SOCIOLOGY 421: DATABASE SEARCHING & JOURNAL ACCESS October 1, 2007 Grant Kayler, UofA Libraries

Getting Started - essentials Campus Computing ID (CCID) & PASSWORD –lab & in-library authentication –off-campus access to library (EZproxy) ONECard bar code and PIN –library card, holds/requests, my account –photocopy/printing card (add value)

Searching Tips Boolean Searches –and = punishment and culture Narrows search –or = jail or prison Broadens search (i.e. similar meaning) Phrase Searches –gun control –sometimes “gun control”

Searching Tips: increase the number of hits Truncation (at end of term) –punish* = punish or punishment or punished etc. (symbol varies, e.g. ! ? – check search tips or help) –Library catalogue uses ? Wildcards (within term) –wom?n = women or woman

Searching Tips: A bit more complex Nesting – combine “and” and “or” in a single search, e.g. (punish* or prison*) and (multicultural* or divers*) Proximity – terms near each other, e.g. women within 5 prison (again, varies with database (e.g. N5) – check tips/help)

Scholarly or Academic Journals Peer review / refereed –process of reviewing an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas by others who are experts in the same field – editorial boards, “blind” review process Some databases let you limit your search to articles in peer reviewed journals, e.g. SocINDEX with Full Text, Sociological Collection, Social Sciences Full Text, CBCA Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory (a database) can be used to determine if a journal is scholarly/peer reviewed

CATALOGUE vs DATABASES Catalogue –Lists books, journals/periodicals, videos, newspapers, etc. OWNED by NEOS libraries (UofA is a NEOS library) plus call number and library locations –Provides title of periodical (e.g. American Journal of Sociology) but not the titles of individual articles in the periodical –If periodical is available electronically, catalogue will provide a link to the electronic form, e.g. American Journal of Sociology

CATALOGUE vs. DATABASES DATABASES –provide access to periodical articles (and chapters, dissertations, books) –provide more information about the contents of a journal or book than library catalogue –May also provide full text of the article, or links to the full text in other sources –search by title of the article, author, subject keywords, etc. –Remember: articles listed are not necessarily owned by the NEOS/UA libraries – may need to obtain through Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

DATABASES: Citation or citation + abstract only: –e.g. Sociological Abstracts, Social Science Citation Index –Get It links to the full text if available in another database, or to print sources, e.g. the Libraries’ Catalogue, Interlibrary Loan, etc. Full-text databases (pdf or html) Databases that contain the full-text of some or all of the articles, e.g. SocINDEX with Full Text, Sociological Collection, SAGE Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text

Web-based citation management, access from anywhere Create a database of references that you build as you go (e.g. import directly from database) organize into individual folders for specific assignments, etc. Pull references from database/folders to create bibliography for specific assignments, in proper format (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.) Insert in-text references from folder/database as you write your paper

KEY DATABASES FOR SOCIOLOGY: –Sociological Abstracts –Social Sciences Full Text –Sage Full Text –Social Science Citation Index (part of Web of Science, permits cited ref searching) –CBCA Reference