latest ed. LOCATION: Morris Library (LB2514 .Y43) Earlier eds.

Electronic Access to Library Resources

The University of Delaware Library provides a variety of electronic information resources. Most of these sources are accessible to University students, faculty, and staff via the Library's Web site (http://www.lib.udel.edu), though a few are available only in the Library. University students, faculty, and staff may obtain University of Delaware computing accounts from Information Technologies/IT to gain access to databases and electronic journals from outside the Library (call 831-6000). Additional information is included in the section "How to Connect" on the Library's home page. Also here is session access through the "UD off-campus users click here to access databases and e-journals" link.

For more information on available databases, recommended Internet resources, and electronic journals in your subject area, refer to the Subjects A-Z section on the Library's Web site and select Education or Legal Studies. Reference staff will be glad to assist you if you have questions about the availability or location of a particular source.

Interlibrary Loan

University of Delaware students, faculty, and staff may obtain books and journal articles not owned by the Library through the Library's Interlibrary Loan Service. Electronic request forms are available by clicking on Forms or Interlibrary Loan from the Library's home page (http://www.lib.udel.edu). Articles can usually be obtained within a few days; books may take longer.

This page is maintained by Meg Grotti, Reference Department.

Version: 01/99
Last modified: 03/24/09