Trout Library Blog

Trout Library recently acquired Rowman & Littlefield's Empowering You book series, which consists of eight short works that provide insights and tips for young people regarding important issues that they or their friends might be facing, such as stress, grief, and coming out. The books are easy to read and should be very helpful to anyone facing the issues that they address. Please feel free to come into the Library to check out any of the books. They can be found on the New Books display just inside the entrance.

Below we profile each of the books:

Dealing with Stress: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Christie Cognevich

Call Number: 155.90420835 .C676 2022

Today's young people are dealing with stress at an unprecedented level. The inescapable flood of difficult news and world concerns can make anyone -- but especially the young -- feel isolated and anxious. This book offers relatable anecdotes and practical strategies to guide teenagers who are struggling with stress and mental health, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and other life crises.

 

 

 

Depression: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Christie Cognevich

Call Number: 616.852700835 .C676 2020

Adolescent depression is often dismissed as a normal teenage experience, a bad mood, or something to outgrow. This is far from the truth, and it is important that young people and their families and friends understand how crucial it is to address any social, emotional, and physical difficulties they are having. This book offers relatable situations and strategies to guide young people struggling with mental health, including how to identify signs of struggle, recognize stress factors, and use strategies to escape harmful mental habits that can leave individuals feeling vulnerable, helpless, or in despair.

 

 

Grief: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Joe Jansen

Call Number: 155.9370835 .J35 2021

A compassionate guide to help young people and those they care about navigate the difficult path of grief. Learn how to honor the memory of those you have lost, what has helped other young people through the grieving process, and about the many resources available to you.

 

 

 

 

Coping with Parental Death: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Michelle Shreeve

Call Number: 155.9370835 .SH561 2022

Losing a parent at any time in one's life is difficult, but losing a parent when young brings its own distinct challenges. This book, which includes stories of teenagers who have lost a parent, offers compassionate support for anyone struggling with the death of one or both of their parents.

 

 

 

 

A Loved One with Dementia: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Jean Rawitt

Call Number: 616.8300835 .R257 2021

Offers insight into what dementia is and how you can interact positively with and assist someone who has dementia. Features personal anecdotes from young people who have gone through this themselves and thoughtful advice from professionals.

 

 

 

 

Friendship: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Jean Rawitt

Call Number: 177.620835 .R257 2022

Explores the greater meaning of friendship as a deeply significant and fulfilling area of life, featuring lively and thoughtful anecdotes from young people who reveal their own expectations and experiences with friendship.

 

 

 

 

Coming Out: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Kezia Endsley

Call Number: 306.7660835 .EN56 2021

Written from the perspective of the LGBTQIA+ community with firsthand accounts from fellow teenagers, this book offers compassionate insight into the hows and whys of coming out. Whether you are struggling with coming out yourself or wanting to help a friend or family member, the book seeks to provide answers to some of the questions that you may have.

 

 

 

 

Volunteering: Insights and Tips for Teenagers by Jean Rawitt

Call Number: 302.140835 .R257 2020

Provides a complete guide to the world of volunteerism, showing you how to become engaged in what could be among the most gratifying and worthwhile experiences of your life. Learn why volunteerism is so important both to the volunteers themselves as well as to those they serve. Also explore different types of volunteer opportunities and how to find and secure a rewarding volunteer placement.

 

Remember that if you need help with these resources or any others, we are always here to help you. You may come to the Library in person, call us at 610-526-6085, email us at library@harcum.edu, or use our chat service on the Library's homepage when it is available.

Bill Fanshel Evening/Weekend Librarian wfanshel@harcum.edu 610-229-9311

This was a frequent question in the past week. It's a great question. This week we look at how to use library databases to find peer-reviewed literature. 

Photo by Tamara Gak on Unsplash

What is peer review?

Researchers and scholars publish their research findings in academic journals. In order to maintain a high standard of scientific inquiry, academic journals rely on experts to review articles prior to publication.

Peer review is a process by which articles are evaluated by other experts prior to publication. These experts are other scientists and scholars in the same field as the article authors. The experts read and critically assess the article for rigor and scientific merit. Once an article passes through this process, it is published in a journal. Journals that require this process prior to publication are considered peer-reviewed or scholarly.

The benefit of using peer-reviewed literature is knowing that the research methods are of high quality and the data collected is credible. It has been vetted by experts in the same field of study. 

Where do we find peer-reviewed articles?

Peer-reviewed journals allow their publications to be included in academic databases. This allows us to search for peer-reviewed or scholarly articles. These databases are either open to the public or "open access" or behind paywalls and require subscriptions. A library will subscribe to academic databases so that students can have access to scholarly articles. 

Open access databases such as PubMed, PLOS One, and ScienceOpen contain primarily peer-reviewed journals. Use search filters to eliminate editorials, book reviews, and letters. Most of the remaining results will be peer-reviewed articles. If you want to be sure the article appears in a peer-reviewed journal, look up the website of the journal and look for any mention of peer review in their publication process.

Subscription databases such as EBSCOhost's Academic Search Complete, Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source, and CINAHL with Full Text contain peer-reviewed journals among other types of articles. These databases have filters that allow you to eliminate results that are not peer-reviewed. Here is a screenshot of the Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source search page showing the location of the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals search limiter.  

A nice feature of these databases is that you can confirm the peer review status of the journal by looking up the journal in a publication search. Look for a link to Publications in the top menu and look up the title of the journal. The Publication Details for the journal will tell you if the journal uses a peer review publication process. 

We now have a page on peer review on our Research Help Guide which shows a few more details about finding peer-reviewed articles. 

As always, if you need any help with a research question, please contact the library staff.