Library Research Social Sciences

8/9/2019 Library Research Social Sciences

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Introduction to Library Research

for the Social Sciences

Finding Books & Journal Articleshttp://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~jmellone/library_research_socialsciences.pdf

Prof. James T. Mellone

Social Sciences LibrarianQueens College, RO 326, (718) 997-3623

[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Where to Start:The Library link from the QC page

http://www.qc.cuny.edu
http://www.qc.cuny.edu/http://www.qc.cuny.edu/


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Where to Start:Or, directly to the QC Libraries

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/Library
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/Libraryhttp://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/Library


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Concepts for Library Research

Two important concepts to understand before starting your

research. You need to know the differences between:

1) A library Catalog and a library Database

2) Keyword searching and Subject/Descriptor searching


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Catalog vs. Database

Decide what material youare going to use: books,

journal articles,government reports, etc.

Know whichresource to use tofind that material:Catalog or Database?

Learn how to use oneCatalog and one Database,then you can use others,because they work insimilar ways.


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A Library Catalog tellswhat the library owns or

has:

Books, journals, music,

newspapers, videos,magazines, dvds.

It gives general informationabout the material: author,title, location, subject usually nota detaileddescription of the contents.

A Database tells what hasbeen published in a subject

discipline, like Sociology so, one library will not owneverything in the database.

It provides specific infoabout material, telling you

what is inside of periodicals(every article) or what isinside of books (everyessay).


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So, in general, you use aCatalog to find books, films,

or other whole publicationson a topic that the libraryowns.

The Catalog also tells you ifwe own a particular journalor magazine, but it does not

tell you what articles havebeen published inside ofthem.

So, in general, you use aDatabase to find what has

been published on a topic,usually parts of publications,such as articles in journals,essays, entries, or chapters in

books, and papers inconference proceedings.

It also may index materialthat is difficult to obtainbecause it is unpublished,

such as masters or doctoraltheses.


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Keyword vs. Subject/Descriptor

Identify the words

to use in your search

of the Catalog or

Database.

Learn how to make a

list of keywords to

start searching, then

how to revise your

search by using

subjects/descriptors.


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In Keyword searching you

use more common orinformal words, or words

that come from the research

question you are trying toanswer assuming you

created the question, and

not your professor or some

other expert.

In Subject (also known

as Descriptor) searchingyou use standardized

language, formal words

that scholars and expertsuse to describe a concept or

phenomenon in a subject

discipline (e.g. Sociology).


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Think of Keywords as

the most obvious words

that come to mind.

Often more than one

word can be used to

describe the same thing

so synonyms are

frequently used.

Think of Subjects as the

formal vocabulary you

use when you think

critically like a scholar

(e.g. Sociologist).

One word is designated

to describe a topic,

synonyms will not work.


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For instance, for the topic

how women workingaffects their children

There are numerous ways

to describe the

phenomenon called

work

employment, job, labor,

occupation, etc.

Which is the best to use?

Each subject discipline, e.g.

Sociology, decides what to

call the phenomena its

practitioners study.

To learn what the subjects

are, use the Thesaurus

(glossary of subjects), or do

a Keyword search to learn

from the search results what

subject word the topic is

formally called.


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Try a Keyword search first,

then see what results youget, and revise your search

once you learn the Subject

/ Descriptor for yourKeyword.

For example, in Sociology

the Subject / Descriptor forwork is usually

employment

the Thesaurus would tell us

that, the results of a

keyword search would tell

us as well.


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Another good rule to use when searching is:

If you have two or more

concepts, for example,

work, women, children

use Keyword searching.

If you have one large

concept, for example,

employment

try Subject searching.


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Make a list of synonyms or

related words for keywordsearching:

how women workingaffects their children

women or mothers

work or job or occupation

children or daughters or family

To learn the formal

language (vocabulary) ofa discipline, consult:

1) textbook2) database Thesaurus

(e.g. Sociological Abstracts)

3) subject dictionary (e.g.dictionary of sociology)


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CUNY+ Catalog (Finding Books)

If you arelooking forbooks,search

the CUNY+Catalog.

On the

mainpagethere aretwo directlinks:another link

is underResearch


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CUNY+ Catalog: Keyword search

Use keyword

searching in AllFields, if yourtopic is morecomplex than aone word topic

Use Subjectbegin with forlarge one-wordtopics such as

Employment


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CUNY+ Catalog: Results, with brief record displays

Brief recordsare displayed browse to find agood one


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CUNY+ Catalog: Full Record display

This is the Record forthis article think ofit as an index card ofinformation about thisreading material

Click on the libraryname Queens tosee the call numberfor the books

location


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CUNY+ Catalog: Holdings display Library of

Congress (LC)classificationuses an A Zletter system.Each letterstands for alarge subject,double letters fora more specificone (H=SocialSciences,HD=Labor)

Call Number HDis on the 4thfloor

Regular Loanmeans you canborrow the book;On Shelf meansit is available


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Sociological Abstracts (Finding Journal Articles)

To search for

journalarticles, go toRESEARCH,thenDatabases

Find Articlesis a short cutto theDatabases

page; so isFindDatabases


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Sociological Abstracts: Getting to It

If you know thedatabase you wantto search, e.g.SociologicalAbstracts

Click on S to

get toSociologicalAbstracts

OR

Scroll down

the page tothe S section

NOTE: Databaseslist can be sortedby using theBrowse databases

by Subject pull-down menu in thecenter of the page

Select your subjectdiscipline to start(e.g. Sociology, or

Urban Studies)


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Sociological Abstracts: Getting to It

Notice eachdatabase has adescription andpublishing years ofcoverage

First icon indicatessome full-text ofarticles is available

Second icon

indicates FindIt!capability for links tofull-text of articles

Click onSociologicalAbstracts(SocioAbs) to openit


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Sociological Abstracts: Advanced Search

Lets try a samplekeyword search forwomen andemployment andchildren

If you have more thanone concept, usekeywords for your firstsearch

Know when to useAND (to combinewords or phrases) andwhen to use OR (forsynonyms, relatedterms/ideas)

Set limits for the yearsof publication, JournalArticles only, andEnglish only


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Sociological Abstracts: Search Results

SocioAbs indexesChapters in books,which we may own

but also coversDissertations &Conference Paperswhich you shouldavoid because they

are unpublished andhard to obtain

Remember to select

the Peer-Reviewedarticles, they are morescholarly


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SocioAbs: Peer-Reviewed Search Results

Brief recordsare displayed browse to find

a good one

Click the Titleto view the fullrecord to read

the abstract

Some recordsmay have abuilt-in link tothe PDF article

this one does


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SocioAbs: How to Obtain the Article

Option 1: Click on a Full-Text link or PDF link

Option 2: Click on the FindIt linking tool, then click on a

Full-Text link or PDF link

Option 3: Click on the FindIt linking tool, then click on the

CUNY+ Catalog to search for a printed/paper version of the

periodical, then match the year of the article to what yearsare available at QC or another CUNY library


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SocioAbs: Full Record Display

This is theRecord for thisarticle think of

it as an indexcard ofinformationabout thisreading material

Descriptors aresubjects youcan use to re-doyour search

Read this first todecide if youwant to read thetext of the article

Click here to locate

the article text

(Option 1)


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SocioAbs: Full-Text / PDF of Article (Option 1)

The PDF is theexact duplicate ofthe published

article; it includesall the graphicalmatter: charts,graphs, illustrations,etc.

Use functionbuttons in theAdobe Readerviewer to Save,Print, or Email

Click the downarrow in thepercentage box toresize the document

S i Ab F ll R d R t t R lt


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SocioAbs: Full-Record, Return to Results

To go back to thelist of results click,Return to Results

S i Ab R lt S l t th d


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SocioAbs: Results, Select another record

Lets say youareinterested in

anotherarticle, eventhough thereis NO directfull-text link(so Option 1

is notavailable)

This one hasno direct

Full-Text link,so try Option2: FIND ITFull-Text link

No directfull-text link

S i Ab Fi dIt F ll T t li k (O ti 2)


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SocioAbs: FindIt Full-Text link (Option 2)

Now starts themore mechanicalpart navigatingto locate the

article text

Option 2: links tothe full-text of thearticle are here, ifavailable

Option 3: IfOptions 1 & 2 donot work, then thislink searches theCUNY+ Catalog

for theprinted/paperversion of thejournal

Click on one ofthe Full TextOnline links

S i Ab O ti 2 Wil I t S i li k


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SocioAbs: Option 2, Wiley InterSciencelink

Look for thewordsFull-text,

orFull-image,

The article

will display inHTMLorPDF

SocioAbs: Option 2 displaying PDF


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SocioAbs: Option 2, displaying PDF

The PDF is theexact duplicateof thepublishedarticle; it

includes all thegraphicalmatter: charts,graphs,illustrations,etc.

Use functionbuttons in theAdobe Readerviewer to Save,

Print, or Email

Click the downarrow in thepercentage box

to resize thedocument

SocioAbs: Option 3 link to the Catalog


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SocioAbs: Option 3, link to the Catalog

The last hope of locatingthe article text is theCatalog link

If FIND IT has no full-text links, then use theCatalog link to search

for a printed/paperversion of the journal

SocioAbs: Option 3 Catalog journal search


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SocioAbs: Option 3, Catalog, journal search The CUNY+ Catalog

link does the search

Check the holdingsto match the year ofthe article you need,with the years of the

journal that QC oranother CUNYlibrary owns

The date listed underYear is the first yearof publication

Click on theQueens link in theHoldings column, ittells what years andvolumes QC owns

If you do not seeQueens listed, clickon the Title to seethe Record


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SocioAbs: Option 3, Catalog, holdings

Scroll down, theHoldings are inalphabeticalorder by libraryname

Queens will belisted toward the

bottom Click on Queens

to see whatvolumes and

years we own

SocioAbs: Option 3 Catalog holdings


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SocioAbs: Option 3, Catalog, holdings

There is onlyone holdingslocation inQueens,sometimesthere are more

A call numbermeans that QCowns a printed /paper version

The (hyphen)between thedates meansthrough

Notice the full-text link toEBSCO

NOTE: Printsubscriptioncancelled (afterthe last year,2007)

SocioAbs: Re-doing a search


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SocioAbs: Re doing a search

Re-do your searchby clicking on Edit

Search

Remember to lookat the Descriptorsfor the formal words

that may be used todescribe your topic:eg. WorkingWomen, Sex Roles

Other records haveDescriptors suchas: Females,Employment,Working Mothers

SocioAbs: Second Search (with descriptors)


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SocioAbs: Second Search (with descriptors)

Click the downarrow in the firsttwo boxes on the

far right side

Then selectDescriptors fromthe pull-downmenu

For womensubstitute working

women in the firstsearch box on theleft

SocioAbs: Searching by Descriptor


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SocioAbs: Searching by Descriptor

Searching byDescriptor wordsprovides more

precise results: 8records now,compared to 269searching byKeyword

The wordsworking womenand children mustappear in the

Descriptor field inorder for recordsto be retrievedduring the search


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SocioAbs: Bibliography

Click in the boxto the left ofeach article to

mark the onesyou want tosave

Then, click onSave Print

Email


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The number ofrecords youmarked is

indicated Customize the

format of theBibliography

Click the downarrow by FullFormat

Then mouse overto Custom

Format and clickit

S i Ab Bibli h


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Click onChangeCustom

Fields toselect whichparts of eachrecord youwant to save

S i Ab Bibli h


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The followingare needed foran annotated

bibliography:

1. Abstract

2. Author

3. Descriptors4. Source

5. Title

S i Ab Bibli h


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Choose theAPA stylewith

Abstracts byclicking onthe downarrow

Click on

Create

S i Ab Bibli h


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If you havethe pop-upblocker ON,

click on thefirst clickhere to loadthebibliography

in a newbrowserwindow

If the pop-upblocker is

OFF, thebibliographywill loadautomatically

S i Ab Bibli h


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Bibliographyis in APAstyle, with

theAbstracts

You canprint, save,or email

You maywant tocopy andpaste it intoyour wordprocessor,and savethat fileinstead



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Return toyour searchResults



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Rememberto unmarkyour

markedrecordsbefore youcontinueworking

SocioAbs: Using the Thesaurus


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Remember, if you have adifficult time figuring outwhat Descriptors are best

for your topic, browse orsearch the Thesaurus tolearn the Sociologyvocabulary fortopics

SocioAbs: Thesaurus Search


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The Thesauruscan be searchedor browsed

beginning with theletter A

To browse, clickGO

To search, typeyour search termin the box, then

click GO

SocioAbs: Thesaurus search results


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The PLUS sign afterthe searched word,employment,means there aresmaller or narrowersubjects you canbrowse within thelarger subject ofEmployment

SocioAbs: Thesaurus, other Descriptors


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These more specificsubjects might giveyou ideas on how torethink or revise yourtopic

Connect from Home


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Connect from Home

Our Librarydatabases ande-journals arepurchased for

QC students,faculty, and staff

When off-campus youmust use your

QC ADScomputeraccount to loginto our websitethrough theProxy Service,

so we know youare a QC user

Connect from Home


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Connect from Home

Here are theinstructions

Step 1: ActivateADS Accountby clicking onthe CAMS link

Step 2:ConfigureBrowserSettings

Connect from Home: ADS Account


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There is a website loginrequired for Databases andfull-text links in E-Reserve

(none for the Catalog). To setup your remote login:

1) Create a password for yourQC ADS computer account

([email protected])by going to the CAMS page(http://cams.qc.cuny.edu)

Click on Sign Up Now to enterCAMS with your personalinformation

Connect from Home : ADS Account
mailto:[email protected]://cams.qc.cuny.edu/http://cams.qc.cuny.edu/mailto:[email protected]


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Login with the following:

College ID = Social SecurityNumber (SSN)

PIN = Registration PIN,ESIMS password, or lastsix digits of the SSN

Postal Code = Zip Code

Remember to check in thepolicy box



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If you have notactivated youraccounts yet, theStatus should say

De-activated(Notice mine isalreadyActivated)

Once logged in,

then clickDetails on thefar right to createa password foryour ADS

Do the samething for yourLotus Notesemail account



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Follow theinstructionsfor creating a

passwordcarefully



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After creating yourpasswords, youraccount statusshould change to

Activated

To change yourpassword, just clickon Details andrepeat the same

steps

NOTE: It may takeup to 30 minutes ormore of processingtime, after yourstatus saysActivated, for youto use youraccount

Connect from Home : Browser Settings


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You must adjust theProxy settings in yourweb browser; follow the

instructions on theProxy Service pagehttp://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu/FAQS/proxy.asp

You only have to do thesetup once

You must do this

though for any browseryou use to access theLibrary resources

Connect from Home: Log In to Website
http://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu/FAQS/proxy.asphttp://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu/FAQS/proxy.asphttp://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu/FAQS/proxy.asphttp://helpdesk.qc.cuny.edu/FAQS/proxy.asp


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When you arehome and clickon a database

a pop-up boxwill ask you tologin

Remember tologin using the

methodillustrated inthe secondstep here

The prefix

instr\mustappear beforeyour username

Choosing a Topic


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Use the Thesaurus of a database to browse the list ofsubjects.

Use a more general database, that may index morepopular writings and that covers current events or social

issues. Then you can read about topics first before youstart your research. Opposing Viewpointsis great forlearning basic information about a social issue.

Choosing a Topic: Opposing Viewpoints


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OpposingViewpointscovers majorssocial issues inthe news

It presentsmaterial on bothsides of an issue



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Click on O to getto OpposingViewpoints

OR

scroll down thepage tothe O section



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Click onOpposingViewpointstoopen it

Notice thedescription andthe publishingyears ofcoverage



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Do a morespecific

search

Browse a

topic likeMediaViolence

Choosing a Topic: Opposing Viewpoints There are


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There are

various kindsof readingson the topic,mostlypopular,somescholarly

Consider useof adatabase like

this to bepre-research

This materialintroducesyou to thetopic beforeyou startyourresearch

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