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Finding Information on Mediation |
Catalog • Journal Articles • Organizations • Government Information
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Finding Information on Mediation |
Catalog • Journal Articles • Organizations • Government Information
Finding Books and Government Publications in the Catalog
Simply entering the word "mediation" produces too many results to be useful, and entering "mediation techniques" as a phrase too few. For better results you can—
The phrases "Conflict Resolution" and "Conflict Management" seem to be less precise and, like "mediation" by itself, probably retrieve too many sources, concerning a wide variety of subtopics, such as international peacemaking, political conflicts, marital therapy and other types of counseling.
For any Catalog searches, you can use Advanced search to be able to sort by date or relevance.
When you search by keyword you are using an uncontrolled vocabulary. The search program will look for the word(s) you type no matter where they appear in a cataloging record: title, author, subject, contents, etc. All material in the Catalog is also described using a controlled vocabulary of Library of Congress subject headings. Some basic headings useful for finding material on mediation are:
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Many of these terms can be further subdivided by geography, dates, or sub-concepts. If you want to search only these subject headings, choose the Subject field on the main or Advanced Search screens.
In addition to tangible books and government publications, you can also find records to electronic-only books and government publications in the Catalog. These titles will either have no "location" noted in the Catalog, or will have "Blume Online Service" given as the "location." Government publications, as well as some other freely available electronic material, can be accessed from on or off-campus without any sort of St. Mary's authentication. For electronic books available through NetLibrary, you must create a free account with this service through an on-campus computer. Then you may access these titles from off-campus by using your NetLibrary login. For more information on finding electronic books, check this information page.
Academic Search Complete is a good, general database that covers all subjects and includes a substantial number of full-text articles directly attached to their citations in the database. As with the Catalog, simply entering "mediation" will result in the retrieval of too many citations to be useful. Add another concept word—such as statistics, policy, legislation, law enforcement, etc.—or a geographical term. Or choose a related yet more specific phrase, such as "alternative dispute resolution" or "restorative justice."
By entering "mediation techniques," you will retrieve a fairly good sample of articles. But this phrase can be used in unrelated fields such as medical research, which will result in some unwanted references. Using "mediation" plus another concept word, or a more precise phrase, will result in a better list of articles.
Another tip to help you find only substantial, academic articles, is to check the boxes for Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals or References Available. You can even stipulate the minimum number of pages you want the articles to contain. To only retrieve results with full-text links, check the Full Text box, but be aware that you might be missing good material if you use this limitation. If the full text of the article is not available in the database, we might have the journal in print on the First Floor of the Library. Or you can request the article from another library on Inter-Library Loan.
We have an information page that describes in detail the characteristics of a scholarly journal. And here is the tutorial that walks you through the steps needed to find an article in our databases and in our print periodical collection.
Psychological journals have a good deal of material on mediation, particularly as it pertains to counseling and social psychology. If this is the focus of your specific topic, you will want to search PsycInfo, another of our databases. It uses the same search interface as Academic Search Complete, and you can even search both databases simultaneously by using the drop-down check-box menu on the search screen. PsycInfo does not include as high a percentage of full-text articles as does Academic Search Complete, but we may have some sources in print. And don't forget about Inter-Library Loan. Given enough time, we can get copies of almost any article you need from another library.
A useful feature of these databases is MyEBSCOhost, which allows you to save search results and articles from session to session, and on different computers. Here is a guide (in PDF format) to searching these databases. Starting on page 5, the guide has more information on the MyEBSCOhost feature.
And remember that you can search these subscription databases from off-campus. Here is a FAQ page with information on how to log in.
If you have a citation for an article, obtained through a database or from another source, such as a bibliography or list of references, you can determine whether we have access to the journal through our Periodicals List, available through a link on the main Library webpage entitled Locating Journals. This can be a faster way of retrieving the full text of an article, if it appears in a journal we have access to through one of our databases.
| University-based Centers | Other Organizations |
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| Center for Conflict Resolution (Abilene Christian Univ.) Site includes a library of articles in two categories: general (see "Articles about Mediation) and regarding the profession of mediation (see "Mediation Career Articles") |
ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Most material on the site requires payment to order, but there are some free resources linked under "Resources"; under "Law Students" you can also see the latest issue of their journal for free: "Dispute Resolution Magazine" |
| Center for Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (SMU) Site includes links to recent articles regarding mediation (see "News") |
Association for Conflict Resolution Site includes free resources listed by broad subject area (see "Library of Resources" under "Publications" or "Resources") |
| Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (Eastern Mennonite Univ.) Site includes links to latest issue of their Web Journal, latest and back issues of Peacebuilder Magazine, and links to training materials and other resources (see "Resources") |
Distance Mediation Information on mediation by telephone |
| Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (George Mason Univ.) Site includes links to papers and newsletters (see "ICAR Publications"); the ICAR News Network (see "ICAR Publications") includes postings on specific subjects and regions |
Mediators Beyond Borders Site includes links to articles (see "International Mediation Articles") plus a few documents and forms from the organization (see "Downloads") |
| Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies (Notre Dame) Site includes transcripts of lectures and panels (see "Policy Studies"); reports and papers on international affairs and peace-making, as well as a periodical "Peace Colloquy" (see "Policy Studies" and "Publications") |
Texas Association of Mediators Site includes detailed standards and ethical guidelines for mediators, issues of the organization's newsletter, and a directory of dispute resolution centers with full contact information (see "Resources") |
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Victim Offender Mediation Association Site includes an extensive link collection, a collection of articles and other resources (see "Publications") and general information on restorative justice (see "Learn about Victim-Offender Mediation" on the home page) |
Agencies:
Other sources:
Information on APA Documentation.