There are two primary types of articles that you need to search for a sociology paper. The first are peer-reviewed journal articles. The best databases for them are SocINDEX with Full Text and Ebsco Academic Search Premier. Both of these can be searched by date, by author, by subject, by geographic terms, and by Keywords that the author of the article has chosen.

The best way to search in these or other databases is to go to the ADVANCED SEARCH option. This allows you to control your search terms and do a better, more controlled and in-depth search. Search by the author or subject or geographical term you find best. Combining them using the terms offered, AND, OR, and NOT, can narrow or widen your search depending upon the results you get.

There are times when a database will find the articles you are searching for in both PDF and HTML format. Always choose the PDF. Articles in any data-supported field -- such as sociology -- often have graphs and charts in them. HTML does not give you these in the format the author wants you to see them in

The other major type of article you will look for are Working Papers. These are papers that are being readied for submission to peer-reviewed journals and frequently are the most timely in their subject matter. These cannot be searched within either of the two databases above. To find them, go to SSRN (the Social Sciences Research Network). It does not have a very sophisticated search engine, but can searched by author, keyword and title.

If you’re searching a citation database, such as SocINDEX with Full Text or Ebsco Academic Search Premier, you’ll need to see if the library subscribes to the journal the article you want is in. Open up another window to our homepage and click on our Journals link. Type in the title of the journal, click on the Search button and then click on the links (if any) listed below.

 
If we do not subscribe to the journal you’re looking for, use ILLiad to request the article

For more information on ILLiad, and to set up your account, click here. Once your account is set up, you can automatically populate the article request form from EBSCO databases – just click on the button. From other databases, or from citations you find in printed sources, type in the information.

In our catalog and in ConnectNY try searching the sociologist’s name as an author (last name first), as a subject heading (again, last name first) and as a keyword. A keyword search is important in our catalog and in ConnectNY because keywords search across the entire book description, including the contents and notes information. For some sociologists, there may not be a whole book devoted to their works, but there might be an essay in a book that is about a larger idea or theory, so the sociologist’s name might appear in the Contents or Notes section, and nowhere else in the description. Note any appropriate subject headings, they can be used for searches in other databases, like WorldCat.

When you find a book in the catalog that you want to see, make note of its location. Books whose locations include the word Bard are here in the main library, Stevenson.

 
If a book is not available in our library, or if the subject you’re researching is not adequately covered by the holdings in our library, the next place to look is in the ConnectNY catalog.

Search ConnectNY as you would our catalog. When you find a book you want: make sure the status is “Available” then click “Request this Item” choose Bard from the drop down box then key in your last name and barcode number.

The book will be delivered in two to six business days and may be picked up from  Reserves Desk on the third floor of Stevenson. You’ll be notified by e-mail. The borrowing period for these books is three weeks with one three week renewal. ConnectNY books should be returned to the Reserves Desk.

 
If a book is not available in our library or in ConnectNY, check WorldCat.

WorldCat is a catalog of thousands of library catalogs, including all the major research libraries. Repeat the searches you performed in our catalog and ConnectNY. If you find a book you want to read, use our ILLiad system to request it.

For more information on ILLiad, and to set up your account, click here. Once your account is set up, you can automatically populate the book request form from WorldCat – just click on the button.

The Reference Collection of the library contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks pertaining to particular subject areas, sometimes very particular subject areas. This section is organized by call numbers that mirror the call numbers in the general collection, so if you have a book in hand about a particular subject, you can go the section of the Reference Collection with a similar call number and see consult the reference works on that subject.

The Reference Collection starts on the shelves by the Rugby Field on the first floor of Stevenson and continues into Kellogg.

Some reference works in Sociology include:

Encyclopedia of Sociology (Four Volumes)
HM17.E5 1992

Encyclopedia of Social Work (Six Volumes)
H35.E5

Encyclopedia of Social Theory (Two Volumes)
HM425.E47 2005

Encyclopedia of American Immigration (Four Volumes)
JV6465.E53 2001

Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice (Four Volumes)
HV6017.E52  2002

Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol (Four Volumes)
HV5804.E53 1995

Encyclopedia of Marriage and the Family (Two Volumes)
HQ9.E52 1995

Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology
HM425.C36 2006

Most books on Sociology are shelved together on the 2nd floor of Stevenson. Here is the Library of Congress classification for Sociology:

H	Social Sciences in general
HA	Statistics
HB	Economic Theory; Demography
HC	Economic History and Conditions
HD	Industries. Land use. Labor
HF	Commerce
HG	Finance
HJ	Public finance
HN	Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social Reform.
HT	Communities. Classes. Races.
HV	Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
HX	Socialism. Communism. Anarchism

American Sociological Association

WWW Virtual Library of Sociology (McMaster University)

Scholarly Societies in Sociology (University of Waterloo)

New York Times From 1851 to 3 Years Ago is a great source for reviews and articles. It’s helpful to choose the document type when searching. If you’re looking for an obituary or review, try that document type, but if you can’t find anything, try “article”. For newspaper articles after 1985 for cities other than New York, try LexisNexis Academic.

For older newspaper and magazine articles, our collection of the index The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature extends back to the 1890s. It’s located on first floor of Stevenson, on the shelves closest to the rugby field. C19: The Nineteenth Century Index indexes newspapers and magazines from the 19th century.

NoodleBib is an excellent online utility for both generating a Chicago Style bibliography and footnotes and for organizing your research. Zotero is a similar database that downloadable from Firefox and has the added advantage of pulling the bibliographic data straight from the source into your research folder.

Style Guides:

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
LB2369 .G53 2009 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

Concise Rules of APA Style
BF76.7 .C66 2005

Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker
PE1408.H277 2008

The Chicago Manual of Style
LB2369 .T8 2007 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations : Chicago Style for Students and Researchers by Kate Turabian
LB2369 .T8 2007 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More by Charles Lipson
PN171.F56 L55 2006 (in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

In Sociology, one of the main difficulties is finding statistics. Following are the best places to look for good, usable statistics. 

American Fact Finder
Where to look first for information on American population, housing, geographic and economic data.

Religion
The Association of Religion Data Archives has statistics from around the world.

Gender Data
 GenderData 2010, from the UN, is extraordinarily comprehensive.

UNdata
You can search both by dataset or by nation

World Population
Detailed information is available.  (To make multiple selections in a PC, hold the CTRL key down while clicking on the selections desired.  In a Mac, hold the Command key down while you click on the selections.)

Military
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Reasearch Institute) conducts research on questions of conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security, with the aim of contributing to an understanding of the conditions for peaceful solutions of international conflicts and for a stable peace.

Labor
The ILO’s major database is LABORSTA and you will find a link to it on this page.   You can search by topic or country or region.