SOW 4403: Library Research in Social Work
Professor Kane
Librarian: Ken Frankel
February 5, 2007
 

A Social Work research guide, including both electronic and print  resources is available at: http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/ref/rsguide/sociwork/Main.htm

I. Locating books in the Library:

 

FAU Libraries Catalog: click on "Catalog" or "Books". The following types of basic searches are available:

A. Keywords: can be truncated with a ? e.g. addict? will search for addicts, addiction, etc.  B. Author's Name: last name first, you don't need to capitalize
C. Title: if a title starts with "The," "A," or "An," omit that and skip to the next word.
D. Subject: must be entered in a very specific manner.  You may get a cross-reference for example: social work gives a cross reference to use "social service".  Some examples of subject headings that might be useful:

• social policy
• social service
• social service–United States–history
• child welfare

E. Journal/Magazine Title: be sure to check the "Library Has" link to see which dates the Library owns. (Note: not all electronic journals FAU has access to are listed in the catalog. There is also a link to a list of all electronic journals available at FAU.)

The advanced search screen allows you to combine terms using "and", "or", "not" as well as limiting a search by location, date, format, or language.

II. Searching for articles in databases:

 

To search for articles click on "Indexes/Databases" or "Articles". There are both alphabetical and subject listings of databases. The Library provides access to several major social work databases including SocINDEX with Full Text and Social Services Abstracts. In addition, there are number of databases available on related topics: social sciences, psychology, criminal justice, law, etc.

Note: when using these databases from off-campus you must first log in through the EZ-Proxy link. You will need to enter the number from your Owl Card in order to do this.

SocINDEX with Full Text
The world's most comprehensive and highest quality social sciences research database. Includes option to limit searches to social work journals only (under "Refine Search").

Social Services Abstracts
Provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. 

InfoTrac OneFile
A very large interdisciplinary database which allows the option of limiting searches to refereed journals only, search results with full-text only, or both. 

JSTOR
An archive of full-text scholarly journals.  Does not include most recent five years, but has complete back files.

LexisNexis Academic
Accesses over a billion full text news, magazine, legal, and business articles and reports, including newspapers, magazines, and government documents, state and federal laws and regulations, case law, newsletters, company and industry information.  

PsycArticles
Contains the full text of articles from APA journals and selected EPF journals, must from 1988 to the present.   

PsycINFO
Produced by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines.

Ethnic NewsWatch
Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text general reference database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press -- English and Spanish language.  

Westlaw Campus
This resource includes access to the complete laws and statutes of the federal government and all 50 states, federal regulations, precedent-setting court decisions, KeyCite, American Law Reports, American Jurisprudence, and current and archived articles from hundreds of leading law reviews and journals. 

 III. Citing your References:

APA Style:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Ref BF 76.7 P83 2001) Many quick reference guides to APA style are available on the Web such as the APA Style and Formatting Guide from Purdue University.

 

IV. Getting Research Help

Reference Email: "Ask a Librarian" form

Reference Instant Messaging

Reference Telephone 561-297-3785

Reference Consultations: meet with a librarian to receive individualized help http://www.library.fau.edu/eforms/refcon.htm