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| SUBJECT RESEARCH GUIDE |
To start your research, use the resources below or begin with the the CSUDH Library web page found at : http://library.csudh.edu/ .
The resources listed under the category of Online Article Indexes are available from on-campus computers or by remote access CSUDH students who are officially registered for classes. The barcode number begins with 20550 followed by the 98_ _ _ _ _ _ _ number.
Books are located using the Library's ToroFind catalog. Here you can search for books by author, title or subject. In addition to finding materials available in the CSUDH Library, you will find links that allow you to directly request books from other libraries (All CSUs Catalog and LINK+ buttons). Links are provided below for other local libraries and libraries worldwide.
Sample Searches using Subject Headings (Not an exhaustive list):
Ebrary is a growing collection of electronic books on a variety of topics geared to academic libraries and college students. Use the link to access this database. At the current time, books available in this collection are not listed in the ToroFind Catalog.
If you are unable to locate a book in the CSUDH Collection, try these links:
Link+ allows you to request a book using a union catalog of participating libraries in California and Nevada. If a book is found and available, this is the fastest method of having a book sent to the CSUDH Library for pick-up. You must be registered with the CSUDH Library to use this service.
Catalog of the CSU Libraries allows you to search the collections of the 23 libraries of the California State University. You will be able to make a direct request for books by clicking on the request button and inputing your last name and barcode ID number.
Interlibrary Loan a book using a request form. You supply us the information, and the Interlibrary Loan Department will search for the book. Since books may be requested from libraries in other states, this can be the slowest method.
Southern California Libraries (includes links to academic, public and special libraries)
LIBWEB (includes links to libraries in over 125 countries)
These materials provide comprehensive overviews and definitions in the field. Sources are located on the 2nd floor of the library.
Social Work Dictionary
HV12.B37 2003, Reference 2nd Floor
Encyclopedia of Social Work
HV35.S6 Reference 2nd Floor, & 3rd
Floor
Biographical Dictionary of Social Welfare in America
Ref HV27.B57 2nd
Floor
Encyclopedia of Mental Health
Ref RA790.5 .E53 Reference 2nd
Floor
Encyclopedia of Social Issues
Ref HN57 .E59 1997 Reference
2nd Floor
These call numbers reflect shelving locations of some of the libraries Social Work related materials.
Sub Class HV HV40-69 Social service. Social work.
HV1-9960 Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
To find journal articles when you do not have a specific citation or reference to an article, try one of the article indexes. Click on a link below to access the database of your choice or use our comprehensive list of Article Indexes to see all available CSUDH databases.
For a review of how to use the databases to find
journal articles, click
here. To limit your results to peer reviewed articles, look for the
words "scholarly" and/or "peer reviewed ' and place a check in the box beside
these words. Although many of the databases have direct links for the full text
or .pdf copy of the article included with the citation or abstract of the
article, look for this button 
to find out if the library has the article
available in another database.
Academic Search Premier is a multi-disciplinary database with full text for more than 4,650 publications, many of which are peer-reviewed journals. This database is often used as a starting point since it covers a wide range of subject areas.
Chicano Database is a bibliographic database for materials, including books, on Chicanos and the broader Latino experience. Although this database does not include links to the full text, use the CSUDH Journals List to locate journals articles and the ToroFind catalog to locate books.
ERIC is a database for education broadly defined. If the focus is on children or students, try this database.
Ethnic NewsWatch provides newspaper, magazine and journal articles from the ethnic, minority and native press. If you are researching ethnic populations, you may find additional perspectives because of the resources it indexes.
Health Source Nursing Academic has full text journal articles for nursing, medicine, and other areas of health.
ProQuest Nursing Journals and ProQuest Medical Library are two databases that can be searched simultaneously for articles in medicine and health.
PsycINFO is the primary index for the literature of psychology. It has citations and abstracts for journal articles, book chapters, books, technical reports, and dissertations. Some links are available for full-text articles, especially for journals published by the American Psychological Association.
Science Direct contains current comprehensive coverage of all fields of science, including the social sciences.
Social Services Abstracts covers social work, human services, social welfare and social policy.
SocINDEX with Full Text is a comprehensive sociology research database that offers coverage from all sub disciplines of sociology, including criminology, cultural sociology, demography, economic development, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, politics, social psychology, social structure, urban studies, welfare, and others. It includes full text for 235 "core" journals, as well as full text for books and conference papers.
Sociological Abstracts is the major database for sociology. This database is an abstracting service without full-text articles so be sure to click on the button to find articles.
WilsonWeb: Omni Full Text Mega includes indexing of journals in a broad range of subject areas, including social sciences, health and education.
Locating a Specific Journal Title
If you have a reference or citation to a specific journal article, use the CSUDH Journals List to find out if subscribes to the needed journal. This list includes both print and online journals. The Library currently subscribes to over 27,000 journals online. When you click on the title, you will usually find a page that has separate links for the year of available volumes. Click on the year and then you will next be able to click on specific issues. CSUDH's list also includes links to the ToroFind catalog record for print subscription information.
Although the library provides access to over 27,000 print and electronic journals, the indexing databases provide citations to a large number of journals which are not available in our print and electronic holdings. If you would like to have the library find a copy of an article for you, you can transmit the request using the Interlibrary Loan Service. Please allow at least 10 days for the article to arrive. If at all possible, we will try to send the article to you via email. The files will be .pdf files and will require that you have space available to receive these large files. We are also able to request books through three different methods. Your options are listed on the Request Item from Another Library webpage.
When using information from the web for projects and research papers, you should evaluate the quality and reliability of the information. Here's a link to one of many websites which give you evaluation criteria: Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages. An outstanding search engine to use is Google. In addition, Google Scholar would enable you to search the scholarly literature, including peer reviewed articles, but note that you may not be able to access the full text of the article. For the scholarly literature, the databases listed above in the "Journal Articles & Newspapers" section will usually be a better option for beginning your research.
Social Work Associations:
Internet Research:
When writing a paper or completing a project for a class, you will usually be asked to provide a bibliography of the materials that you used. There are several standard guides available in the Library to help you. Please come to the Reference Desk for assistance. In addition, the CSUDH Library has a summary of the formats most commonly used posted on the Library website. Take a look at this guide in advance so you'll know what information you need to jot down before you begin your research. It may be more difficult to retrace your steps than to make bibliographic note cards as you are working on your project.
Citing Your Sources. This web page on How to Cite Your Sources in a Research Paper has two links. The first link takes you to a download page for the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you will need to access the actual instruction page. The second link leads to a document that shows you how to cite books, articles, and web resources in APA, MLA, and Turabian formats. Always check with your professor to find out which citation format is preferred.
Last updated by Lisa Njoku and Naomi Moy 8/21/07