Course Material

Your own interests and ideas are important factors in helping you find material for your paper and in shaping your searches. But it's always good to remember that your course readings also constitute important and useful starting points. The journals, authors, concepts, terms and synonyms used in your course readings can be used to kick start or refine your own searches, whether you are using Google or any of the other research tools listed below.

Encyclopedias, Review & Survey Journals

SCHOLARLY ENCYCLOPEDIAS

These can provide useful definitions of theories and provide useful overviews of topics. You can:

• Search Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
  
  
• Search multiple subject encyclopedias simultaneously in Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)
  • includes Encyclopedia of Environment and Society
    
    
• ...Or try to find a specialized encyclopedia related to your topics with the help of our online encyclopedias page.
  
  

REVIEW & SURVEY Journals

Articles in these kinds of journals review and survey the literature related to various recent research topics and areas. Try these:

• Annual Reviews
  [your searches here will by default include Annual Reviews in multiple subject areas, but you can select Anthropology or Sociology in the drop-down JOURNALS box]
  
  
• Sociology Compass [you can also try Geography Compass]

• Return to top

BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS

Books, especially specific chapters or introductions within them, can also provide useful background, history, or context on a theme.

• Use CLUES to find books at Concordia Libraries.
  
  
• Try Worldcat to search libraries worldwide
• Try Google Books to search for specific terms and phrases within the pages of books
  
• The Databases listed above will also identify relevant book chapters and essays.
  
  

**TIPS**

• If you are having trouble finding the right kind of books, try adding terms such as "social aspects", "political apsects"or history to your keyword searches in CLUES or WorldCat..
• See Help Evaluating Sources below if you need help determining the quality of the book(s) you have found.
  
  

• Return to top

 

Databases with News & Media Content

All of the databases below will find citations to news articles. Give one or more a try, depending on your topic and approach:

• Academic Search Complete includes both scholarly and popular/journalistic sources.
• Canadian Newstand: full-text access to Canadian daily newspapers, including the Gazette.
  
  
• Eureka.cc: Full text access to Québec, Canadian and International daily newspapers, magazines, newswires, blogs and broadcast transcripts.
  
  
• CBCA Current Events: newswires, newsmagazines, selected television and radio transcripts from CBC and CTV.
  
  
• Factiva: Full text of international newspapers (including Canadian), transcripts and newswires (licensed for only one user at a time).
  
  
• Canadian Periodical Index (CPI-Q): newspapers, magazines, journals.
  
  
• Google News covers news sources in Quebec, Canada and the world.

**TIPS**

• You can limit your results by Source Type (ie Magazines or Newspapers) and sometimes Document Type (ie Feature).
  
• See Help Evaluating Sources below for help in determining the quality of the source(s) you hav found.
• Not all articles are included in PDF. Use the Findit@Concordia button within the databases to try and access the full text. See also Help ACCESSING the texts below.
  
  
• If you want to explore more of our news databases, see our Database Finder News and Current Events list.
  
  

• Return to top

JOURNAL ARTICLE DATBASES

All of the databases below will find citations to journal articles, including scholarly ones. Give one or more a try, depending on your topic and approach:

MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATABASES:

• Academic Search Complete
• Google Scholar
• JSTOR (you can narrow your search by selecting one or more Discipline Limits. ie Anthropology and Sociology)
  
  

ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY AND GENERAL SOCIAL SCIENCES DATABASES:

• SocINDEX
  
• Sociological Abstracts
• Anthropology Plus
• Social Sciences Abstracts

GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT and POLITICAL AFFAIRS DATABASES:

• GeoBase [on Engineering Village]
  ** see a VIDEO DEMO of a search**
  
  
• GreenFILE
• PAIS International
  

Depending on your topic and approach, additional databases in Anthropology, Sociology, and even other subject areas may also be useful for you.

**TIPS**

• You can use the Scholarly/Peer-reviewed journals checkbox when available to limit your search appropriately. SEE ALSO Help Evaluating Sources below.
• For Quick Tips on how to enter search terms in most of these databases, see this one-page CHEAT SHEET.
• Not all articles are included in PDF. Use the Findit@Concordia button within the databases to try and access the full text. See also Help ACCESSING the texts below.
  
  

You can also try this Google Scholar trick for finding RELATED or MORE RECENT articles:

• In Google Scholar, type in the title of an interesting article or document you have found, -- you can use quotes ("") around the title for more precision.
• At the search results page under the appropriate citation, click on the "Cited by" or "Related articles" links to find additional articles that may also be of interest.
• ** see a VIDEO DEMO**
  
  

• Return to top

Help Evaluating your Sources

Your professor's instructions should always be the first criteria in determining what qualifies as an appropriate source. You might find also find some relevant tips in the guides and sources below.

• Scholarly Journals (also called academic, peer-reviewed or refereed) - [ppt slide]
  
  
• From UTSA Libraries: Scholarly Resources
  Lists the common characteristics of scholarly journal articles, books, and internet sources.
  
  
• Ulrichsweb publications directory:
  • look up the name of a journal or magazine and find out more about it
  • The star: means a review of the publication is included.
  • Scholarly journals are listed with the Refereed/Peer-Reviewed symbol:
    
    
• Also from UTSA Libraries: Evaluating Resources
  Aims to provide general guidelines on how to determine what is an appropriate source for your research papers.
  
  
• Evaluating and Citing Web Sites. Though web sites are not part of your assignment sources, many of the simple criteria listed here can be used to evaluate other information sources as well.
  
  

• Return to top

LOOKING UP & ACCESSING THE TEXTS you want

When using library databases (as well as Google) or examining bibliographies or reference lists from various sources, you will sometimes come across citations to texts or documents that you would like to access as a Concordia student, either online or in the library.

You can always get help with this from one of our ASK A LIBRARIAN services.

To find out on your own if you can access the text of any source, you must first determine whether it is a BOOK, BOOK CHAPTER or JOURNAL ARTICLE:

TO ACCESS BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS:

• Just use the Title Search Option in CLUES to look for the name of the BOOK (not the book chapter).
• You can also use the Author Search Option in CLUES to look for the LAST name of the AUTHOR or EDITOR of the book (not of the book chapter).

TO ACCESS JOURNAL ARTICLES:

First enter the name of the JOURNAL using:

• The Journal Title Search Option in CLUES
• Or the E-journals search box (for ONLINE only)
  
  

...and then select the year, volume and issue that you need as indicated in your citation. For journals that are not available online, you can go in person to the Periodicals section of the library, or fill out an Article Delivery Form.

NOT SURE WHAT IT IS?

If the citation you have is unclear or incomplete, and you still can't tell whether it is a journal, book, or book chapter:

1. Try using Google, Google Scholar or Google Books to find out more and get a complete citation or reference.
   
   
2. You can then look up the citation via the methods above for BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS or JOURNAL ARTICLES.

**TIP 1: In Google you can always use quotation marks ("") around the titles you are seeking for quicker and more precise retrieval.

**TIP 2: If the document or text you want is not available through Concordia Libraries, see Related Library Services.

• Return to top

Citing Your Sources: bibliography & citations

• See our Citation & Style Guides for help in formatting references using common styles such as APA and MLA.
  
  
• You could also try the American Sociological Association ASA Quick Style Guide.
  
  
• See How to Cite Sources for help in avoiding plagiarism.
  
  

• Return to top

RELATED SERVICES -- FREE

• Handy if you use Google Scholar: Concordia's Virtual Private Network (VPN) allows you to access resources on the web as if you were connecting from within the library. It can be an alternative to the library PIN
  
  
• Interlibrary Loans (COLOMBO) - fill out an online form to receive journal articles (and books) from other libraries
  
  
• Article Delivery Service - Free email service for journal articles only available in print or in microform at Concordia.
  
  
• CREPUQ card - allows you to directly borrow books at McGill and elsewhere

• Return to top

Getting More HELP

• Quick help is always available at our Reference Desk on the second floor of the Webster Library or from one of our other Ask a Librarian services - pick your favourite option.
  
  
• If you are still not finding what you need or you would like more assistance, please feel free to contact me to make an appointment.
  
  
• There are also many help guides and videos available on our web site, such as the step-by-step guide How to find articles.

• Return to top

VIDEO DEMOS: GEOBASE AND GOOGLE SCHOLAR

• In this search in GeoBase I start with simple keywords, verify that articles and subject terms are relevant, and limit to more recent articles to see what's there:
  
  
• Here I copied an article title from GeoBase and pasted it into Google Scholar, then clicked on "Cited by" to find more recent articles referring to the first one:
  
  
  
  

• Return to top