Library Guides: Adult and Vocational Education: Recommended resources

Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias

A Dictionary of Education by Wallace, S.
Publication Date: 2015
Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory by Peters, M.A. (Ed)
Publication Date: 2017
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar by Aarts, B., Chalker, S., et al.
Publication Date: 2014

Quick links

eBook collections

EBSCOhost eBooks Collection
A collection of eBooks in the EBSCOhost platform, covering a huge range of subject areas.

Access and usage conditions vary for books within this collection. But if you wish to download a book for offline use, you will need to have an EBSCOhost personal sign-in, and you will need to have the software Adobe Digital Editions loaded to your computer.

For more information on using this collection, go to the EBSCO eBooks page in the Library's eBooks guide, or EBSCOhost's own EBSCO eBooks guide.
Taylor and Francis eBooks
A collection of eBooks on a range of topics, covering the humanities & social sciences.

Charles Sturt Library does not subscribe to all the eBooks in this collection, so you might get many results that are not available in full-text. These are marked with a locked padlock icon on a grey background.

You can filter (refine) your results to show only those that are available in full-text. These are marked with an unlocked padlock icon on a blue background.

When you have applied a filter, that filter persists in your searching until you remove it. This can assist in finding full-text material.

You can filter results by other criteria as well, including by subject and by date.

When you access an eBook, you can read it online (opens in a new browser window) or download it (opens the entire book in Adobe Reader).
ProQuest eBook Central
A huge and constantly growing multidisciplinary collection of eBooks. This collection is the Library’s largest collection of eBooks, and covers many of the subjects taught at Charles Sturt.

There are sometimes restrictions on the use of these eBooks. With high-demand items where there is a limit on concurrent users, we recommend that you find and download what you need and then close off the book/browser window to free up the licence for someone else. For a demonstration of how to do this, please see the Library’s short eBooks etiquette video. There are usually limitations on how much you can download and copy, but these should reset after 24 hours.

Some books are available for full download. If you wish to download a ProQuest eBook Central eBook to your computer, you need the free software Adobe Digital Editions. To download to a device, you need a free app: Bluefire Reader or Aldiko Book Reader (for android only).

For help with using this collection, see the ProQuest Ebook Central page in the Library’s eBooks guide. It includes a link to ProQuest’s own guide on the collection, and has embedded videos from ProQuest on the online reader and on downloads.
Oxford Academic - Books
Previously available as Oxford Scholarship Online eBooks, this is the eBooks collection within Oxford Academic. Charles Sturt has access to approximately 2000 eBooks across a range of subjects, with unlimited user access.

In Oxford Academic - Books you can search using basic or advanced search, or browse the journals by subject area. The top-level subject areas are:
• Arts & Humanities
• Law
• Medicine & Health
• Science & Mathematics
• Social Sciences.

You can filter your results by various criteria, including availability, format, subject, and publication date.

Charles Sturt does not have full-text access to all content on the site. In results lists, availability is designated by icons: full-text availability is indicated by a green Unlocked (Purchased) icon, a green Free icon, or an Open Access icon. Items that are NOT available to Charles Sturt users are marked with a blue Get access label. You can filter results by availability.

The search box gives you the option to search across the whole of Oxford Academic or the Journals collection. You can also access these at Oxford Academic and Oxford Academic - Journals.

See more tips on finding and using eBooks.

Library databases

A+ Education
An Australian Informit database of citations, article summaries, and full-text articles covering all aspects of education, particularly Australian education. The link here will take you to the Informit platform with A+ Education selected.

A+ Education is based on the Australian Education Index (AEI), which is an indexing and abstracting database produced by the Cunningham Library at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Of the 700+ journals indexed in AEI, there are 200+ comprehensively indexed journals and it is from these that the full-text articles in A+ Education are mainly sourced. There are more than 190,000 index records, including 48,000 full text articles available as PDFs or as links to material available on the Web.

Other source documents include monographs, research reports, theses, conference papers, legislation, parliamentary debates, newspaper articles, and Internet material. Articles and reports by Australian authors or about Australian education published in overseas sources are also included.

Subject coverage includes curriculum, educational research, information science, librarianship, management, policy administration, psychology, sociology, teaching, and training.

Coverage: Indexed 1978-; Full text 2000 - .

Your searching from this link will be within A+ Education only. You can change the database(s) you are searching using the Change Databases button. Unless you have changed databases, you will continue to search in A+ Education. When you have run a search, your results list will include, at the top, which database(s) you have searched in.

You can use Basic Search or Advanced Search. Advanced Search offers more options for searching, and more limiters. When you have run a search, there are further options for filtering your results. For searching help, there is a useful set of Search Tips at the bottom of the Advanced Search Screen.
ERIC - Education Resources Information Center (EBSCOhost version)
ERIC is the largest education database in the world, and is sponsored by the U.S. Dept of Education. It is available here as an EBSCOhost database, with much material available in full-text.

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) is one of many databases available in the EBSCOhost platform, but is also available elsewhere as well (see below). Established in 1966, ERIC is an online digital library of education research and information. It is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. It provides extensive access to educational-related literature, and is said to be the largest education database in the world. It includes more than 1.3 million bibliographic records.

There are two types of ERIC content:
* Journal articles (EJ). Most are from peer-reviewed journals, and many are available in full-text, depending on the version of ERIC being used (see below).
* ERIC Documents (ED). These consist of materials from a range of sources, including scholarly organisations, professional associations, research centres, policy organisations, University Presses, the U.S. Department of Education and other U.S. federal agencies, and state and local agencies. They include conference papers, research papers, dissertations, theses, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, and books. Many are available in full-text.

Subject coverage includes:
* Adult, career and vocational education
* Counselling
* Elementary and early childhood education
* Education management
* Higher education
* Junior colleges
* Second-language learning
* Special education
* Teacher education
* Tests, measurement, and evaluation

A thesaurus is available to assist with subject-searching.

Charles Sturt Library has access to ERIC via 2 different platforms/interfaces. In addition to this EBSCOhost version, ERIC is also available via the ERIC website. These versions differ in their interface, the frequency of updating, and the amount of full-text content.

ERIC's own website includes fewer links to full-text but is updated more regularly and does have extra information about ERIC as a resource.
Education Research Complete
An EBSCOhost database which covers all levels of education from early childhood to higher education, and all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, and testing.

Education Research Complete provides indexing and abstracts for more than 2,100 journals. Of these, more than 1,200 are available in full-text. It also has the full text of more than 500 books and monographs, and of numerous education-related conference papers.

Education Research Complete is one of many databases available in EBSCOhost. It is also available as part of the EBSCOhost (Education) package, which also includes the important education database, ERIC.

Once on the EBSCOhost search screen, you can change databases by clicking on the Choose Databases link above the search boxes. All EBSCOhost databases can be searched individually or in any combination.
VOCEDplus
A free Australian research database covering tertiary education, especially as it relates to workforce needs, skills development, and social inclusion. Produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Specific topics covered include vocational education and training (VET), higher education, adult and community education, informal learning, and VET in Schools. Content includes research, policy, practice, and statistics.

There are 44,000 English language records with an extensive coverage of Australian material and a wide range of international information.

VOCEDplus includes entries for:
* research reports
* journals and journal articles
* books and book chapters
* conference proceedings and papers
* working/discussion/occasional papers
* policy documents
* survey results
* published statistics
* podcasts
* theses.

Each entry contains standard bibliographic information and most include an abstract. Many provide full-text access via the publisher's website or a digitised copy.

The About VOCEDplus webpage provides more information about this resource.

Note: when you search in this database, the default operator between search terms is OR. This applies in both the simple search box and in Advanced Search (unless a specific field is selected). See Search Tips.
SAGE Video - Education Collection
A collection of hundreds of online streaming videos, covering all aspects of education.

Specific topics include:
* classroom discipline and organisation
* curriculum and content
* educational administration and leadership
* gifted, talented, special, and inclusive education, and teaching diverse students
* learning theories and research methods for education
* staff development and professional learning
* teaching methods and learning styles
* working with parents, families, and communities.

You can search the entire collection using Basic or Advanced Search, or browse by Topic, Video Type, or Contributor. Closed captions and transcripts are available.

You can create clips, retrieve and export citations, and build playlists.

For help with using the SAGE Video collections, go to the SAGE Video guide. You can see all the video titles at the Education Playlist.

See all Education and Teaching databases.

Need some help with understanding how to use Library databases? See our Database Help Guide.

Websites

VET Knowledge Bank - Glossary of VET
This glossary is a compilation of Australian vocational education and training (VET) terms and acronyms. It includes both current and historical terms, concepts, acronyms and other abbreviations found in Australian VET research, policy and data.
The National Academies Press - Education
Many of National Academies Press's publications can be read free online. Research areas include education reform, teachers and instruction, higher education and training.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research
NCVER is a not-for-profit company which is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, evaluating and communicating research and statistics about vocational education and training (VET) nationally. To access all of NCVER's range of resources, will require (free) online registration.
Training.gov.au
TGA is the official National Register of information on Training Packages, Qualifications, Courses, Units of Competency and Registered Training Organisations.
Australian Council for Educational Research
ACER is an independent educational research organisation providing learning tools for students, develops and manages a range of testing and assessment services and conducts research and analysis.
Australian Skills Quality Authority
ASQA is the national regulator for Australia’s vocational education and training sector.
Skills Commonwealth-State Relations - Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
The Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council provides a forum for national cooperation and stewardship of the vocational education and training system, with a focus on supporting skills reform.

Professional organisations

Australian Vocational and Education Training Research Association
AVETRA is Australia’s only national, independent association for research in vocational education and training, brings together research stakeholders and researchers from the TAFE, university, industry and government sectors.
Australian College of Educators
ACE is the national professional association which represents educators across all sectors and systems.
HERDSA - Higher Educational Research and Development Society of Australasia
Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. Scholarly society for people dedicated to the advancement of higher and tertiary education.