Jen Jarson Social Sciences Reference Librarian phone: x3552 email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): jjarson1 (add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Selected Reference Materials

Borgatta, E.F., & Montgomery, R.J.V. (Eds.). (2000). Encyclopedia of sociology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.
Reference 301.03 E56of v.1-5

Chaliand, G., & Rageau, J.P. (1995). The Penguin atlas of the diasporas. New York: Viking.
Reference 304.8 C436p

Leoussi, A.S. (Ed.). (2001). Encyclopaedia of nationalism. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.
Reference 320.5403 L588e

Levinson, D. (1998). Ethnic groups worldwide: a ready reference handbook. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Reference 305.8 L665et

Levinson, D. (1994). Ethnic relations: a cross-cultural encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Reference 305.8 L665e

Marshall, G. (Ed.). (1994). The concise Oxford dictionary of sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reference 301.03 M368c

Smelser, N.J., & Baltes, P.B. (Eds). (2001). International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences. New York: Elsevier.
Reference 300.3 I61e v.1-26

Toro-Morn, M.I., & Alicea, M. (Eds.). (2004). Migration and immigration: a global view. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Reference 304.82 T686m

Other reference sources, related to your particular topic, maybe also be available. To find them, search the catalog or ask for help.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE:      Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or
                                      Library Homepage    Finding Books    Our Catalog

• For tip on searching the catalog, use the Help link above the search boxes. (Or click here.)


• Need help with your keywords and search strategy? Try the Keyword Searching (Combining Concepts) worksheet.  [ PDF | Word ] 

OTHER LIBRARIES

• WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    WorldCat

• E-ZBorrow. For quick delivery of books from many Pennsylvania and area academic libraries (including University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, University of Pittsburgh, and many more), use E-ZBorrow. (E-ZBorrow takes 2-4 business days.)

GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    E-ZBorrow

TIP: Check the E-ZBorrow catalog for any books you find in WorldCat. If not available there, then request via ILL.

For more information on Interlibrary Loan options, see http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/more/ill/index.html or ask for help.

GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    Borrowing from Other Libraries

Articles: Databases & Indexes

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

See a list of all Social Sciences databases at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/articles/databases/social_sciences.html.

Get to this list, and more: Library Homepage    Finding Articles    Periodical Databases and Indexes    Social Sciences / Alphabetical List.

Need help with your keywords and search strategy? Try the Keyword Searching (Combining Concepts) worksheet.  [ PDF | Word ] 

Subject-Specific Databases:

Sociological Abstracts
Subjects Covered: community development, culture and social structure, demography and human biology, environmental interactions, family and social welfare, health and medicine and law, religion and science, social psychology and group interactions, welfare services, and women's studies.

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America: History and Life
History. "A complete bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Covers 2000 journals published worldwide. In addition to covering all key English language historical journals, AH&L coverage includes selected historical journals from major countries, state and local history journals. It also includes citation to abstracts of dissertations and citations of book and media reviews."

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Communication, Journalism, and Media Studies. "Provides indexing along with full text to two databases in communication and mass media, CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association), and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University)."

MLA
Languages, linguistics, literature and film criticism.

PAIS
Political Science. "Provides bibliographic citations to periodicals, books, hearings, reports, gray literature, government publications, Internet resources, and other publications from 120 countries."

Interdisciplinary Databases:

Academic Search Premier
Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

JSTOR
Searchable collections of full-text journals. JSTOR contains the full text of 24 Sociology journals and many others from a wide variety of possibly relevant disciplines.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
"A full text "mega" database comprised of various smaller databases from separate academic disciplines. Its general scope includes general sciences, humanities, The Reader's Guide, social sciences, and business."
Note: WilsonWeb does not allow for a Search Trexler Library for this title link (see Getting the Articles, below, for more information). Instead, they include an icon ( ) when the library has the article available elsewhere. Click on the icon to be transferred to the catalog record for the journal. If the library does not have access to the article online or in print, request it via Interlibrary Loan (see Getting the Articles, below, for more information).

Project MUSE
"Provides full text access to journal articles in the arts and humanities and social sciences. All articles are peer-reviewed. Muse contains articles from as early as 1993 or 1995, but the majority of articles are from 2000 to present."

GETTING THE ARTICLES

1. When searching for articles, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.


2. If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
   • Some databases have a Search Trexler Library for this title link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
   • Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title. Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.


3. If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
   • Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
   • Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage    Finding Articles    Getting a Copy of an Article). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Citing Your Sources

For help using ASA (American Sociological Association) Style, consult the following resources:

American Sociological Association. 1997. ASA style guide, 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.0663 A512a (at Reference Desk)

ASA Style Guide (California State University, Los Angeles)
http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html

Quick Style Guide (American Sociological Association)
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Quick+Style+Guide§ion=Sociology+Depts