Psychology Guide

Houff Library provides access to many great information resources - both print and online.

• Online Library Databases: Access over 150 online library databases through the Houff Library website.
  • Our databases provide online access to full-text ebooks, scholarly/academic journal articles, magazine articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, videos, and more!
  • Access databases off campus by clicking the name of the database and logging in with your myBRCC username and password
• Print Books and Magazines Through the Library Catalog: Over 32,000 print books and 80+ popular print magazines in our library. Use the library catalog to search for books and other materials.
  • Our print book collection is focused on academic materials to support learning and instruction but we also offer a variety of books for leisure reading for adults, young adults, and children
  • Our print reference collection provides access to encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, and more. You may want to use our online reference resources as well.
• Research Guides: Created by your librarians help you get started with your research and locate sources for your projects and papers. 
• Writing & Citing Guide: Citation guides and handouts to help you format papers and cite sources.
• Ask a Librarian: Need help? Contact a Librarian 24/7 through our online reference service.
• Interlibrary Loan: We don't have access to a material that you want? Submit requests for books and articles not available at our library.

One way of testing whether any source is reliable is to use the CRAAP Test.

Currency : How current is the information? Pay attention to when the book or article was published. Information in certain fields can become outdated quickly. All published materials, digital and physical should have a date of publication listed. Our library catalog and most databases offer some sort of date filtering that allows you to look for resources within a certain time period. 

Relevance : Is this information relevant for your paper? What is the point/agenda of the article? Is the information appropriate for your scholarly needs? Check for an abstract, or summary. Are there any subject terms or subject keywords provided? Do they match your research topic?  

Authority : Who is responsible for the information? What is the author's background? Does the info belong to a larger organization or website? Is the information peer-reviewed? Database articles may provide author affiliations, or list what organizations they are researching for. You can also perform a search on an author to see their credentials. Our databases will also include filters to remove non peer-reviewed resources.  

Accuracy : How accurate is the information? Is the information free of grammatical and spelling errors? Did the author include sources for their information? How comprehensive is the information? Scholarly works will always include references. And those references should point to other scholarly works. While non-academic sources may be listed--especially if the author is quoting a cultural figure--the majority of references should lead to other academic works.

Purpose: Why was the information created? Is the information biased in any way? Is it trying to sell you something? Note any advertisements included in your sources. Scholarly resources should never include ads.

Finding and evaluating sources on the web can be challenging. Be mindful of the domain name of the website you are using. Sites that end in .gov, .edu are generally trustworthy. Be critical of websites ending in .com, .net, and even some ending in .org. Be especially critical of sites ending in .com.co, as these are often fake websites.