Louise Clarke & Judy Reading Oxford University Library Services

1. WISER Social SciencesInformation sources for education, sociology and applied social sciences Louise Clarke & Judy Reading Oxford University Library Services

2. Session Overview • Accessing electronic resources • Cambridge Scientific Abstracts for sociologists and applied social scientists • British Education Index and ERIC • Subject searching on OLIS • Other key resources

3. Accessing electronic resources • OxLIP (Oxford Libraries Information Platform) • http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/oxlip/index.html • Finding aids – catalogues, abstracting and indexing services • Full-text – journal articles, official documents, newspapers, ebooks • Tools for current awareness – digests, theses, alerting services • Datasets and statistics • Reference works

4. Accessing electronic resources • Some resources require a password or offer password access when you are off campus. A number of publishers have agreed to a single password system called Athens • Registration http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/athens/ • MyAthens http://www.athensams.net/myathens/ • For off campus access to non-password resources register for the VPN or Dial-up • http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/network/remote/

5. CSA: ASSIA • Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) • ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Indexes and Abstracts) • Indexes and abstracts 650 journals • 1987 onwards • Emphasis upon practical applications of social science and health research

6. CSA: Sociological Abstracts • Sociological Abstracts • Indexes and abstracts over 1,800 journals • Also provides abstracts of selected books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers • 1953 onwards • Emphasis is on covering the international literature in sociology & related disciplines

7. CSA: Other databases • Social Services Abstracts • current research focused on social work and human sciences from over 1,600 serials beginning 1980 • National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts • U.S. and international publications from 1972 • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts • 1,500 serials in political science from 1975 • Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) • educational-related materials from 1966 onwards

8. CSA: Database records • TI = title • AB = abstract • AU = author • Use the database author index (under search tools) to find alternative forms of the authors name • DE = descriptors • Use the database thesaurus (under search tools) to find descriptors. • KW = keywords • Searches the TI, AB, DE and ID (identifiers) fields • SO = source • Look in the serials source list for abbreviated journal title

9. CSA: Combining search terms • Use and to narrow a search and retrieve records containing all search terms • Use or to broaden a search and retrieve records containing any of the search terms • Use not to narrow search and retrieve records excluding search terms • Use near to find terms within 10 words of each other or specify within ‘x’ • Use ( ) to group terms/define relationships • Otherwise searches for terms as a phrase

10. CSA: Search tips • Use * to truncate a search term • feminis* retrieves feminist, feminists, feminism • behavi*r retrieves behaviour and behavior • Use ? to find alternative spellings • wom?n for women and woman • If searching for acronyms include both the acronym and the terms spelt in full • ESRC or (Economic and Social Research Council) • Click on ‘help & support’ for online help, or ask a librarian.

11. CSA: Cited reference linking • Some databases in CSA, e.g. Sociological Abstracts, contain links to cited references • locate current research based on earlier research • find out how many times, and where, a publication is being cited • identify who is referencing a particular paper • explore how a particular research topic is being used to support other research • analyze the impact of a publication on other research in the field • track the history of a research idea • keep track of your own research

12. CSA: Scholar profiles • Records from selected CSA Social Science databases that describe articles published after 2000, have been matched to Scholar profiles to provide verified links between articles and authors • Scholar profiles include contact information, education, research interests, home page, and verified publication lists as available • Covers 1,500 US and Canadian Universities

13. British Education Index • Indexes journal articles, theses and web documents. • Most British journals and major international journals • The database covers all aspects and fields of education from preschool to adult and higher education • Material indexed very easily available in the UK – most in Oxford University libraries • See also other services from British Education Index

14. ERIC • Available from various platforms including Firstsearch • Contains annotated references to educational materials issued in the monthly Resources in Education (RIE) and to journal articles issued in the monthly Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). • Much more content than the BEI but journals indexed are less likely to be available here • Includes full-text papers and reports available online • Produced in the US but does have international coverage

15. Subject searching on OLIS • OLIS (Oxford Libraries’ catalogue) offers a subject index - Library of Congress Subject Headings • Look at the index terms attached to a resource you know is relevant to get you started • Use the browse option to identify relevant subject terms – follow cross-references • Use the keyword options to combine those terms • Use the web version of the catalogue if you want to mark and print or email records identified • OLIS does not index journals – you need to use a journal index to identify articles and then locate the journal title in OLIS.

16. Official papers and web resources • Useful guidance is available from the Bodleian Official Papers webpage http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/readerserv/official/collections.html • For education, see the Educational Studies website http://www2.ouls.ox.ac.uk/edstud/weblinksindex.html • For the applied social sciences, two helpful websites are: • Social Care Online http://www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/ • Social Policy Digest http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JSP • OXLIP has links to key resources including UKOP

17. Other key resources • SCOPUS • New research service from Elsevier • World’s largest abstracts database of over 15,000 titles from 4,000 publishers • Records from 1966 onwards • The TOUR icon will link you to full-text

18. Other key resources • ISI Web of Knowledge • Abstracts of 1,700 journals from 1981- • Index of citations from 1956- • Reports on articles cited, other papers using the same citations, and later citations of the paper • Citations create a “web of knowledge”

19. Other key resources • International Bibliography of the Social Sciences • Economics • Political Science • Sociology • Anthropology • 1951 – present • Abstracts included for most articles from 1999 -

20. Other key resources • PsychINFO • Index and abstracts of 1,900 journals • 1872 onwards • Covers psychology and related disciplines • WebSPIRS database

21. Other key resources • TDNet: A system for managing Oxford’s access to electronic journals • Current journals from major publisher sites (e.g., Science Direct, Ingenta) • ‘Delayed’ publication journals from JSTOR and Project MUSE • LexisNexis Electronic newspapers • To restrict your search to a specific newspaper; in the additional terms search box use the prefix PUB followed by the term in brackets, e.g. PUB (Financial Times)

22. Other key resources • Don’t forget Library staff are here to help you – you are welcome to make an appointment for assistance: Contacts: judy.reading@edstud.ox.ac.uk, louise.clarke@ssl.ox.ac.uk • Look at the other training available from OULS – see http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/information_skills

23. Finally • Please give us feedback on this session and let us know what was helpful and what else would be. • Fill in the form at http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/courses/feedback/index.xsp before you leave