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   SUBJECT RESEARCH GUIDE |
To start your research, use the resources below or begin with the the CSUDH Library web page found at : http://library.csudh.edu .
The resources listed under the category of Online Article Indexes are available from on-campus computers or by remote access CSUDH students who have registered for access. To register, please bring your CSUDH picture ID along with proof of current registration to the Library Circulation Department on the 2nd floor of the library. Distance students may register online at https://library.csudh.edu/rparegform.php, but please allow 5 working days for the completion of the online registration process.
Books are located using the Library's ToroFind catalog. Here you can search for books by author, title or subject. In addition to finding materials available in the CSUDH Library, you will find links that allow you to directly request books from other libraries (All CSUs Catalog and LINK+ buttons). Links are provided below for other local libraries and libraries worldwide.
Southern California Libraries (includes links to academic, public and special libraries)
LIBWEB (includes links to libraries in over 125 countries)
To find journal articles when you do not have a specific citation or reference to an article, try one of the article indexes. Click on a link below to access the database of your choice or use our comprehensive list of Article Indexes to see all available CSUDH databases.
For a review of how to use the databases to find journal articles, click here. To limit your results to peer reviewed articles, look for the words "scholarly" and/or "peer reviewed ' and place a check in the box beside these words. Although many of the databases have direct links for the full text or .pdf copy of the article included with the citation or abstract of the article, look for this button 
to find out if the library has the article available in another database.
CINAHL Plus with Full Text is a nursing and allied health database which includes indexing for occupational therapy topics. It indexes over 3,000 journals dating back to 1937, with full text for over 335 journals. Note that Occupational Therapy can be highlighted under the "Special Interest" categoy to find articles with an occupational therapy focus.
ERIC is a database for education broadly defined. If the focus is on children or students, try this database.
Health Source Nursing Academic has full text journal articles for nursing, medicine, and other areas of health.
OT Bibliographic System (OT Search) is a bibliographic database covering the literature of occupational therapy and related subject areas. Although it indexes over 50 journals, the full text of the indexed resources is not included in this database. See the topic of "Locating a Specific Journal Article" below or use the CSUDH Journals List to check if the Library has the full text of the article. Note that this database requires a password for use off-campus. Email Naomi Moy for password.
OTseeker: Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluation of Evidence contains abstracts of systemic review and randomised controlled trials relevant to occupational therapy. Use the CSUDH Journals List to check for the full text of the articles available to CSUDH students and faculty.
Physical Education Index includes citations to articles related to phyical activity, exercise therapy, and rehabilitation.
ProQuest Nursing Journals and ProQuest Medical Library are two databases that can be searched simultaneously for articles in medicine and health.
PsycINFO is the primary index for the literature of psychology. It has citations and abstracts for journal articles, book chapters, books, technical reports, and dissertations. Some links are available for full-text articles, especially for journals published by the American Psychological Association.
SocINDEX with Full Text is a comprehensive sociology research database that offers coverage from all subdisciplines of sociology, including criminology, cultural sociology, demography, economic development, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, politics, social psychology, social structure, urban studies, welfare, and others. It includes full text for 235 "core" journals, as well as full text for books and conference papers.
WilsonWeb: Omni Full Text Mega includes indexing of journals with information in geriatrics, biomedical engineering, social and general sciences, and education.
Locating a Specific Journal Title
If you have a reference or citation to a specific journal article, use the CSUDH Journals List to find out if subscribes to the needed journal. This list includes both print and online journals. The Library currently subscribes to over 27,000 journals online. When you click on the title, you will usually find a page that has separate links for the year of available volumes. Click on the year and then you will next be able to click on specific issues. CSUDH's list also includes links to the ToroFind catalog record for print subscription information.
The Library maintains either print or electronic subscriptions to the following journals: American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapy in Health Care, Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, Physical & Occuational Therpay in Geriatrics, and Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. However, there are many journals in related fields of value to occupational therapy, and these will be included in the CSUDH Journals List.
Although the library provides access to over 27,000 print and electronic journals, the indexing databases provide citations to a large number of journals which are not available in our print and electronic holdings. If you would like to have the library find a copy of an article for you, you can transmit the request using the Interlibrary Loan Service . Please allow at least 10 days for the article to arrive. If at all possible, we will try to send the article to you via email. The files will be .pdf files and will require that you have space available to receive these large files. We are also able to request books through three different methods. Your options are listed on the Request Item from Another Library webpage.
When using information from the web for projects and research papers, you should evaluate the quality and reliability of the information. Here's a link to one of many websites which give you evaluation criteria: Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages. An outstanding search engine to use is Google. In addition, Google Scholar would enable you to search the scholarly literature, including peer reviewed articles, but note that you may not be able to access the full text of the article. For the scholarly literature, the databases listed above in the "Journal Articles & Newspapers" section will usually be a better option for beginning your research.
Occupational Therapy Associations:
American Occupational Therapy Association website has a section of information for students, as well as career information.
American Occupational Therapy Foundation was created in 1965 to advance the science of occupational therapy and increase public understanding of its value. It maintains the Wilma L. West Library of occupational therapy-related materials.
National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy is the credentialing agency that provides certification in occupational therapy.
Occupational Therapy Association of California promotes the needs and interests of OT practitioners in California.
Selected Websites:
ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy Practitioners is a biweekly newsmagazine, serving 60,000 occupational therapy personnel nationwide.
National Rehabilitation Information Center includes a searchable database of approximately 69,000 abstracts of books, reports, articles, and audiovisual materials relating to disability and rehabilitation research. It also includes data on research projects and information on agencies and organizations.
When writing a paper or completing a project for a class, you will usually be asked to provide a bibliography of the materials that you used. There are several standard guides available in the Library to help you. Please come to the Reference Desk for assistance. In addition, the CSUDH Library has a summary of the formats most commonly used posted on the Library website. Take a look at this guide in advance so you'll know what information you need to jot down before you begin your research. It may be more difficult to retrace your steps than to make bibliographic note cards as you are working on your project.
Citing Your Sources. This web page on How to Cite Your Sources in a Research Paper has two links. The first link takes you to a download page for the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you will need to access the actual instruction page. The second link leads to a document that shows you how to cite books, articles, and web resources in APA, MLA, and Turabian formats. Always check with your professor to find out which citation format is preferred.