LibGuides: Sociology: Catalogs & Databases

Librarian Corner

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Terrell Library 120-D
Washington State University

Office Hours: (Spring, 2023): Click the "Schedule Appointment" link above to set up a Zoom appointment, or email me directly via the button (which I recommend).

Subjects: Criminal Justice, Government Information, Law, Political Science, Sociology, Sport Studies

Library Catalogs

Search It
Search It is the Libraries catalog - you can use it to find books, articles, media materials, and more. You can order books from other WSU libraries around the state. The Summit system lets you order books from 37 academic libraries in Washington and Oregon, as well as the University of Idaho.
WSU WorldCat Discovery
Use for finding books not available at WSU or through Summit - it will link you to ILLiad, the Libraries' interlibrary loan service. You can get to it directly from search results in Search It.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Academic libraries version of Google Books - "...is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world." Be Sure To Log In with Your WSU credentials
Has a lot of missing metadata/bibliographical data
Google Books
Google Books is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. Some magazines too. No access to fulltext in-copyright material.
Library of Congress Classification: Social Science - Sociology
This is a good resource for browsing (you'll see sociology in the HMs) but books covering sociological topics can be found in many other areas of the library, including political science, psychology, history, and more.

Sociology Databases

Sociological Abstracts
A database containing abstracted citations to articles on all aspects of sociology, social work and other social sciences. Coverage from 1963-present.
SocArXiv
"Open archive of the social sciences" - a preprint server for finding open access preprints of scholarly articles in the social sciences.
Check out their blog, SocOpen

Other Research and Subject Guides with databases focussing on different disciplines can be found here. A complete list of WSU Libraries databases for all subjects/disciplines can be found here.

Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index) [ISI/Clarivate - formerly Thomson Reuters]
Both an interdisciplinary database and a citation database (use to trace citations between articles) - for more on this, see the Measuring Research Impact Using Web of Science, Altmetrics, and Other Sources Research Guide. See also: Google Scholar
PsycINFO
Covers psychology and related disciplines
JSTOR
Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Sciencec)
Accessed through the Web of Science database; See also Google Scholar and Google Scholar Citations. More information on citation searching can be found on the Measuring Research Impact Using Web of Science, Altmetrics, and Other Sources library guide.

Social Sciences Abstracts (EBSCO)(H.W.Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, interviews, obituaries, biographies, and book reviews in English language periodicals. Covers anthropology, economics, geography, law, political science, psychology, and sociology. U41984 to the present;updated monthly.
Social Services Abstracts
Provides citations to current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development
Bibliography of Data-Related Literature (ICPSR)
"a continuously-updated database of thousands of citations of works using data held in the ICPSR archive." Includes DOI, WorldCat, and Google Scholar options for access are provided for most citations; the WorldCat link will provide a Find It @ WSU option.
Annual Reviews
All Annual Review journals in Biomedicine, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

Social Science Research Network
A discipline-based repository of open-access (free!) research reports in the social sciences.
POPLINE (POPulation information onLINE)
"POPLINE®(POPulation information onLINE), the world's largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues."
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POPLINE®(POPulation information onLINE), the world's largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues."
National Conference on Social Welfare Proceedings (1874-1982)
PILOTS:Published International Literature On Traumatic Stress
Elsevier ScienceDirect [Journal Publisher; journal and article database)
This resource contains the full text of Elsevier science journals with over 650 journals avilable in full text from 1995 to the present. This includes almost 300 title available at WSU in electronic form only.
SAGE Journals Online
Search all articles available to the WSU Libraries published by SAGE (a major social sciences publisher)
Wiley Online Library
Search all articles available to the WSU Libraries published by Wiley
SpringerLink
Search for articles available to the WSU Libraries published by Springer

Social Science Methods

SAGE Research Methods
Designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method, SAGE Research Methods includes more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. The Methods Map can help those less familiar with research methods to find the best technique to use in their research.
ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research )
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research provides access to over 5000 datasets, includes Census, Crime, Aging, Health Care, Politics, etc.

Bibliography of Data-Related Literature (ICPSR)
"...a continuously-updated database of thousands of citations of works using data held in the ICPSR archive. The works include journal articles, books, book chapters, government and agency reports, working papers, dissertations, conference papers, meeting presentations, unpublished manuscripts, magazine and newspaper articles, and audiovisual materials."
Bibliography of Publications Using Roper Center Data
"This is a bibliography of publications that use data from the Roper Center. Some cite information on overall responses obtained from iPOLL; some are based on individual-level analyses of datasets held by the Roper Center, and others use our Presidential approval series or other indexes constructed from Roper Center data." Research articles only.
Note: We no longer have access to the Roper Center or its iPoll database, but this bibliography is still useful.

General Interest Databases

iPOLL (Roper Center)
iPOLL is a public opinion/polling database of 500,000+ questions and answers on a wide range of topics collected by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. The database also provides access to downloadable datasets for statistical analysis (free account required). Some international coverage. Data covers 1935-present
Academic Search Complete
Academic Search Complete includes full text for 1800 publications as well as images, for nearly every academic field of study.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (Dissertation Abstracts)
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Citations for U.S. (and some Canadian) dissertations 1861- present. Includes abstracts for dissertations published from 1980-present (some recent dissertations offer a 24-page preview). Also includes citations and abstracts for master's theses from 1988-present.

Annual Reviews
All Annual Review journals in Biomedicine, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

Article First
Multidisciplinary database of scholarly articles from over 12,000 journals going back to 1990.
ECO: Electronic Collections Online
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Multidisciplinary database that includes considerable full-text.
America: History and Life (U.S. and Canada)
Citations and abstracts to publications on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes journals, books, reviews, and dissertations. Covers 1964-present.
Historical Abstracts
Citations and abstracts to publications covering the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
The African American Experience
Online fulltext library of sources - history, image, primary sources, analysis, and more.
The American Indian Experience
Online fulltext library of sources - history, image, primary sources, analysis, and more.
The American West
Includes letters and diaries on Westward Expansion.

General Online Background/Presearch Resources

Look here for additional background/presearch resources.

Sage Knowledge
Reference resources (encyclopedias, handbooks, and more). Good for social science. Includes reference works on research methods.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Fulltext and searchable content from reference books published by Gale.

Oxford Reference Online
Access to more than 150 dictionaries and encyclopedias covering all subjects
CQ Researcher Online (CQ Press)
The CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy from 1991 to the present.
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints.
An online resource, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, covers today's hottest social issues and includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, info-graphics and more. Supports social sciences, sciences, humanities, and current events.
UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory
Use this to get information about a journal, including if it is peer-reviewed/refereed.
Gun Regulation and Legislation in America / HeinOnline
Gun regulation and legislation in America is a searchable database that provides links to legal materials on gun regulation in the United States

Finding Media (streaming, DVD, VHS, etc)

Streaming Online Films, Movies, and Music (WSU Libraries)
Includes links to streaming media databases including Academic Video Online (AVON) and Kanopy.
Filmaker's Library Online (Alexander Street)
Filmakers Library Online provides documentaries for streaming video use across the university's curriculum. There are 1,018 titles covering all academic areas. Particular strengths include history, health, and social science topics. You can create short clips.
Searching for Media in Search It [Library Guide]
Use this to find DVDs, CDs, and other kinds of media available for check-out from the WSU Libraries. Hint: in a simple search after you do your search you can filter by the Video and/or Audio "Type" options. In Advanced Search you can pre-filter by Material Type - options include Audio, Video for physical items, i.e. DVDs, and "eAudio and eVideo" for streaming video, music, and audiobooks.

How to Read (and Understand) a Scholarly Article

How to read (and understand) a scholarly article
Frederique Laubepin, PhDInter-‐university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), 2013