Library Guide - Clinical Psychology

Salomons campus

The library at the Salomons Institute has a comprehensive collection of books related to clinical psychology for you to find and read. We recommend using LibrarySearch to search for the books you need. To search for a specific book, just type a few words from the title plus the surname of the author(s) into the search box. You can, of course, also search for a topic. Then filter to Books (or Ebooks) under Format in the menu on the Library Resources tab. If you get stuck – please ask!

The books on the shelves at Salomons are organised using a special system based on that used in NHS libraries. There are posters on the end of the shelves to explain which subjects can be found where. A few “shelfmarks” (combinations of numbers and letters) which are particularly useful include:

• HM 20 – Research methods
• WLM 20 – Psychology research methods
• WM 420 – Psychotherapy
• WM 425 – Behaviour therapy
• WS 350 – Child psychiatry

The majority of books relating to your subject will be found in the Salomons library. However, there are relevant books at all campus libraries. You can request for books to be sent between the campus libraries for collection as inter-site loans. To do this, click the Place Reservation button next to a book on LibrarySearch and specify where you would like to collect it.

Canterbury and Medway campuses

The libraries at Canterbury (Augustine House) and Medway (Drill Hall Library) also hold some material relevant to clinical psychology, alongside a range of other subjects.

The key shelfmark for clinical psychology books at these libraries is 616.8 - any number starting with 616.8 will relate to the nervous system, brain and mental health. In Augustine House, these books are on the top floor. At the Drill Hall Library, these books are found in the Silent Study Zone.

Ebooks

Wherever possible, we also obtain all our books as ebooks, which can be accessed on or off campus. To find the titles we have available, search for your topic on LibrarySearch and use the filters to select ebooks (click the word rather than tick the box). Then click the Link to CCCU ebook button in the record on LibrarySearch and you will usually have the option to read online or download a copy.

You can also find further collections of ebooks and reference information on two resources available via the Find Databases A-Z link on LibrarySearch. These are AccessNeurology and APA Premium Books.

Journals are an important source of scholarly information – think of them as academic magazines that contain articles written by researchers. CCCU library subscribes to journals covering all the subjects taught here.

Print journals

Most journals are online, but you can browse printed copies of some journals in the Salomons library. These are shelved in alphabetical order by the journal title and are for use in the library only. Examples of journals in the library which we do not have online include Asylum, Clinical Psychology Forum, Context and The Psychologist.

Online journals
Use LibrarySearch.to see which journals are available to read online. Make sure you Log In first with your CCCU username and password. You can search for journal articles across all the journals simultaneously using the main search bar to search for a topic, click through to the Digital Resources tab, and limit your search results to "Academic journals" under Source Type.

To find a specific journal try entering the title of a journal into the search box, or use the “Find e-journals by title” link on the LibrarySearch home page. You can also browse e-journals by subject, using Browzine. This software allows you to read a journal like an e-book, so you can look through the whole journal rather than just individual articles. There is an app so you can use it easily on your phone or other mobile device.

There are hundreds of journals relevant for clinical psychology. A few suggested journal titles are:

British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Child & Adolescent Mental Health, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, Clinical Psychology Review, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Mental Health, Journal of Neuropsychology and Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Open Access Journals
The Directory of Open Access Journals includes journals such as Frontiers in Psychology and BMC Neuroscience (many of these journals are also searched by LibrarySearch and the subject-specific databases). Open access journals are usually scholarly, but the difference is, the publishers of these journals believe in making their research freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This means that you (or your institution) do not have to have a subscription to the journal to be able to read the articles they publish.

CCCU library provides research databases which contain references to articles about clinical psychology. These are all available via LibrarySearch – just click on the Find databases link in the left-hand menu on the home page and you will see an alphabetical list. Browse the list until you find the one you want. Many of the key databases have guides available, which often include a video demo.

Some databases which are particularly useful for clinical psychology include:

• PsycINFO – often the best starting place for mental health, psychiatry and psychology topics, this large database has a focus on peer-reviewed information in mental health and behavioural science. It is produced by the American Psychological Association. Note: all articles available on PsycARTICLES can be found via PsycINFO, along with the content of many additional journals. See the PsycINFO guide.
• PTSDpubs focuses on searching the literature relating to post-traumatic stress and the psychological effects of trauma.
• MEDLINE, also available via Pubmed - one of the biggest biomedical databases in the world, searching the contents of medical journals, including journals relating to psychiatry and mental health. We have a few guides available, as this database can be accessed and searched in several ways : Medline on OVID guide / Medline on EBSCO guide / Introduction to Pubmed video.

Additional databases you may wish to explore:

• ASSIA - a database for practitioners in the caring professions, covering aspects of health and social care from a broadly social scientific perspective, including psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. ASSIA guide.
• Business Source Premier - primarily seen as a resource for the Business School, this database covers areas including professional development and leadership, so can be extremely useful for research relating to leadership and management of psychological and mental health services. Business Source Premier guide.
• Child Development and Adolescent Studies - useful for topics relating to child and adolescent psychology and mental health. Child Development and Adolescent Studies database guide.
• CINAHL Complete - a database for nursing and the allied health professions, useful for research in multi-disciplinary fields. CINAHL guide.
• The Cochrane Library - this includes databases of systematic reviews and clinical trials. Cochrane are viewed as world leaders on evidence-based information. Cochrane Library guide. 
• ERIC - an international database of educational research, which can be useful when researching issues relating to education, training and CPD. ERIC guide. 
• Maternity and Infant Care - a key database for midwifery and neonatal care. Useful for topics relating to psychological care during and after pregnancy. Maternity and Infant Care guide. 
• Scopus covers the sciences and the social sciences, including psychology, health and medicine, and has useful citation tracking features. Probably searches the greatest number of different journals. Scopus guide.
• Social Policy and Practice – a useful source of evidence-based social science and applied psychology research articles with a UK focus. In particular the database is useful for information about government policies and their impact on society. The database can help you locate “grey literature” as well as journal articles. Social Policy and Practice database guide. 
• Web of Science - an interdisciplinary database, this can be particularly useful for in-depth literature reviews or for topics which cross boundaries between different disciplines. Web of Science guide. 

The web, of course, offers access to a vast array of information. However, we would recommend ensuring that you use only information from trustworthy, verified sources. Always ask yourself who is responsible for the information you are reading and who their target audience is (the level of detail on pages written for therapists and services users is very different, for instance). Two good places to start:

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has a comprehensive website including news, guidelines and much more. The BPS publishes a range of journals. We subscribe to many of these at CCCU, and members of the BPS can access the complete collection. A particularly useful resource is their research digest which summarises interesting research articles.

British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) website covers information for therapists and members of the public.

You may also wish to visit some useful free online databases:

• Centre for Reviews and Dissemination - provides access to three important databases, which are no longer updated: NHS Economic Evaluation (up to 2015) covers evaluations of a range of health and social care interventions; DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, up to 2015) covers a wide range of systematic reviews on many health-related topics; HTA (Health Technology Assessments, up to 2018) is a global database of technology assessments, many of them not published in journals.
• The EPPI Centre provides access to two databases for health promotion - the Database of Promoting Health Effectiveness Reviews and the Trials Register of Promoting Health Interventions. 
• Global Index Medicus - hosted by the World Health Organization, this database allows you to search "literature produced by and within low-middle income countries". It often includes a link to the full version of the paper.
• PEP - Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing - a database relating to psychoanalysis past and present. CCCU does not subscribe to this database, but it can be used free of charge. The library at CCCU does subscribe to many of the journals searched by PEP, so if you find something interesting, it is worth copy/pasting the title of the article into LibrarySearch to see whether we have access to it.

The library generally does not provide access to legislation or to statistics, as these are maintained on freely-available sites. A few of the most useful are:

• Acts of Parliament and other legislation
• Publications and records of parliamentary business, classified by staff of the House of Commons Library.

• NHS England: Statistics
• Public Health Profiles - useful health-related stats
• Office for National Statistics: UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics.

In addition to reading texts, you can find a wide range of visual and audio sources through the library. These sources can be accessed via the Find Databases A-Z menu on LibrarySearch.

• Psychotherapy.net gives access to a range of training videos relating to psychotherapy, counselling and social work. The majority of these videos show professionals in action. Note: this resource can only be accessed on campus.
• Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an on-demand TV and radio service and includes most major UK channels, including BBC, Channel 4 and Sky channels. Record programmes to watch back and create your own playlist. Box of Broadcasts guide. 
• Kanopy is a large, curated catalogue of over 30,000 educational documentaries and classic films. Kanopy guide.  

You can access a number of other useful tools for your learning through the Library.

The Learning Skills Hub was created by members of the Learning Skills Team, including Librarians and Learning Developers. It includes modules on a range of study skills, with a selection written specifically for postgraduate students.

Tools available via the Find Databases A-Z link on LibrarySearch include:

• Cite Them Right Online – a handy referencing guide covering a range of referencing styles including APA. For each type of information that you may wish to reference, it supplies a list of requirements, an example and a template. Video introduction to Cite Them Right. 
• Cochrane Interactive Learning – a training resource relating to systematic reviews. Cochrane Interactive Learning guide.
• Lexis+ Newspapers – access to local and national newspapers, including many which are usually behind a paywall. Lexis Newspapers guide. 
• Psychiatry Online – in addition to collections of books and journals, this resource provides access to the DSM Library.
• SAGE Research Methods – a large collection of chapters, articles, videos and podcasts on a wide range of research methods and approaches.
• Skills for Study – an interactive study skills resource based largely on The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell.
• TRIP database – although you can use this to search for journal articles, it is most useful as a tool for discovering other forms of clinical evidence, particularly guidance documents. Based in South Wales.