Social Science Research Guide
Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, Urban Studies

Books [Top]

CUNY+ Library Catalog  Find out what QC owns, and what other CUNYs own.  

netLibrary  Find out what electronic books QC owns; borrow and read books online.

Other Library Catalogs  Find out what NYC public or academic libraries own.

*Worldcat  Find out what all US libraries own, through this national catalog.

Reference Books: Subject Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Handbooks  [Top]

A reference book can be used to start a research project by helping the researcher to find short authoritative descriptions or summaries of important topics, or to check basic facts about a subject.  Frequently an essay or entry in a reference book will be signed by the scholar who has written it, and a reading list of the most important writings about the subject will appear at the end of the essay or entry.  Usually:

• A subject Encyclopedia has more extensive essays on broader subjects.
• A subject Dictionary has short entries on people or events, or definitions of terms used in the discipline.
• A Handbook is an informational guide to a topic, and may include statistical data.
• Reference Books are shelved by call number in the Reference Stacks, 3rd. Floor.

Call Letters for Social Sciences

Social Science     H

Anthropology        GF - GT

Economics           HA - HJ

Political Science   J - JZ

Sociology             HM - HX

Urban Studies       HT

Browse the call letters above or search the CUNY+ Library Catalog by subject or keyword, combining a subject discipline with some of the following words: encyclopedia(s), dictionary, dictionaries.

For example:     political science and dictionaries
                        political science and encyclopedia

Magazine and Newspaper Articles  [Top]

Magazine and Newspaper articles can be used to explore a potential topic, or may be a necessary part of the source material a researcher needs to read because of the nature of the topic, for example, a topic dealing with contemporary society, or with current political events.

• Databases below are from Article Databases A - Z on the Library webpage; see Off-Campus Access for home use.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) (1980s to Present)  An index to citations for articles in general interest magazines and popular periodicals, as well as some scholarly journals; full-text to selected publications.

Ethnic Newswatch  (1990s to Present)  A full-text collection of newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press, intended to provide a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints.

LEXIS-NEXIS (for Newspapers)  (1980s to Present)  A database that provides access in its News section to full-text of articles in U.S. and international newspapers.

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature  (1983 to Present)  An index to citations for articles in general interest magazines and popular periodicals, such as Atlantic Monthly, Commentary, Harper's, New Republic, New Yorker, etc.

Journal Articles   [Top]

A journal article is written by a scholar or someone who is an expert in a subject.  It provides a detailed analysis of a topic or issue.  It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Sociology).  It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.  A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers, and who critique the article before it is accepted for publication).  This is why a scholarly journal is sometimes referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journal.

• Databases below are from Article Databases A - Z on the Library webpage; see Off-Campus Access for home use.

America: History and Life  (1964 to Present) A bibliographic index covering the history of the United States and Canada in all time periods; contains citations with abstracts to articles from over 2000 scholarly English-language journals, as well as brief citations to selected scholarly books.

Annual Reviews of Anthropology, Sociology, and others; full-text of articles from Annual Reviews.

Anthropological Index Online  (1957 to Present)  An index of current periodicals in the Anthropology Library of  the British  Museum (incorporating the former Royal Anthropological Institute Library) covering physical and cultural  anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics.

Business Source Premier (EBSCO) (1980 to Present)  A periodical index of citations to articles on finance, mergers and acquisitions, international trade, money management, technology, business trends, investing and banking; selected full-text of articles.

Econlit  (1969 to Present)  A bibliographic index of economic literature; citations of articles, some with abstracts, from over 400 major journals in Economics, from essays in collective volumes and proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations.

Historical Abstracts  (1954 to Present)  A bibliographic index covering the history of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, & Latin America since 1450; contains citations, with English abstracts to articles from over 2000 scholarly journals, in many languages, as well as brief citations to selected scholarly books.

HRAF (Human Relations Area Files)  (1949 to Present)  A full-text cultural database of ethnographic texts, taken from books, journal articles, and other writings, about various aspects of cultural and social life, such as marriage and family, religion, kinship, ritual, etc.; covers mostly pre-industrial cultures and North American immigrant groups.

Journal of Economic Abstracts (1963 to 1968) / Journal of Economic Literature (1969 to 1998)  A reference journal published by the American Economic Association, which contains survey articles on current issues in Economics, review articles, book reviews, an annotated bibliography of newly published books, and a list of current dissertations in North American universities. 

JSTOR  A database containing full-text of articles from core scholarly journals in the disciplines of Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, Population Studies, Sociology, and others; for every journal in JSTOR all issues are included from the inception of the journal (frequently in the 19th and early 20th centuries) up until five years ago.

LEXIS-NEXIS  (for Legal Research)  A database whose Legal Research section contains full-text of U.S. court cases, law reviews, legal news, U.S. codes and regulations, U.S. patents since 1971, the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory of U.S. lawyers and law firms, and U.S. law school directories.

Project Muse  (coverage varies; c.1995 to Present)  A database containing full-text of articles in over 100 scholarly journals in the disciplines of History, Literature, Political Science, and others.

PsycInfo  (1887 to Present) A bibliographic index covering psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines such as psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, law, etc; citations with abstracts to journal articles, books, book chapters, technical reports, and unpublished dissertations.

Social Sciences Abstracts  (1983 to Present)  A periodical index covering the social sciences (Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Urban Studies, etc.); citations to articles from English-language journals, with abstracts to articles published since 1994.

Sociological Abstracts (1963 to Present) A bibliographic index covering all areas of Sociology; citations to articles from 2600 scholarly journals in Sociology and in related social and behavioral science disciplines, with abstracts to articles published since 1974; also contains citations to unpublished doctoral dissertations and conference papers.

Social Science Bibliographers  [Top]

For research assistance, please contact the librarian who is responsible for your subject area.
 

[Top]  

James Tasato Mellone, Social Sciences Librarian, Assistant Professor
Rosenthal Library, Queens College, City University of New York
Created: 1 May 2001 / Last updated: 26 June 2006 / Send comments to: james.mellone@qc.cuny.edu