Trexler Library | Muhlenberg College

Environmental Sociology

Need help with your research? Contact:

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

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN)
Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN.
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information.

Selected Reference Materials

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

Allin, C. (Ed.). (2000). Encyclopedia of environmental issues. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Reference 363.7003 E56o v.1-3

Munn, T. (Ed.). (2002). Encyclopedia of global environmental change. Chichester, NY: Wiley.
Reference 363.7003 E56og v.1-5

Goudie, A.S. (Ed.). (2002). Encyclopedia of global change: Environmental change and human society. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Reference 363.7 E56o v.1-2

Trexler Library may also have reference works related to your particular issue. To find them, search the catalog or ask for help. Examples include:

Hillstrom, K., and Hillstrom, L.C. (2004). Latin America and the Caribbean: A continental overview of environmental issues. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Reference 363.70098 H655L

Johansen, B.E. (2003). Indigenous peoples and environmental issues: An encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Reference 304.2 J65i

Sullivan, T.F.P. (Ed.). (2003). Environmental law handbook (17th ed.). Rockville, MD: Government Institutes.
Reference 344.73046 S952e

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 -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) --
                                Trexler Library Catalog

For tips on searching the catalog, use the Help link above the search boxes.

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 -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) --
Other Library Catalogs -- 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 -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) --
Other Library Catalogs -- E-ZBorrow

TIP: Because E-ZBorrow books can arrive so quickly, check the E-ZBorrow catalog for any books you find in WorldCat. If not available there, then request via the ILL button in Worldcat.

LVAIC. You can borrow books directly from LVAIC (Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges) Libraries.

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box) --
Regional Libraries -- LVAIC Libraries

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 -- ILL (in the Services & Forms box)

Finding Articles: Databases & Indexes

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

Subject-Specific Databases

START WITH...

Sociological Abstracts
Premier database for Sociology.

FIND MORE WITH...
The following selected databases may be useful, depending on your topic area. See a list of all databases at via the Library Homepage -- Articles A-Z (in the Find box).

AGRICOLA
This is a bibliographic database created by the National Agricultural Library. The resources encompass all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines.

Anthropology Plus
The major database in Anthropology. Excellent source for cultural and indigenous issues.

Business Source Elite
An excellent source for business information as published in domestic and international business and trade journals.

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
Scholarly source for theory and research in international affairs. Includes working papers, conference proceedings, books, journals, policy briefs, and more.

Economic Literature
Provides citations for dissertations, journals, books, and working papers on economics.

GEOBASE
Covers books, journals, monographs, conference proceedings, and reports on topics such as geography, geology, ecology, and the environment.

PAIS
Top source for international relations, development, and Political Science resources. Indexes select articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, and more.

Interdisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Premier
Includes thousands of scholary and popular journals, many with full-text online.

JSTOR
Provides a full-text collection of complete backfiles of scholarly journals in many disciplines such as Biology, Economics, History, Sociology, and more. Publisher restrictions generally prohibit including the most recent 3-5 years full-text via JSTOR.

LexisNexis Academic
Indexes and provides full-text of national and international newspapers, newswires, select journals and magazines, and legal publications.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
Multi-disciplinary database providing the indexing and abstracting (and some full text) from an assortment of Wilson's full-text databases. Includes some Sociology and Biology journals.

GETTING THE ARTICLES

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

If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
- Most databases have a Get It! 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.

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 -- ILL (in the Services & Forms box) -- Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible.

Ask for help, if you have questions!

Finding Statistics

The following resources are a small--and often useful--selection of the available statistical sources. If these don't meet your needs, ask for help in locating other sources specific to your topic.

American Factfinder (U.S. Census Bureau)
http://factfinder.census.gov/
Easy-to-use census data/maps

EarthTrends (World Resources Institute)
http://earthtrends.wri.org/

FedStats
http://www.fedstats.gov/
Gateway to statistics from U.S. Federal agencies

LexisNexis Statistical Universe
Note: This is a searchable database of statistical tables, accessible via the Library Homepage -- Articles A-Z (in the Find box).

Little Green Data Book -- Environmental Economics and Indicators
http://tinyurl.com/k62n3
"A succinct collection of information from the World Development Indicators [...]. It is a collaboration between the Development Economics Data Group and the Environment Department of the World Bank."

Statistical Resources on the Web (University of Michigan Library, Documents Center)
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/

World Bank. World Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.
http://econ.worldbank.org/wdr?
WDR is also available in print in the library at 330.91724 W927: 2007 in Statistics Reference; 2002-2006 in Reference; 1978-2001 in Main Collection.

World Bank. (2007). World Development Indicators. Washington, D.C. : The World Bank.
Statistics Reference 330.91 W927d 2006 (earlier 5 editions in Reference)
Limited online availability at http://www.worldbank.org/data. Click on "data" section on the left.

Citing Your Sources

First consult the Sociology and Anthropology Department's Style Guide for Papers: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/soc-anth/policies/style.html

For additional 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&section=Sociology+Depts

For additional help using APA (American Psychological Association) Style, consult the following resources:

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). (2001). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.06615 p976m 2001 (at Reference Desk)

Concise Rules of APA Style. (2005). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.06615 C744r (at Reference Desk)

Trexler Library handout on using APA style: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/apa_example.pdf.
This and other style guide handouts available from the library website. Library Homepage -- Research Help -- Citation Guides.