UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Responding to the need for more education on the topic of child abuse and neglect, the University Libraries have compiled a research guide that pulls together a wide array of materials and databases expected to help researchers and the general public in delving deeper into the topic of abuse and maltreatment.
The guide, available at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/socialsciences/childabuseandneglect.html, is one of many research guides offered by the Libraries. The child abuse and neglect site includes research databases pertaining to general subjects, education and behavioral sciences, law, medicine and health, and the socialsciences; books, e-books, and videos; federal and state government resources; Pennsylvania Law, including statutes, administrative regulations, case law, and Libraries' databases for researching laws; reference sources, including print and e-books, instructional/curriculum materials, and Web resources; and children's and young adult literature selections with child abuse themes. Some of the databases are available only to Penn State faculty, staff and students by contractual arrangement.
The research guide is one more step in a series of initiatives being addressed by the Presidential Task Force on Child Maltreatment, a University work group created by President Rodney Erickson in the wake of child sex abuse charges against a former assistant coach. The task force is helping to oversee, identify and coordinate Penn State's vast but fragmented resources on the topic. Erickson has said that Penn State is committed to being the national leader on the prevention and treatment of child abuse.
The guide initiative was led by Steven Herb, head of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library and director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress. "Most of our research guides are produced by one or two librarians, but the interdisciplinary nature of this topic required a statewide effort," Herb said.
Herb was assisted by a team of librarians, including Esther Dell, associate librarian, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, Penn State Hershey; Valerie Lynn, head, Hazelton Library; Tierney Lyons, assistant librarian, Worthington Scranton Library; and at University Park, Laura Ax-Fultz, assistant librarian, Dickinson School of Law; Nonny Schlotzhauer, associatelibrarian, Social Sciences Library; and Karla Schmit, assistant librarian, Education and Behavioral Sciences Library; with assistance from Russ Souchak, Information Resources and Services Specialist in the Social Sciences.
Questions can be directed to Steven Herb at 814-863-2141 or slh8@psu.edu.
For more information, contact Catherine Grigor, manager of public relations and marketing for the Penn State University Libraries at 814-863-4240 or cqg3@psu.edu.