PsycBOOKS is a database that provides online access to the complete text of eBooks (electronic books).

The PsycBOOKS database is a primary resource for quality books, both current and historical. This database contains REAL BOOKS. They provide the exact same text as the printed version of the books. <click here for more information about these books>

Identifying and accessing eBooks available from PsycBOOKS:

You access the PsycBOOKS database from our Databases page--the second choice in the center of the University College Library home page. From the subject menu on the databases page, select Counseling & Psychology.

Tips/hints/features:

1) Make sure to use Boolean operators (and, or, not) between your search terms, e.g., career and counseling and youth. <click here for more about Boolean>.

2) Please note that to view the text of the book, this database downloads the full-text of an entire chapter of the book at a time. These PDF (portable document format) files are frequently large (one megabyte or more). This means that to view the text:

• You will need the free software Adobe Reader.
• It may take some time to download on a low-bandwidth connection.
• You will not be able to e-mail yourself the text if your e-mail service is not capable of holding files of this size.

3) When searching PsycBOOKS, the primary results list will be book chapters, not entire books.

Below is a sample result (citation) from a search on the terms risk taking. This result item itself, Avoidance and coping: Basic considerations, is a chapter from the book Self-esteem: Paradoxes and innovations in clinical theory and practice.

Avoidance and coping: Basic considerations. Bednar, Richard L.; Peterson, Scott R.; In: Self-esteem: Paradoxes and innovations in clinical theory and practice (2nd ed.). Bednar, Richard L.; Peterson, Scott R.; Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, 1995, pp. 65-96. [Chapter]
[X] PDF Full Text (3491K)

• To go straight to the full text of the chapter, you would click on the link PDF Full Text (3491K)
• To view the detailed record for the chapter; including an abstract (summary), subject listings, key words, etc., click on the linked title of the chapter, i.e., Avoidance and coping: Basic considerations.
• To view the record for the entire book, including links to every chapter of the book, first go to the record for the chapter, and look for the linked book title under the section labeled "Source."

4) Additional search tools, located near the top of the search screen include:

• Thesaurus: An in-depth thesaurus of psychological index terms used by the database.
• Books: View and/or search a title list of all books within the database.
• Indexes: Provides key word searching of numerous indexed search fields, e.g., subject, author, age group.
• Cited References: Allows searches for Cited Author, Cited Source, Cited Title, and Cited Date.

ABOUT BOOKS FROM PSYCBOOKS:

These books ARE: They are Real Books! They are the electronic versions of current, traditional books. They are the same as the printed materials you find in libraries and book stores. The books in PsycBOOKs are published in print format as well, but making them available online allows TROY students worldwide to access the text immediately, regardless of their geographic location. The database includes most scholarly titles published by APA from copyright years 1953-2005. It also includes 100 out-of-print books and an additional 70+ classic books of landmark historical impact in psychology.

These books are NOT: They are not old books that are in the public domain, i.e., they are not items you can find for free by searching the Internet, e.g., the works of Shakespeare. They are not unpublished works--they are simply the electronic versions of traditional, printed books. They are not special or edited versions of "real books"--they ARE the real books.