ESSR (Exercise Science, Sports, & Recreation) & Physical Education Research Guide

This online guide is developed specifically for those doing research in ESSR and related subjects. It provides a recommended list of resources, which encompasses print materials, electronic databases, and selected Internet resources.

Because ESSR & Physical Education includes many disciplines such as education, health, psychology, business and sociology, you may need to consult resources in those fields also.

For more extensive research help, call the Reference Desk at 304-696-2334.

Latest News & Research

Headlines collected from Science Daily, About.com, and ACSM Health & Fitness Journal

Books

Use the online catalog MILES to locate books in the Marshall University libraries.

The Subject Search requires you to use Library of Congress Subject Headings. The following Library of Congress Subject Headings can be used to locate books in the Marshall University libraries:

Physical education and training
Physical education for children
Recreation (Also: outdoor recreation, recreation areas, recreation leadership
Sports
Sports administration
College sports
Sports Medicine
Sports Injuries
Parks
National parks and reserves
Exercise
Exercise therapy

To find other useful Library of Congress Subject Headings for your topic, consult the: Library of Congress Subject Headings (Reference Desk)

You can also use the Keyword Search to locate additional books for your topic:

Hint: Use the Keyword Search to locate additional books for your topic in MILES.

Browse the shelves in these call number areas to find books devoted to the following topics:

GV	1-1860	Recreation, Leisure, Sports, Physical Education
	181.35-181.55	Recreation Leadership & Administration
	182	Recreation Areas & Facilities
	191-200.6	Outdoor Life
	191.68-198.9	Camping
	199-199.6	Hiking
	199.8-200.3	Mountaineering
	200.4-200.5	Orientation, Wilderness Survival
	200.6	Water-Oriented Recreation
	201-555	Physical Education and Training
	346-350	School & College Athletics, Intramural & Interscholastic Athletics
	401-433	Sports & Physical Education Facilities
	435-436.5	Physical Measurements & Tests
	460-555	Gymnastics, Gymnastic Exercises
	561-1198.99	Sports
	561-706	Sports History, Sports in Society (General)
	706.4	Sports Psychology
	709	Women in Sports
	711	Coaching
	712-725	Athletic Contests, Sports Events, Olympics
	733-734	Professional Sports (General)
	735	Umpires, Sports Officiating
	743-749	Sporting Goods, Equipment
	770.3-840	Sailing, Canoeing, Yachting
	840.7-857	Winter Sports: Ice Hockey, Skiing, etc.
	862-880	Baseball
	881	Softball
	883-889	Basketball
	903	Bowling
	938-959	Football, Soccer
	963-979	Golf
	990-1002	Tennis
	1005-1017	Volleyball, Racquetball, Badminton
	1020-1304	Automobile Travel
	1040-1060.2	Cycling, Bicycling, Motorcycling
	1060.5-1098	Track & Field
	1101-1150.6	Fighting Sports: Boxing, Fencing, etc.
	1151-1190	Shooting, Archery
	1195-1198.9	Wrestling
	1199-1570	Games & Amusements
RA	781	Exercise & Health, Stretching
RC	1200-1245	Sports Medicine
RD	92-97.8	Sports Injuries, Emergency Surgery

For books at other libraries, search other Library catalogs over the Web. These books may be ordered from other libraries using the Information Delivery Services (IDS).

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Journal and Magazine Articles

The online databases and indexes listed below will provide references to articles (or in some cases full-text articles) in a wide range of periodicals, from news magazines and newspapers to scholarly and professional journals. If you have questions about choosing or using a database or index, please consult a librarian.

Full-Text Databases

Academic Search Premier Recommended
This comprehensive database features full text for over 1,200 journals with many dating back to 1990, abstracts and indexing for over 3,000 scholarly journals, and coverage of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. It also includes coverage of over 1,700 peer-reviewed journals.

Hint: Remember, articles that can't be printed as full-text or image may be available elsewhere in the Library.
Business Source Premier Recommended for Sports Mgt.
As the world’s largest full text business database, Business Source Premier provides full text for more than 3,000 scholarly business journals, including full text for nearly 1000 peer-reviewed business publications. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database provides full text (PDF) for more than 300 of the top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1922. This database is updated daily.
Lexis Academic Sports News, Sports Law
Full-text access to over 5000 news sources and legal resources. Most are not scholarly journals.
WestLaw Campus Sports Law
Full-text access to articles in law reviews and legal journals.
Springerlink Sports Medicine
Full-text access to 750 journals, with the ability to search acrossthe table of contents and abstracts of all Kluwer journals. Includes journals in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Full-text from 1997 to the present.
PsycARTICLES Sports Psychology
PsycARTICLES® contains more than 25,000 full-text articles from 42 journals published by American Psychological Association and allied organizations. Coverage includes general psychology and specialized basic, applied, clinical, and theoretical research in psychology, and psychiatric social work.
Contemporary Women's Issues Women in Sports
Provides full text access to global information on women, including women and sports. Journals, newsletters, research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies, along with fact sheets are easily accessed through CWI. Information on women in over 150 countries is compiled in a single collection bringing together such disciplines as sociology, psychology, health, education and human rights.
Synergy Sports Medicine
Full-text of over 290 scientific, medical, and professional journals from Blackwell Science and Munksgaard publishers.

Indexes & Bibliographic Databases

These databases and indexes will provide citation information (author, article title, periodical name, volume & issue, date) for articles, essays, book chapters, dissertations, and other materials, which may be found in the MU Libraries by searching the library catalog or ordered from another library using the Information Delivery Services (IDS) if the items are not owned by MU Libraries.

Physical Education Index
Recommended
An index containing citations in physical education curricula, sports medicine, dance, sport law, kinesiology, motor learning, recreation, standardized fitness tests, sports equipment, business and marketing, coaching and training, sport sociology/psychology, health education and physical therapy.
ERIC Physical Education, Sports in Schools and Higher Education
The U.S. Department of Educational Resource Information Center database, contains indexing and abstracts from thousands of research and technical reports in the Resources In Education Index (RIE) and from more than 750 education and education-related journals in the Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). In addition, selected full text articles are available for thousands of ERIC digest records. Covers sports in elementary, secondary and higher education.

Microfiche collection of ERIC documents available in Drinko Library & MUGC.
CINAHL Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature
Sports Medicine
Covers nursing, allied health (including exercise physiology and athletic training), biomedical and consumer health journals, publications of the American Nursing Association, and the National League for Nursing. Dates Covered 1982 - current. (Indexing); 1986 ... (Abstracting)
MEDLINE
Sports Medicine
Abstracted articles from medical journals- Comprehensive MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree numbers, tree hierarchy and explosion capabilities to search abstracts from over 3,800 current biomedical journals, citations from Index Medicus, the International Nursing Index, and the Index to Dental Literature.
Sociological Abstracts
Sociology of Sports
Covers the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Covers original research, reviews, discussions, monographic publications, panel discussions, case studies, conference papers, and dissertations from over 1,600 journals and other serial publications.
PsycINFO
Sports Psychology
Provides indexing and abstracts for over one million articles in 1,700 journals and also includes abstracts for dissertations, books and book chapters ranging in date from 1887 to the present.
ECON Lit
Economics of Sports
An index of economic literature---Subject indexing and abstracts of journals and over 500 collective volumes per year, plus books, dissertations, and working papers. Dates Covered 1969 ...
America: History and Life
Sports History
33 years' worth of historical information--over 231,000 journal articles, more than 107,000 book and media reviews, and over 41,500 dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada. Over 383,000 entries total. Covers history of sports in America.
Dissertation Abstracts
Abstracts for Ph.D. dissertations --- The complete range of academic subjects appearing in dissertations accepted at accredited institutions. Dates Covered 1861 -- (Began Indexing); 1980 -- (Began Abstracting Dissertations); 1988 -- (Began Abstracting Theses)

Selected Periodicals

Print & Online Periodicals

This is a partial list of periodicals in ESSR available in print or online format (or both) in the MU Libraries:

Hint: This page links you to Journals Search, which gives detailed information for all our journals, magazines, and newspapers. It will indicate if the periodical is available online, in print, or in microfilm, and state the years of coverage for each format. Whenever possible Journals Search provides a direct link to full-text content, but some databases don't provide a link to individual titles. In that case you will need to search the database to find articles in a specific periodical.

Does the Library Have Your Article?

Once you have a citation for your article:

Try Journals Search
Look up the title of the journal or magazine that your article appeared in. If the periodical shows up on the list, follow the link to the article database that contains it or find the copy in the library.
If you need a book the library doesn't own, you can request a copy through E-Z Borrow. In addition, you can request articles and books through Information Delivery Services. Most articles are delivered over the web at no charge; paper copies are .10 a page.

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Reference Sources

The Reference Collection, located on the first floor of Drinko Library, contains many print resources that provide useful background information:

Ref GV 558 .E53 1997 Encyclopedia of Sports Science
Scholarly articles on sports and exercise science, focusing on the physiology of sports.
Ref GV 567 .E55 1999 Encyclopedia of World Sport
Within each sport (more than 200 make the cut), individual entries vary in length and depth depending on popularity and/or importance, and for the major sports they are quite extensive. Yet most entries provide some information about history, rules, and cultural influences.
Ref GV 731 .D52 1995 Rules of the game: The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of all the Major Sports of the World
Visual encyclopedia that covers rules and equipment for over 150 sports.
Ref GV 704 .S663 2000 Sports: The Complete Visual Reference
Explains 120 sports with wonderful illustrations and clear descriptions.
Ref GV 697 .A1 W69 1992 Outstanding Women Athletes
Profiles a number of women athletes.
Ref GV 709 .I58 2001 International Encyclopedia of Women & Sports
A 3-volume set that is a comprehensive guide to women and sports, covering individual sports and athletes, women's sports in society, health issues, organizations, events, and more.
Ref GV 709 .E55 1998 Encyclopedia of Women & Sport in America
The challenges and achievements of female athletes in the U.S. are the focus of this collection of nearly 300 articles and biographies that portray the diversity, depth, and meaning of their sports experiences.
Ref GV 709.5 .E83 2000 Encyclopedia of Ethnicity & Sports in the United States
The entries are short, and most are for individual athletes, although there are longer articles on ethnic groups and individual sports.
Ref GV 706.4 .D57 1990 Directory of Psychological Tests in the Sport & Exercise Sciences
A directory of tests in sports psychology. Does not include the actual tests themselves.
Ref RD 97 .S736 1998 Sports Injuries and Illnesses: Their Prevention and Treatment
A general guide aimed at the layperson or athlete.
Ref. H35 .E36 CQ Researcher
Weekly magazine covering one topic per issue. Includes statistics, background, chronology and bibliography. Topics are social
or political issues so it would include some sports-related issues like drugs in sports, the role of college sports, etc. An index is included at the end of each annual volume.

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Internet Resources

Physical Activity & Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/sgr.htm
This report brings together, for the first time, what has been learned about physical activity and health from decades of research.
Knight Commission Reports on Intercollegiate Athletics A 2001 report on the state of intercollegiate athletics.
NCAA
http://www.ncaa.org/
Their website contains a large amount of information on intercollegiate athletics, including reports on graduation rates, gender issues, and athletic revenues.
Empowering Women in Sports
http://www.feminist.org/research/sports/sports2.html
This Empowering Women in Sports report is a publication of the Feminist Majority Foundation's Task Force on Women and Girls in Sports.
Sports Business News
http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/
This online newsletter covers the business of professional sports, sporting goods, etc. Some areas require registration.

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Internet Gateways & Collections

Human Kinetics List of Sports Web Links Recommended
http://www.humankinetics.com/links/
Human Kinetics maintains a collection of links to other good Web sites on sport and fitness topics as well as academic and professional subjects.
SPONET
http://www.sponet.de/
Database of Web resources, books, articles, etc., focusing on the science of athletic training. From the Germany, so choose the English language version.
Yahoo's Directory of Sports Links
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Sports/
The "subject-arranged list of links" provides subject access to a wealth of Web resources.
Web Search Tools
A library webpage that lists tools for searching the web, like web directories, web search engines, meta-search engines, multimedia search engines, and other specialized search tools.

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Updated 8/2006