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  Sociology Resource Guide

Librarian
Name: Jennifer Darragh
Phone: (804) 828-8961
Email: jdarragh@vcu.edu

introduction

This guide provides an overview of tools that can be used for research in Social Work.  Included is information about relevant library research databases, journal holdings, reference materials, government resources, statistics and major Internet resources.  All collections marked VCU are available to users on both campuses OR off-campus with EZProxy.

Research Databases

You can search the following selected databases for sociology-related articles. For additional databases, see the list of all social sciences databases. You may also be interested in other related guides including education, social work, government information, and criminal justice.

Many of the databases listed below include at least some full text articles, but very few databases are 100% full text. Look for the Get it @ VCU button. This service provides hyperlinks to a variety of options such as linking to electronic full-text (if available), the VCU library catalog (if we have the journal in print), ILLiad (if we don't have it in the collection), and Ask-a-Librarian (for help).

  • Sociological Abstracts (1963 - Present) VCU
    Over 2,000 journals in 30 different languages are checked for inclusion in this index in the fields of sociology, social work, and other social sciences. Covers 1963 to the present. For older articles, see The Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in Sociology (C.R.I.S) (Cabell Library Reference HM1.A11 C75), covering sociological literature from 1895 - 1974.
  • Ageline (1978 - Present) VCU
    Covers social gerontology, including the study of aging in psychological, health-related, social, and economic contexts.
  • Contemporary Women's Issues (1992 - Present) VCU
    Global information on women from journals, newsletters and research reports.
  • Criminal Justice Abstracts (1968 - Present) VCU
    Citations and abstracts of international journal articles, books, and governmental and non-governmental reports on a wide range of topics in criminal justice. You may also want to search Criminal Justice Periodical Index (Cabell Library Reference Z5118.C9 C74) covering 1975 - 1998 and Criminology, Penology and Police Science Abstracts (Cabell Library Reference HV6001.E9) covering 1980 - 1997.
  • Dissertations Abstracts Online (1861 - Present) VCU
    Abstracts of dissertations completed in the U.S. and abroad. See finding dissertations for additional help.
  • Ethnic NewsWatch VCU
    Full text newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, native and minority press.
  • GenderWatch (1980 - Present) VCU
     Database of publications from both historical and current perspectives on the evolution of gender roles as they affect both men and women. Includes coverage of (GLBT) studies; family studies; gender studies, and women’s studies with a unique interdisciplinary approach. 
  • Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) VCU
    The world's largest archive of social science data, ICPSR archives survey data on a variety of topics and populations. Codebooks often include full text of survey questions and response frequencies. View more information and search help.
  • InfoTrac OneFile (1980 - Present) VCU
    Articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities (almost 50% is full text). Contains many sociology-related titles including American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Canadian Journal of Sociology, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Social History, and Journal of Social Psychology.
  • JSTOR VCU
    Searchable backfiles of core journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Includes the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Annual Review of Sociology, Contemporary Sociology, Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Sociology of Education.
  • LexisNexis Academic VCU
    Contains federal and state court decisions, statutes and regulations, legal publications as well as the full text of national and regional newspapers and magazines.
  • PAIS (1915 - Present) VCU
    Covers public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations.
  • PsycINFO (1887 - Present) VCU
    Scholarly psychology material including empirical research and peer reviewed journal articles from 1887 to the present.
  • Social Sciences Citation Index (1965 - Present) VCU
    Database of references cited in articles from more than 1,725 major journals across 50 social sciences disciplines.
  • Social Sciences Index (1983 - Present) VCU
    Citations to articles of at least one column in length from English-language periodicals. Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of social sciences journals.

If you need help developing a search strategy, Ask a Librarian.

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searching the catalog

You can access the library catalog from the main VCU Libraries Web page at http://www.library.vcu.edu by clicking on the Search the Catalog link under the Find Information heading.

General Searching: When you are looking for books on a topic you may conduct a Words Anywhere search first; for example: urban policy. If you are concerned that you are getting too many irrelevant results, you may opt to conduct a subject search.

E-Books: VCU Libraries provides access to a collection of electronic books through NetLibrary VCU. (From the home page, click "Quick Links," and choose "E-Books.") NetLibrary is a collection of electronic books from leading university, trade and professional publishers available via the Internet 24 hours a day. For full access, VCU faculty, students and staff must first create free individual user accounts. More about NetLibrary.

Browsing the Shelves: The VCU Libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system for cataloging and shelving. If you would like to browse, see the Library of Congress Classification Outline for Education (this is a PDF document) to see how you can locate books by LC Call number.

"Where do I find things?": Check out where things are in the Cabell Library.

Borrowing from Other Libraries: VCU Libraries will get items you need (books, articles, and other media) if they are not in the VCU Libraries collection via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). To search for materials in other libraries, use the Worldcat VCU or check the catalogs of other Virginia Libraries.

If you need help developing a search strategy or with ILL, Ask a Librarian.

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Books

For an overview of sociology-related topics, you can consult the following reference books:

  • The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User's Guide to Sociological Language (netLibrary VCU)
    Cabell Library Reference HM425.J64
  • Dictionary of Sociology
    Cabell Library Reference HM17.C66
  • Encyclopedia of Social Theory
    Cabell Library Reference HM425.E47
  • Encyclopedia of Sociology
    Cabell Library Reference HM17.E5
  • Oxford Reference Online VCU
    Provides access to more than 140 dictionaries and reference works published by Oxford University Press including the Dictionary of the Social Sciences and Dictionary of Sociology.
  • Sociology: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources
    Cabell Library Reference Z7164.S68 A24

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Journals

Journal Finder
This will let you know whether an electronic version of a journal is available from VCU. Links to e-journals are provided via the Get it @ VCU button. If an electronic version is available, you can browse available issues or look up a specific citation. You will need the year, volume, issue, and stariting page number.

Note: the search box only searches for the names of journals, not the subject content - use one of the research databases for this.

Alternative: Go to the VCU Libraries Catalog, select the Journals tab, and type in the title of the journal.

Select Journals

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Statistics

The following selected sources will help you find statistics related to social research. See Government Information for more sources of statistical information. For access to full data sets for secondary analysis, try ICPSR. 

  • American FactFinder
    http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
    Population, housing, economic and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • DataShare Metro Richmond
    http://www.datashare.org/
    A resource for demographic data at the neighborhood level for the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan region.
  • FedStats
    http://www.fedstats.gov/
     Access to statistics from over 100 federal agencies.
  • LexisNexis Statistical VCU
    Abstracts for statistical publications from 1973 forward; full-text of selected publications, 1995+. Power Tables feature searches words appearing in statistical tables. For items with a SRI, ASI, or IIS record number, check the Statistical Reference Index (SRI), American Statistics Index (ASI), or Index to International Statistics (ISI) microfiche collection.
  • Pew Research Center
    http://pewresearch.org
    Nonpartisan "fact tank" providing information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Research Center conducts public opinion polling and social science research. It does not take positions on policy issues.
  • VaStat
    http://www.coopercenter.org/econ/VASTAT/
    Business, demographic and economic statistics for the state of Virginia and its localities.
  • World Bank Group
    http://www.worldbank.org/
    An international organization owned by 184 countries - developed and developing - working to end poverty, improve education, health care and the environment.  World Bank is publisher of World Development Indicators and provides many demographic statistics (see Data & Research tab).

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Web Resources

The following resources will help you with sociology-related research. Please note that the list is selective. For more Web resources, you can search some of the sources listed below. When using the Web for research, remember to evaluate your sources for currency, objectivity and authority.

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Last Updated: May 08, 2008