What’s in that database?: Mental Measurements Yearbook…

It’s a database!  It’s a print series!

It’s BOTH!

That’s right: Mental Measurements Yearbook is a database to which Walden Library subscribes.  But, long before we had computers, back when scholars only did old-fashioned book research, Mental Measurements Yearbook existed only as a print resource.

(To read more about the print resource and find out how long it has been around, see the publisher’s site here: http://www.unl.edu/buros/bimm/html/catalog.html)

The print collection of Mental Measurements Yearbook is comprised of hundreds (okay, I exaggerate… I think we’re up to eighteen…) of volumes.  In each volume, one would find abstracts and reviews of different tests, measurements, questionnaires, etc.   These are usually of the psychological kind, like a test to measure anxiety…or sometimes of an educational kind, like a test to measure reading-readiness.

And that is exactly what one finds in the database version of Mental Measurements Yearbook.   The print resource still exists, but the publishers also feed those same reviews of tests into an electronic format and make it “searchable” in a database of the same name!

So what do I mean when I say “reviews and abstracts”?  Well, that means that a researcher takes a specific test and reviews it to find out:  Is the test valid?  Was it properly researched and developed? Is it skewed in some way to a certain population group?

An abstract of a test would give one a general overview of what the test actually measures and what methodology it uses.

So who would use this database?  What is it good for?   Students in several subject disciplines may need to research a test or measurement.  Normally we think exclusively of psychology students, but also those of you in any social science field or in education might find it useful.

But how would a review of a test be beneficial?  Shouldn’t one want to get the actual test?  This is a good point.  A review of a test or measurement can be quite helpful.   These reviews tell one a lot about the test and its reliability and use.

Sometimes we here at the library speak with students who do wish to obtain the actual test or measurement they are researching or wish to use in their own dissertation research.   That gets pretty tricky.

See, the people who painstakingly created these tests and measurements are, quite rightly, protective of their work.  They only want qualified practitioners in their field (say, a licensed psychologist or a school counselor) administering their test to a patient or client.  Tests and measures usually need to be purchased from the licensed publisher of that test.  So most often a student needs to track down who that publisher is, or who the author of the test is, in order to obtain it.  Sometimes publishers or authors of a test have a special “student version”  (along with a “student price”!) of their test because they want to support fellow-scholars’ research, which is pretty nice of them.

And that’s where Mental Measurements Yearbook comes in:  by locating the review of the test, you also find out who the author is, and sometimes, who the publisher is!  Then we librarians can help you search for contact information.

Some tests and measurements are close to impossible to obtain.  Others are easily accessible.  It depends on the test.

Regardless, Mental Measurements Yearbook is the resource to use when you want to find information about a test.  You can not only search by the known title of a test, but you can search by keyword for tests and measurements too!  So if, for instance, you wanted to find a test measuring, say…library skills…you would type in the search box:

library skills

…and click the Search button.  Voila!

This has been a brief introduction to the database called Mental Measurements Yearbook.  Questions?  Ask a Librarian!

(Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably.

Use the Ask  A Librarian form to query the library.)