| By: | Daniel
F. Ring Assistant Professor |
Phone: (248)
370-2498 E-mail: ring@oakland.edu |
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Affirmative Action: An Encyclopedia. (Ref HF 5549.5 .A34 A426 2004, 2 vols.) Covers topics and people. Entries are scholarly and include bibliographies. A good place to begin a research paper.
DICTIONARIES
We have four dictionaries or glossaries. They include: HR: Words You Gotta Know (Ref. HF 5549 .A23 T729 1994); The Human Resources Glossary (Ref. HF 5549 .A23 T73 1998); Dictionary of Personnel Management (Ref. HF 5549 .A23 S52) ; A Dictionary of Human Resource Management (Ref. HF 5549 .A23 2001). Here is an online dictionary: Business, Management and Human Resources Terminology.
HANDBOOK
The Handbook of Coaching (Ref. HF 5549.5 H83 1999)
The title of this book is deceiving--the subtiltle suggests
it real audience: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for
Managers, Executives, Consultants, and Human Resource Professionals.
It might be better to construe the word "coaching" as "mentoring."
In this book you will find both sources and theoretical
perspectives.
PERIODICALS
There are five indices that will help you locate Human Resource Literature. WilsonBusiness, indexes about 600 leading business journals from 1986-. These journals are not usually scholarly but fall in the Business Week vein. ABI- INFORM is a good place to go for full text and full image scholarly journals. It indexes over 1800 journals from 1971-. WilsonSelectPlus is another full text data base. It indexes over 1400 journals from 1994-. ERIC may seem an unlikely source as it is usually used for educational literature. You should begin your search by using the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors which lives by the reference desk. The thesaurus will tell you exactly which terms to use. For example, there are headings for Human Resources and Human Resources Development. Once you have identified the terms, you are ready to search. However, you might like to ask a librarian to help you as your search will be more efficient and precise. ERIC resources are divided into two categories: Resources in Education (RIE) consist of unrefereed report literature that appears on microfiche and/or online. It has an ED "header." Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) consists of journal literature, some of which is refereed. It has an EJ "header." PsycINFO indexes psychological journals from 1887-. It too uses a thesaurus. For example, articles on Human Resources are under Personnel Management. Once again, ask the reference librarian for assistance. You will find that the literature is typically refereed.
INTERNET SOURCES
There are several kinds of Internet sources. Since most students have a topic or research interest, it might be useful to begin with Doing Research in Human Resources. This site will tell you how to find books, journal articles, videos, and Internet sources. There are also sites to evaluating and citing sources.There are also meta sites that link you to many sites. Some of these sites are well organized, with clear delineations or "headers" and some are not. Among the latter we may include JOBSOMEGA.com Resource Center. The links are arranged in no particular order forcing you to look carefully. Some of the links are to other meta sites, such as HRGuide, and some to specific sites such as Personality Tests. There are several tests that you can take for free--one to find out if you are a Type A. (I was a Type C, meaning that I am lacking in goals, drive and barely breathing.) Human Resource Management is useful for on-line journals, diversity isssues, personnel policies and professional associations. HR Advice is strong on employment law, reference sites such as articles, human resource organizations and government sites. Human Resources Links by SUITE 101 (note: loads slowly) is valuable for its "categories" especially Predictions and Trends or Timely Topics. Here you will find essays on "Workforce 2005" or "The Future of the HR Profession." This meta sites covers other categories we have visited before such as diversity,benefits and compensation. Drake Milardo Consulting is good for professional associations and institutes but be sure to look at HR Next. HR Gopher provides links to over 25,000 sites on HRD. You can search by topic, e.g. COBRA, or use the search engine. Human Resource Executive Online is good for news. At the top you will see a drop down that will get you into Workindex and other databases. You have to register (free) to use it.
The Society for Human Resource Management is good for continuing education, such as meetings and seminars, publications (like HR Magazine) and professional groups.
There are also a number of career sites such as The
Occupational Outlook Handbook (any HRD pro who is
not familiar with this book can be accused, rightfully,
of ignorance). Two volumes in length, it provides narrative
on job outlook, educational requirements and salary. Speaking
of salary, the best place is Salary
Expert. Some of the sites are free, but others require
a fee. You can look up a salary for a geographic location.
Oakland University, Kresge Library
2200 N Squirrel Rd., Rochester, MI 48309
(248) 370 - 4426