Sociology

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Article Indexes

Scholarly journal articles are very important sources for research as they contain the most-up-to-date research in a given field and often focus on a particular aspect of a topic. Journal articles are not listed in QCAT. Use an index or a database to find articles (journal, magazine and newspaper). There are different types of articles: scholarly, popular or trade.

Tip:Remember to search journal title and not article title in QCAT

Key Indexes

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Sociological Abstracts
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1952 - present
Premiere database for finding sociological research. Searches over 2000 journals and more....
A pre-selected group of 3 citation, abstract, and full-text databases covering literature published in sociology. Each database can be searched separately but they also can be searched as a group, from this starting point.
ProQuest Sociology
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1985-
Full text collection of 255+ journals in sociology and social work. Can be searched just like an index, but search results will only be drawn from the 255+ journals, compared to Sociological Abstracts, which indexes over 2000 journals.

Gender

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Gender Studies Database
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1972 - present
An excellent resource for finding articles on Women's Studies, Men's Studies, Sexual Diversity, and Family and Social Studies.
LGBT Life with Full Text
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1953-
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues

Socio-Legal Studies

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Index to Legal Periodicals Full Text
(more info)
Publication coverage: Journal articles: 1981 - present ; Books: 1993 - present.
Index to journal articles and books in all areas of law.
LawSource Canadian resource
(more info)
Publication coverage: Varies
"Westlaw Canada's mandate is to provide coverage of unreported court decisions from 1986 forward and reported court decisions from 1977, as well as decisions published in Carswell law reports from their inception. You will also find that Westlaw Canada includes an extensive collection of decisions predating 1977 from key courts and law report series."

Indexes for Non-Mainstream Publications

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Alternative Press Index  Access limit
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1991 - present (updated quarterly)
Print holdings: 1969 - present Access restricted to the Queen's community (2 user limit)
Interdisciplinary index to alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines.
Ethnic NewsWatch
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1959 - present
Interdisciplinary, with a focus on publications from ethnic, minority and native presses.
Left Index
(more info)
Publication coverage: Varies depending on publication.
A complete guide to the diverse literature of the left, with emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia.

Multidisciplinary Social Sciences Indexes

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IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1951-   (updated quarterly)
Provides international coverage and indexes journal articles, books, reviews and selected chapters.
Social Sciences Citation Index
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1900 - present
An index to major journals in the social sciences.

Broad Multidisciplinary Indexes

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Use the Google search engine to locate articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles published on the "open" web.
Academic Search Complete
(more info)
Publication coverage: 1865 - present
Find articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, monographs and reports covering a broad spectrum of topics.

Bibliographies

Consult bibliographies to find a comprehensive list of sources on a specific topic or a selective list of key works on a topic. To find out what bibliographies the Library has, do a subject search in QCAT.

Current Sociology
HM1 C8726t (1952-2004)

This provides reports of trends and bibliographies on a wide range of sociological subjects. Texts or reports are in English or French with summaries in the other language. This set is international in its coverage. Library holds this set from 1952 onward.

International Bibliography of Sociology
HM17.2.I6 (SL compact shelving)

This is a comprehensive classified bibliography of books, pamphlets, periodicals, and government publications in many languages. Provides indexes by author and subject. Contains no annotations. Library holds this set, in print, from 1955 to 2003. Content continued in the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences.

A London Bibliography of the Social Sciences
REF Z7161.L84

This set, 1931-1989, is an extensive bibliography which is international in scope.

Inventory of Marriage and Family Literature
REF Z7164.M2.I57

Library holds this set from 1973 - 1994.

Oxford Bibliographies Online

Lists books, journals, primary documents, web resources, and multimedia in various discipline-based subject modules, including Communication and Criminology.

Books

To find books in our collection, search QCAT by author, title, subject heading, or keyword.

To find books by a particular author/person, search QCAT by author:
berger peter
To find books about a particular author/person, search QCAT by subject heading:
berger peter
To find books on a topic, use a keyword search if you do not know the correct subject heading for a topic. Think of the focus (or key) words that describe your topic.
racism and canada
Select useful titles and look at the full record for subject headings. Some useful sociology subject headings are:
canada--race relations
ethnicity--canada
racism--canada
To find bibliographies on a topic, look for the subdivision bibliography following a subject heading.
Juvenile delinquency--Bibliography
To find primary sources in the library, look for the subdivision sources following a subject heading.
Sociology, Christian--Great Britain--History--Sources

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Consult specialized encyclopedias or dictionaries to get a broad overview of a subject, a concise overview of a concept, school of thought or person. To find encyclopedias or dictionaries on your topic, search QCAT using the keywords of your topic combined with "encyclopedia" or "dictionaries".

eg. "social justice" encyclopedia

The emphasis of this guide is on electronic (online) subscription resources but some of the titles listed below are also available in print in the reference collection located on the main floor of Stauffer Library. To obtain call numbers for print reference works, perform a title search in QCAT for the resource in which you are interested.

Featured Title

Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology 
"This concise encyclopedia is the most complete international survey of sociology ever created in one volume."

Major online reference resources for sociology (consisting of companions, dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks) include Blackwell Reference Online, Oxford Reference Online, Sage Reference Online, and the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

 Blackwell Reference Online

Blackwell Reference Online is a vast online library providing full text access to over 400 authoritative social sciences reference works, including dictionaries, companions and encyclopedias. The following are some of the major reference works relevant to sociological inquiry:

[Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology]

Dictionaries

The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought

Encyclopedias

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
(highly recommended resource)

Companions

The Blackwell Companion to Criminology
The Blackwell Companion to Major Classical Social Theorists
The Blackwell Companion to Major Contemporary Social Theorists
The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory
The Blackwell Companion to Sociology
The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Culture
The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Families

Oxford Reference Online

Includes:
Science, Technology, and Society
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
Dictionary of Sociology
Dictionary of Statistics

Sage Reference Online

Includes:
Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory
21st Century Criminology: A Reference Handbook
Encyclopedia of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
Encyclopedia of Identity
Encyclopedia of Race and Crime
Encyclopedia of Research Design
Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media
The SAGE Handbook of Sociology

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Includes:
Encyclopedia of Communication and Information
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Encyclopedia of Sociology

Primary Sources & E-Books

Many individual electronic books are available within e-book packages.

Some packages have individual book records in QCAT, but many do not. To limit your QCAT search, choose E-Books from the drop-down menu. For e-books not listed in QCAT search within the following packages.

Click here for a complete list of all the e-book collections in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Primary Source Materials:

Collections of note include:

E-Book Collections

Collections of note include:

Note: The following book collections are freely available on the Web

Research Methods


Sage Research Methods Online



Statistics

Queen's University Library Social Science Data Centre

Statistical Data Resources Available at Queen's

Government Documents Subjects A to Z!

Canadian Statistics

Theses

[Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil on the Nature of Fire; Pen and Paper; Albert Einstein's Dissertation]

Queen's

To find theses and dissertations produced at Queen's, search the following:

Canada

Repositories

Search for full text of open access dissertations and theses by searching the following sites:

United States

International

TIP: The Library sometimes can have a copy of a dissertation from another university--either purchased by the Library, or purchased by an individual student or faculty member and later donated to the library collection so always check QCAT.

Websites

Look for a PUBLICATIONS link on each of the sites listed below. Browse publications by date or keyword search. Look for links to Policy Briefs, FactSheets, etc. for further information.

For publications not freely available from an organization's Website, search the title in QCAT to see if Queen's Library owns it.

Caledon Institute of Social Policy  

Canada West Foundation   ?   

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives  

TIP: Choose Publications

Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)   ?   

Feature: Scroll down to find the SubSites Menu which include links to information on Social Indicators, Social Inclusion and more.

Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy (CRISP)   ?   

Feature: Policy Briefs

Canadian Social Research Links   ?

Tip: This is a meta-site; it will lead you to other sites. Scroll waaaay down to find categorized groups of Websites on just about any topic related to social policy. Lots of Canadian content, but you'll find international links too. If you're using Internet Explorer as your Web browser, search the page using the FIND command to locate relevant headings. To do this press Ctrl F; then type a word or phrase in the Find box.

Canadian Sociology Association (CSA)   

Tip: Full-text of CSA's journal the Canadian Review of Sociology is available from 1992 to the present (formerly Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology).

Census Canada - Demographic Information about Canadians   

Search by topic or keyword. 2011 Community Profiles: search for data by city or town.

Centre for Social Justice   ?   

Feature: Fact Sheets-cartoons/graphics illustrating social issues

Citizens for Public Justice    ?

Fraser Institute  ?   

TIP: Many documents are available full-text as HTML files, but scroll to the bottom of a document to find PDF links.

Institute for Social Research (York University)   

Tip: Scroll down menu on left; click Publications; scroll down menu again to find the list of publications by topic. Full-text not available online, but search QCAT to see if Queen's owns a publication.

Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) [Memorial University]   

Justice Canada, Research and Statistics Division   

National Organization for Women (NOW)   ?

Tip: See Issues page for topical list of full-text news releases and papers.

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)   ?   

Population Index (Princeton University)

Find citations to journal articles, books, and more on population topics.

Social Planning Councils of Canada

This site lists Social Planning Councils throughout Canada. You'll even find one for Kingston.

Social Policy Research Unit (University of Regina)   ?   

Statistics Canada--Free Internet publications  

Note: Queen's owns many Statistics Canada publications and you'll find them by searching QCAT. Don't restrict your search to the free online publications at this Website.

Status of Women Canada  

TIP: Click Publications, then choose Subject List or Policy Research Publications from menu on left.

Vanier Institute of the Family  

Consult Research and Publications to find publications.

Writing & Style Guides

American Sociological Association Style Guide (4th edition)
Stauffer Library Reference Desk: REF HM569.A54 2010

A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers
Stauffer Library: REF HM73.G78 1994

Definitions in Sociology: Convergence, Conflict and Alternative Vocabularies: Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Research Reports and Theses
Stauffer Library: REF HM17.D43

The Sociology Student Writer's Manual
Stauffer Library: REF HM585.S638 2010

A Sociology Writer's Guide
Stauffer Library: HM585.Y45 2009