Job Discussion Forums

[Sirens of Cyprus]

How well can you research the ESL pedagogy literature for free, without having access to university library subscription services and the like? Can you do it well enough to write publishable papers? Anybody here do that sort of thing? If so, what are the best search sites, techniques etc? I was a member of something called TESOL once, and that may have given me access to their journal archives, but I didn't check into it. If I have to pay, is there some umbrella organization I can pay who will give me access to all or most journals in the field? Do universities usually give alumni access to their library research subscriptions? Thanks.

[nomad soul]

TESOL International, the TESOL organization you're referring to, does offer its members benefits such as access to journals at extra cost. In regard to your alma mater, you'd have to confirm with your particular university if library services are made available to alumni because not all unis do. Obviously, if you've recently graduated, you might try to log in to your uni's library to see if you still have privileges. Another option is your local library system in your home country. For example, I'm still able to access my city library in the US while living abroad. Lastly, look into Academia.edu's and Edtechandtesol.info's links as well as digital libraries/databases such as TESL Journal (iteslj.org), JSTOR, ERIC, CAL.org, Linguistlist.org, and eLibraryUSA (through the US State Dept).

[sojourner]

Check out the ( US-based) Questia Online Library ( www.questia.com ). The annual fee, I think, is around 100-120 USD ( could be less).The library includes books, as well as articles ( journals, magazines, newspapers). Before deciding to join, browse through the catalogue to see what they have in the areas of TESL/Applied Linguistics/SLA/learning theories/adult education, etc.

Peter

[HLJHLJ]

Google scholar is good for indicating which articles are freely available directly from the search. It's also becoming more common (and in some universities compulsory) for staff to upload their publications to the university website or an associated depositry, so a search for a PDF of an article will often turn something up. Failing that you can email the main author directly and ask them for a copy. The vast majority will send you one straight out, especially if it's fairly recent and they haven't got to go searching around for it.

[rtm]

[Xie Lin]

Some very useful information and suggestions on this thread. Thank you to everyone who has posted thus far.

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