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PROFESSION OF SOCIAL WORK (SOW 3302)
LIBRARY RESOURCE PAGE
LIBRARIAN: Dr. Darlene Ann Parrish

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The selected sources listed below are useful for finding information about the profession of social work and related topics.

FINDING A BOOK

FAU Libraries Catalog

• Subject Searching:
  At the "Basic Search" screen select "Subject Heading" and type in the following Library of Congress subject headings (with two dashes for subheadings):

Social work
Social service--Vocational guidance

• Keyword Searching:
  Go to the “Advanced Search” screen and select "Title" or "Any field" and type in your keywords.  (Example:  social work and profession)

FINDING AN ARTICLE

Electronic Databases
Electronic Databases can be used to find an article and are available from the FAU Libraries home page at http://www.fau.edu/library by selecting "Indexes/Databases" under "Quick Links."  Remember to select the link "Off Campus Connect" for the EZproxy server when accessing the databases remotely. 

• Academic Search Premier
  This is a good resource for finding articles on the profession of social work in scholarly and popular periodicals. 

• Central Search  This new search option enables the user to search for information in multiple electronic databases by "subject" or "keyword."
   

• Gale's Ready Reference Shelf  This electronic resource gives information about professional and trade associations, and their publications.  The "Search by Subject Descriptor" option is the recommended way of searching, if you do not know the name of an association.
   

• Expanded Academic ASAP
  This is a general index and a good starting point for information in scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers on various careers and occupations.  There are many full text articles included in this database.
   

• InfoTrac Professional Collection
  Gives references to articles in educational journals relevant for professionals in various fields.
   

• OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition
  This multidisciplinary database contains six of Wilson's full text databases including Social Sciences Full Text and can be used to find articles in scholarly journals and popular magazines relating to social work. 
   

• PsycINFO  
  Gives references to articles (some with the full text) from scholarly journals that contain information about various fields of study including psychology, law, education, business, nursing, social work and others.
   

• Social Services Abstracts
  Provides access to articles in scholarly journals on social work, social welfare, social policy, community development, human services and related areas.  Keyword searches can be done using the "Quick" or "Advanced" search screens.

• SocINDEX with Full Text
  This database contains references to articles on sociology research in scholarly journals and magazines, some with the full text,  It also indexes books, conference proceedings, and dissertations.  Keyword searches can be done using the "Basic Screen."

SCHOLARLY VS. POPULAR

• Scholarly journals have articles that contain original research or an in-depth analysis of a topic written by researchers, scholars or practitioners who are considered experts in a field.  They may also be referred to as "peer-reviewed" or "refereed" journals.  An example of a scholarly journal would be the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
   

• Popular magazines have articles about topics of general interest for a wide audience and are written by writers or journalists who may or may not have expertise in a particular field.  Examples of popular magazines would be Time or Newsweek.

EVALUATING INFORMATION

If you are not using one of the "Electronic Databases" listed above or other databases via the FAU Libraries Electronic Collection, you need to consider some of the following questions when evaluating information from the Internet:

1. How authoritative is the source of information?

2. How accurate is the information?

3. How reliable is the information?

4. How current is the information?

5. How relevant is the information to my topic?

CITING REFERENCES

• REF LB2369 .G53 2003   Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  6th ed.  New York:  Modern Language Association, 2003.

• MLA Style Electronic Formats (by Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey)
  This "quick" guide to citing sources found on the Internet provides the important components of a citation, with examples.

FINDING ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

Ask-A-Librarian email reference help

Reference desk phone number: 561-297-3785

Make an appointment with a librarian: One-on-one reference consultation