Childhood and Youth Studies

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The MacOdrum Library is located on the unceded territories of the Algonquin nation. Use this guide to begin your research and consult Martha Attridge Bufton, who can help you find the materials you need to complete your assignments.

Start your research

Meet Martha Attridge Bufton in the following video.

Pick a research topic

  • Read your syllabus (assignment instructions).
  • Pick a topic that interests you and meets the assignment instructions.
  • Narrow or broaden the scope of your topic so that it is "doable."
    • What's scope? Scope refers to the "people, places and things" or "who, what, when and where" that you are studying. For example, Canada or another country? Children or adults? Education or child protection services?

Identify key concepts

Do an initial search for academic sources

  • Here are some videos to help you pick the right search engines and sources for your assignment.
    • Beware of filter bubbles:  What to know about Google and filtered information.
    • Search faster, search smarter: How to search using your key concepts.

  • Use the CRAP test to evalute the quality of online sources.

 

Find peer-reviewed journal articles, images, & digital collections

Citation chaining made easy

Popular versus academic sources (what's the difference?) and the peer review process

Searching tips: Truncation and phrase searching

Test what you know: Play Sources (or Find that source)!

Find peer-reviewed journal articles on a variety of topics

Images

Digital archive collections of children's books

Open Access journals

Recommended peer-review journals in our library collection

Peer-reviewed journals related to child development and psychology

Some publications are available either only in print or online. Others are available in both formats. Check Ulrich'sWeb for more information about individual journals.

Find books, ebooks, & audio books (including children's literature)

Find books

In the search field on the library home page, use keywords to find books and ebooks (i.e., use your key concepts to search for relevant materials).

A sample of child development and child studies related library books (in print)

Children's literature (print and audiobooks)

The library has a growing collection of children's books, both classic and traditional. Many of these books are located on the third floor, in the PZ section. We also have a collection of audiobooks, which also contains children's classics such as Anne of Green Gables. To search for more audiobooks, use the RBDigital database.

Our contemporary titles are collected across five major themes:

  • Disability and childhood
  • Indigenous children and communities
  • LGBTQ2+
  • Race
  • Sex education
  • Transnational childhood

Here is a list of books (with call numbers) that have been or will be added to the collection in 2019/2020.

Find government documents, statistics, & legislation

 

Find government and non-governmental information

  1. Use the library's customized Google search to find government information online (sort results by level of government).  
  2. Canadian Heritage.  Click on "Canadian Identity" in the top navigation bar, then under "Cultural Diversity," click on "Human Rights." Find the list of of Canada's Reports to the UN that detail government policies and activities (federal and provincial) related to important international treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  3. Library of Parliament of Canada (use library publications on policy issues).
  4. Early Childhood Development (Canadian intergovernmental program)
  5. Employment and Social Development Canada: Early Childhood
  6. Public Health Agency of Canada: Community Action Program for Children
  7. Landon Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children's Rights

Federal departments and agencies have programs that directly impact children and their families:

Find federal legislation

Other federal legislation

Find Ontario legislation

For other legislation, use:

Federal statistics

Provincial

Cite your sources

 Use our Citing your sources page to link to our APA guide, instructional videos and more.

Other

Childhood and Youth Studies Quick Guide
Content last updated: February 24, 2020

Contact

Martha Attridge Bufton
Martha Attridge Bufton's picture
Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian
Office: ML 238
613-520-2600 x2985
email