Subject Guide: Social Work
This guide lists basic English language reference sources for Social Work in both print and electronic formats available in North Carolina Central University libraries. The titles and links that are listed in this guide do not represent all of the resources available to users in the James E. Shepard Memorial Library. Most electronic resources are accessible both in the library and from outside the library via the Shepard Library’s home page. Books or journal articles not available in the library may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan. Please do not hesitate to ask a Reference Librarian for help with your library research.
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. –Samuel Johnson from Boswell, Life of Johnson, April18, 1775.
Before you start your research, ask yourself:
- What is my topic?
- What is the purpose of this research?
- What do I already know?
- What questions do I want to answer in my research?
Write down your answers; then, move on to the next step.
- Determine the type of information needed.
- List the keywords/terms which describe your subject.
- Select appropriate books/articles.
- Evaluate the information.
NCCU SirsiDynix Online Catalog
Use the NCCU Online Catalog to locate books on your subject using a keyword search, title
search, or author search. Consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (located at the
Reference Desk) to find exact terms for a subject search.
Example:
Keyword search: social work history = 40 titles
Title search: = 3 titles
Subject search = 7 titles
As evidenced above, you will probably retrieve more records by doing a keyword search. Using
a keyword search does not require an exact title or subject while locating a book. A subject
search will yield a closer match to your subject after the subject heading has been
determined.
The James E. Shepard Memorial Library has a large circulating collection of books serving courses offered by the NCCU Social Work Department.
There are many standard reference works, i.e., encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, atlases, bibliographies, etc. – capable of meeting the most general and specialized reference needs. Periodical indexes, abstracting services and printed catalogues of major research and national library collections provide bibliographic information about published and unpublished materials. Listed below are examples of the kinds of general reference materials available in the area of Social Work. This list, while not exhaustive, is intended to serve merely as an example of the kinds of materials that are available.
Title Call Number
Dictionaries/Handbooks
Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work
and Social Welfare 4 vols |
Ref. HV40.C635 2008 |
| 21st Century Sociology: a Reference Handbook 2 vols |
Ref. HM585.A13 2007 |
| The Social Work Dictionary 5th ed |
Ref. HV12.B37 2003 |
Encyclopedias
| Encyclopedia of Health & Aging |
Ref. RA777.6.ES34 2007 |
| The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology 11 vols |
Ref. HM425.B53 2007 |
| Encyclopedia of Environment and Society 5 vols |
Ref. HM856.E53 2007 |
| The Graying of America: an encyclopedia of aging, |
|
| health, mind, and behavior |
Ref. HQ1064.US K39 2001 |
International Encyclopedia of Public Policy
and Administration 4 vols |
Ref. H97.1574 1998 |
| Encyclopedia of Social Work 19th ed |
Ref. HV35.S6 1997 |
| Crime & the Justice System in America: an Encyclopedia |
Ref. HV6789.C6884 1997 |
| Social Science Encyclopedia. Selections |
Ref. H41.S6325 1987b |
Journals provide current and up-to-date information and may be available online or located in the Serials Department in the library. To locate articles and other research materials, consult a print index or electronic data base. To locate a specific journal, please use
Journal Finder.
Journal Finder is an integrated search interface that allows you to determine if the library provides electronic access, to determine if the library owns a print copy, to determine other libraries that may have print copies, and to order copies of articles that may be sent directly to you.
Online Social Work Journals via Journal Finder
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
Child Adolescent Social Work
Children and Schools: a Journal of Social Work Practice
Children and Youth Services Review
Clinical Social Work Journal
International Journal of Social Welfare
Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
Journal of Health and Human Services Administration
Journal of Social Work Education
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare
Social Work Research
 Accessible Archives
Coverage: It makes available vast quantities of archived historical information, previously furnished only on microfilm. Its primary source material has been selected to reflect a broad view of the times, and has been assembled into databases with a strict attention to detail allowing access to specific information with pinpoint accuracy. Its full text search capability and digital imaging permits the user to search and manipulate information in ways never before possible.
 Academic Search Premier via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Provides abstracts and indexing for over 3,200 scholarly journals covering a wide variety of subject areas from 1984 to present. Includes many complete articles from over 1,000 journals including 380 journals dating back to 1990.
CQ Researcher Online via CQ Press
Coverage: The CQ Researcher provides original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues shaping our world. Each 12,000-word report is a unique work, investigated and written by a seasoned journalist. Published 44 times a year, CQ Researcher reports offer in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the U.S. economy.
CQ Weekly via CQ Press
Coverage: Complete source for expert coverage of the U.S. Congress: status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, and back room maneuvering.
ERIC via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Indexes over 750 journals in the field of education from 1966 to present. Includes full text of ERIC Digests from 1967 to present.
MasterFile Premier via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Covers a wide variety of topics from about 3,100 magazines and journals from 1984 to present. Includes many complete articles from more than 1500 periodicals from 1990 to present.
MarciveWeb Docs via US Government Publications
Coverage: MarciveWeb Docs is a general index to federal government documents published from 1976 to the present and is updated monthly. It indexes many types of documents including agency publications, annual reports, census data, congressional hearings, and statistical publications.
NetLibrary via NetLibrary
Coverage: Provides easy access to the full text of more than 10,000 reference, scholarly, and professional books.
Newspaper Source via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Provides abstracts and indexing 1995 to present for: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal (Eastern and Western editions), Christian Science Monitor and USA Today. Coverage includes everything except obituaries (exclusive of famous people), sports tables, ads/classifieds, stock prices, and weather. Includes many complete articles from the Christian Science Monitor from 1995 to present, and some complete articles from over 100 other U.S. newspapers.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) via ProQuest
Coverage: Includes over 2 million master's theses and dissertations, with over 60,000 titles added every year. It's a great resource for researchers in a wide variety of fields.
PsychINFO (Psychology) via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Indexes and abstracts over 1300 journals in psychology and related disciplines from 1887 to present.
ScienceDirect via Elsevier Science
Coverage: Provides scientific, technical and medical (STN) research that offers access to more than 1,100 journals across sixteen fields of science, including the social sciences.
CINHAL w/Full Text via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Indexing for 2,717 journals and full text for 320 journals. PDF backfiles to 1982 are also included. Covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/ complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. Offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters.
Health Source: Consumer Edition via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Provides consumer oriented information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine, and general health. Includes searchable full text for over 150 consumer health journals, abstracts and indexing for nearly 175 general health, nutrition and professional health care publications.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition via EBSCOhost
Coverage: Provides more than 400 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Also featured are abstracts and indexing for over 500 journals.
MEDLINEplus via National Library of Medicine
| Coverage: MEDLINEplus has extensive information for health professionals and consumers from the National Institutes of Health and other trusted sources on hundreds of diseases and conditions. There are also lists of hospitals and physicians, a medical encyclopedia and dictionaries, health information in Spanish, extensive information on prescription and nonprescription drugs, health information from the media, and links to thousands of clinical trials. |
World Wide Web Resources for Social Work
The mission of this site has always been to help social workers throughout the world obtain the World Wide Web based information they need.
NASW Online
Website of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
NASW Job Link
Provides the detailed information you need to research the market, narrow the choices, and contact the employers who meet your specific needs.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Source of a great deal of government information and statistics.
FEDSTATS
A search engine for finding Federal Statistics from over 100 agencies.
U. S. Census
Home page for the U. S. Census Bureau.
MLA Style Manuel – Ref. PN147.A28 1985
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers – Ref. LB2369.G53 2003
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association -- Ref. BF76.7.P83 2001
Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information – Ref. PN171.F56 L5 1996
You may also see (online) Landmarks Citation Machine.
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This page was last updated: April 15th, 2009
Send comments to: Library Liaison for Social Work and Web Liaison
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