Sociology 304: Library Research Tips
Hint: Point your browser to the Averett Library. Select "Find by Subject" and "Sociology."
1. Formulate a topic statement by linking concepts with AND, OR, NOT:
| substance | behavior | population | doc type | consequence |
| drug* | use | juvenile* | research | arrest |
| narcotic* | habit | children | review | arrest record |
| heroin | addiction | youth | crime | |
| marijuana | senior* | |||
| cocaine | adult* | |||
| alcohol | ||||
| tobacco |
2. Search for books under one major concept (e.g., "cocaine") using the Averett Library Catalog.
3. Search for more books in the WorldCat database, using added descriptors:
"cocaine" AND "addiction" AND "juvenile*").
a. Use the wildcard * to retrieve singular and plural forms, or variations on a term.
b. Use AND to connect different concepts: narcotic* AND habit.
c. Use OR to connect terms that mean basically the same thing: juvenile* OR children OR adolescent*
To borrow books cited in WorldCat, complete an Interlibrary Loan request
4. Search for journal articles in Expanded Academic (Infotrac) and Sociological Abstracts.
5. Retrieve cited articles with Article Linker / Find it at Averett. If your article is not found, click on "Interlibrary Loan form."
6. Evaluate sources, retaining only those that are scholarly ("peer reviewed" or "refereed").
Scholarly / academic sources are authoritative:
Your information gathering phase is complete when you have a variety of scholarly sources (books, articles, data or statistics and, optionally, scholarly web sites) that are up to date and address all aspects of your topic statement. Web sites other than library databases must meet the standard for scholarly/academic research and be pre-approved by your professor.
7. Cite your sources. Attribute all of the ideas and sources and data you use in APA style:
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (2001) (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Averett Library Reserves, Reference, Circulation Collection: BF76.7 .P83 2001
Harden, K. (2006). APA style for citing references. Danville, Va. : Averett University. Retrieved January 23, 2006, from http://web.averett.edu/library/APA.pdf. (MS Word ver.)
APA style: electronic references (2001). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Retrieved January 23, 2006, from http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.