Social work

Sources for Background Information

Dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, companions, guides

Dictionaries

• Blackwell Dictionary of Social Policy
• Dictionary of Probation and Offender Management
  Entries of 500 to 1500 words on key terms and concepts from 'Accountability' to 'Youth offending teams'. Mainly UK based.

Encyclopedias

• A to Z of Social Research
  Covers "the whole expanse of social science research methods and issues, from qualitative research techniques to statistical testing and from the practicalities of using the Internet to the philosophy of social research." Entries 800-3,000 words, with suggested readings. By Robert L. Miller and John D. Brewer, 2003.
• Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Work
• Encyclopedia of Social Work (NASW 20th ed.)
• Canadian Encyclopedia of Social Work
• International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
  Browse or search lengthy articles in the largest encyclopedia covering social science history, ethics, methodology, applications and issues. Includes bibliographical references.
• Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis
• Encyclopedia of Ageism
• Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health
• Encyclopedia of American Prisons
• Encyclopedia of Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Encyclopedia of Counseling
• Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant & Refugee Cultures Around the World
• Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence
• Encyclopedia of Homelessness
• Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice
• Encyclopedia of Juvenile Violence
• Encyclopedia of Motherhood
  General editor: Andrea O'Reilly.
• Encyclopedia of Multicultural Psychology
• Encyclopedia of Psychotherapy
• Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society
• Encyclopedia of Social Theory
• Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America
• Encyclopedia of Social Work with Groups
• Encyclopedia of Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, & Recovery
• Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development
  3 vols. of signed entries, with bibliographies, examining how experiences, transitions and events such as childcare, education, stress, marriage, career, addiction, friendship, parenthood, disease, spirituality, and retirement influence the individual's life course.
• Encyclopedia of World Poverty
• Greenwood Encyclopedia of LGBT Issues Worldwide
• International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
• International Encyclopedia of Social Policy
• SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods
  2 vols. Defines core concepts, describes techniques involved in implementation of qualitative methods. Gives overview of qualitative approaches to research. Covers major facets of qualitative methods: access to research participants, data coding, research ethics, role of theory in qualitative research.

Handbooks, Companions, Guides

• Adoption: a Reference Handbook
  2d ed. one-volume, part of Contemporary World Issues series; USA slant.
• Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care 
• Blackwell Companion to Social Work (2008)
  Note 1997 edition available online.
• Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities
• Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing
• Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare
• Handbook for Action Research in Health and Social Care
• Handbook of Counseling and Psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients
• Handbook of International Social Work
• Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research
  Aims to be "an international textbook on the involvement of mental healths ‘service users’, ‘consumers’, ‘survivors’, ‘patients’ and ‘ex-patients’ in mental health research."
• Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (Pocket guides to social work research methods)
• Guide to Evidence-based Group Work

Searching the Library Catalogue

McGill University currently has two catalogues, McGill WorldCat and the Classic Catalogue, both of which list and locate items in McGill libraries, but each having some unique features.

Use the Word(s) anywhere or Advanced search—keyword options in the Classic Catalogue. You can search using words like oppression, volunteer, volunt?, teen?, etc.

This type of keyword searching is the default search option in McGill WorldCat.

Truncation, phrases and Boolean operators

Truncation symbol	?	e.g. teen? will retrieve catalogue records containing the words teen, teens, teenager, etc.
Phrase searching	"___"	e.g. "public welfare" will retrieve catalogue records containing the phrase public welfare
Boolean operators:	(), AND, OR, NOT default: AND	e.g. "social policy" and (Canada or "United States") will retrieve catalogue records containing the phrase social policy and either Canada or the phrase United States

Browsing the shelves ... virtually (Using the catalogue)

In the Classic Catalogue, you can also virtually browse library shelves using call numbers in your catalogue search. In the examples below, subject heading equivalents are also provided—and that's another great way to search (in either catalogue).

CALL NUMBER begins with ...	SUBJECT begins with ...
HN1-HN995	Social history & conditions; social problems; social reform
HV1-HV9960	Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
HV1-HV696	Social service
HV40-	Social case work
HV5275 HV713 HV1449 HV4000	Headings beginning with Social work with, e.g. Social work with alcoholics Social work with children Social work with gays Social work with immigrants
RC475-RC569	Psychotherapy, family therapy, group work, etc.

CALL NUMBER begins with ... **Life Sciences Library only**	MEDICAL SUBJECT MeSH begins with ... **Life Sciences Library only**
W322	Social work
WA546	Community Health Services
WM430	Family therapy, Group therapy

Core and Additional Databases

Core Databases

• Social Work Abstracts (Ovid)
• Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest)
• SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO)
• Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)
• ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts)ProQuest
  Indexing of over 500 journals from over 16 countries in the fields of health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education, 1987- . Updated monthly.
• Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) Social Work
  Peer-reviewed discovery tool that sifts through mountains of publications in topic areas, and attempts to selectively identify and critically describe only those few online and hard-copy (print) references deemed most essential to each.

Additional Databases

• AgeInfo
  Bibliographic database of over 50,000 books, articles and reports from the specialist collection on Social Gerontology held at the UK Centre for Policy on Ageing.
• AgeLine (EBSCO)
  Produced by AARP, focusing exclusively on population aged 50+ and aging issues; premier source for literature (1978- ) of social gerontology including aging-related content from health sciences, psychology, sociology, social work, economics, and public policy. 600+ journals indexed, plus books, book chapters, reports, dissertations, consumer guides, and educational videos.
• AoA Administration Database
  Abstracts of materials produced by AoA (Administration on Aging) grantees funded under Title IV of USA Older Americans Act (OAA) supporting demonstration, research, and training projects designed to promote use of innovative ideas and best practices in programs and services for older adults.
• APOS Clinical Database
  American Psychosocial Oncology Society's annotated bibliography on research and clinical interventions in psycho-oncology, to address educational needs of psycho-oncologists in private practice, agency, and academic settings.
• Autochtonia
  Index of 12,000+ references including books, articles, Master and Ph.D. theses, reports, texts and documents from aboriginal organizations and public sources, relating to aboriginals in Quebec on many subjects, e.g. Health and Social services, Mental Health, Families, Youth, Child Protection, Urban area, etc.
• Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews
  Free online access to systematic reviews in the areas of education, criminal justice and social welfare.
• Canadian Research Index (ProQuest)
  Index with abstracts of Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal documents issued by the federal government, provinces, and two of three territories (not Nunavut); non-depository publications issued by government agencies and departments; scientific and technical report literature issued by research institutes and government laboratories; policy, social, economic, and political reports; Statistics Canada monographs, and serials, 1982-
• Catalog of Nonprofit Literature
  Foundation Center's searchable database, 1997-  l   of approx. 28,000 citations to: articles from 100+ periodicals, books, media resources, and 'grey' literature from the nonprofit sector covering philanthropy, fundraising, nonprofit management and leadership, voluntarism, etc. Formerly known as The Literature of the Nonprofit Sector. See CHOICE review.
• CBCA Complete (ProQuest)
  Canadian content.
• CPI.Q
  Canadian content.
• Canadian Public Policy Collection
  Collection of monograph publications from Canadian public policy institutes, government agencies, advocacy groups, think-tanks, university research institutions and other public interest groups.
• CINAHL Plus with Full Text
  Comprehensive nursing & allied health research database, with full text for 760+ of journals indexed (4,175+) and 275+ books/monographs, 1981-     in all areas of nursing and allied health literature, including social work.
• EBPP Bibliography
  Books, articles, reports, online documents—with abstracts—mainly 2000- , on evidence-based policy and practice in social and public policy, including public health but excluding clinical medicine. From King's College, London, UK.
• Famili@
  Près de 8000 fiches bibliographiques des documents écrits et de langue française, publiés depuis 1980 concernant la recherche sur la famille au Québec. Multidisciplinaire (administration, anthropologie, architecture, communications, criminologie, démographie, droit, éducation physique, éducation, études littéraires, études urbaines; géographie, gérontologie, histoire, médecine, nutrition et diététique, orientation scolaire et professionnelle, philosophie, psychiatrie, psycho-pédagogie, psycho-éducation, psychologie, récréologie, relations industrielles, santé publique et communautaire, science économique, science politique, sciences infirmières, sciences religieuses; service social, sexologie, sociologie).
• First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada Database (FNCFCS)
• GenoPro
  Actually not a database but downloadable program used to generate genograms depicting emotional and social bonds between individuals composing a family or social unit. Only available on Windows platform, but may be run on a Macintosh with Parallels or VMFusion software or, if an old Mac, Virtual PC.
• IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
  Two million+ references to journal articles from 2,800+ journals with abstracts for over half, books (ca. 7,000 per year), reviews and selected book chapters 1951- in all social sciences including social work related topics;over 100 languages and countries covered. Full text indicated when available.
• ISI Web of Science
  Multidisciplinary database of articles from high impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and 110,000+ conference proceedings, with current and retrospective coverage in science, arts, humanities, and social sciences (2,100+ journals, 1956- )—including social work.
• Journal TOCS: Social Services and Welfare
  Lists table of contents (=TOC) of several journals (currently 95+). “Browse results” menu on left lists titles. Clicking on a journal title results in a list of articles in the current issue. Clicking on article title may lead to full text of article in one of McGill Library’s subscription databases (McGill users only).
• PAIS International (CSA)
• P.E.P. Archive
  Full text of 29 premier journals in psychoanalysis (1871-2006), 56 classic psychoanalytic books, and all 24 volumes of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud.
• PILOTS Database
  Index of world literature on PTSD, from US Dept of Veteran Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
• Repère
• Social Care Online
  UK's "most complete range" of information and reseach—indexing of journal articles from approx. 350 periodicals, websites, research reviews, legislation and government documents, and "service user knowledge"—on fostering, mental health human resources, etc. 1980-  and some "defining texts" from 1960s, 1970s.
• Social Sciences Full Text (Wilson)

Additional Databases — Data, Statistics

• Online Resources - Statistics & Data )
  Maintained by EDRS - Electronic Data Resource Service.
• Data Resources for Social Work
  Maintained by S. Czarnocki, EDRS.
• Canadian Data
• Statistics Canada: Statistics by Subject
• CANSIM @ CHASS
• Equinox
  Data from “Sherlock” merged into the Internet Data Library System (IDLS) (both now superceded) and enhanced to provide access in both French and English to files released through Statistics Canada's Data Liberation Initiative (DLI).
• Child Trends Databank
  USA data.
• Childinfo
  "Monitoring the situation of women and children" with UNICEF’s statistical information, including data used in its The State of the World’s Children and Progress for Children. Also technical resources for conducting UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).
• AgingStats.Gov
  USA data.
• Portail informationnel Santé et Services sociaux (Québec)
• Baseline Data Reports CHSSN (Community Health and Social Services Network)
  Data, 2003-     re Québec anglophone community.
• Health and Medical Care Archive (ICPSR)
  HMCA, data archive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), operated by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research from selected research projects including surveys of health care professionals and organizations, investigations of access to medical care, surveys on substance abuse, and evaluations of innovative programs for delivery of health care in the USA. Includes bibliography of related articles, books, book chapters, reports, working papers, dissertations, conference papers, and unpublished manuscripts.
• AFCARS and NCANDS
  USA data re adoption and foster care, and child abuse and neglect.

Additional Databases — Film

• Counseling and Therapy in Video
  Online collection (vols. I & II) of over 600 hours of streaming 400 (standard) and 800 (full-screen) kbps video—with searchable synchronized transcripts--available for the study of counseling, social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and psychiatric counseling. Includes filmed footage of actual therapy sessions, re-enacted therapy sessions, scripted sessions designed by counseling professionals to illustrate common issues and scenarios, consultations among expert therapists, documentaries, and lectures, presentations and interviews of prominent therapists. Downloadable ZIP files of teaching and discussion guides, video clip-making tools and annotated playlist capability also available. Browse searching by video title, subject, themes, therapists, and therapy types.
• Films on Demand
  Streaming video—Flash Video, Windows Media and QuickTime—of selected educational programs, from Films Media Group, high school to college level; 6,000+ titles in Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, including Social Work, Health, Family, Guidance and Counseling.
• National Film board  NFB Access procedure (.pdf)

Selected Internet Sites

Accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.

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McGill Selected Internet Sites

• McGill School of Social work
• Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF)
• Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare (CECW)
• Gender and Child Welfare Network - Canadian Branch
• IAIN Indonesia Social Equity Project
• McGill Centre for Studies in Aging (MCSA)
• McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building (MMEP)
• LUMS-McGill Social Enterprise Development Program
• McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy
• Dr. Henry Kravitz Psychiatry Library, Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital

Gateways

• New Social Worker Online
• Internet Social Worker (intute)
  Interactive tutorial to improve Internet skills.
• Social Work and Social Services Websites
• Social Work Policy Institute (NASW)
• Social Welfare (Intute)

Government

• Ministère de la santé et des Services sociaux du Québec
• Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal
• Conseil de la famille et de l'enfance
• Familles et Aînés Québec
• Public Health Agency of Canada: Childhood and Adolescence
• Public Health Agency of Canada: Aboriginal Head Start (AHS)

Associations

Canada & Québec

• Canadian Association of Social Workers
• CASWE/ACFTS (Canadian Association for Social Work Education)
• Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)
• FRP Canada (Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs)
• Ordre professionel des travailleurs sociaux du Québec
• Association québécoise d'établissements de santé et de services sociaux
• CHSSN (Community Health and Social Services Network)
  For Quebec English-speaking communities.
• RUFUTS (Regroupement des Unités de Formation Universitaire en Travail Social du Québec)

Associations

Other

• AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy)
• Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG)
• Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD)
• ASWB (Association of Social Work Boards)
• British Association of Social Workers
• Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA)
• Council on Social Work Education
• International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW - AIETS)
• International Council on Social Welfare
• International Federation of Social Workers
• NAPRSW (National Association of Puerto Rican & Hispanic Social Workers
• NASW Online (National Association of Social Workers)
• National Association of Black Social Workers
• National Indian Child Welfare Association
• National Organization of Forensic Social Work
• National Rural Social Work Caucus
  Contains Rural Annotated Bibliography, a.k.a. Annotated Bibliography on Rural Policy and Rural Social Work Practice and links.
• Registry of Marriage and Family Therapists in Canada, Inc. (RMFT)
• School Social Work Association of America
• Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR)
  Under Doctoral Student Center, some helpful links for dissertation and journal writing, teaching, presentations, research methods, etc.
• Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care
  Standards, links, etc.

AIDs

• Scourge of a Continent: The Devastation of AIDS, HIV Prevention Policies, and the Relief Effort in Sub-Saharan Africa
  CSA Discovery Guide featuring review article, citations, web sites, glossary.

Alzheimer's Disease, Aging

• Alzheimer's Disease: A Family Affair and a Growing Social Problem
  CSA Discovery Guide featuring review article, citations, web sites, glossary.

Code of Ethics

• Code of Ethics of Social Workers
• CASW Code of Ethics (2005)
• Guideline for Ethical Practice (CASW) (2005)
• NASW Code of Ethics
• IFSW Ethics in Social Work: Statement of Principles

Disability

• Registry of Systematic Reviews of Disability and Rehabilitation Research
• Office for Disability Issues (Human Resources and Social Development Canada)
• Disability Research Information Page (Canadian Council on Social Development

Social Policy

• Web and Data Sources for Social Policy Research
  Electronic sources for statistics and other data, by Susan Czarnocki, Data Specialist, Electronic Data Resource Service, McGill Libary.
• E-Library for Global Welfare
  Formerly Social Policy WWW Virtual Library.
• Social Policy - Evaluation (WWW Virtual Library)
  Links to worldwide government auditors, evaluation societies, research guides, statistical databases.
• Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP)
• Canadian Council on Social Development: CCSD Links
• Canadian Social Research Links
• Policy Research Initiative
• Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
• Caledon Institute of Social Policy
  Research reports 1993- , and Social Policy Record 2007- .
• Metropolis
  International network for comparative research and public policy development on migration, diversity, and immigrant integration in cities in Canada and elsewhere.
• Social Research and Demonstration Corporation
  Non-profit organization shares its research, projects, and publications that evaluate existing social programs, and test new social program ideas.
• European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
• Introduction to Social Policy
  By Paul Spicker, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
• Joint Center for Poverty Research
  Online reports, conference proceedings, ebooks, policy briefs, working papers, links, etc. all re "what it means to be poor and live in America."
• Policy Hub
  Developed by UK Government Social Research Unit to provide access to initiatives, projects and tools supporting better policy making and delivery, guidance re use of research and evidence in policy evaluation, links to research resources and tools from UK and around the world.
• Policy Archive
  Summaries and full texts, videos, reports, briefs, and multimedia material of think tank, university, government, and foundation-funded policy research.
• FEANTSA
  Statistics, policy documents, international database of research on homelessness, etc. in French and English, maintained by Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales Travaillant avec les Sans-Abri.
• UNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development)
  Autonomous UN agency that carries out research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development.
• Social Work and Social Welfare in Canada  
  Includes glossary, online course, history, publications and links, by Steve Hick.

 

LGBT

• 2spirits.com
  Non-profit social services organization of Aboriginal gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in Toronto.
• Coalition des familles homoparentales
• Project 10
  Educational support services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth who attend public school.

Longitudinal Studies

• Up Series
  Not an Internet site but a DVD series. See Up series Wikipedia article.
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• ESRC United Kingdom Longitudinal Studies Centre
  Includes link to the Keeping Track, database of longitudinal datasets collected by government and other sources in the UK and worldwide. .
• National Longitudinal Surveys (USA Dept of Labor)
  Re "labor market activities and other significant life events ."
• Longitudinal Studies of Aging
  From US National Center for Health Statistics.
• Database of Longitudinal Studies
  Maintained by US National Institute on Aging; includes materials from Canadian CIHR database of Longitudinal Studies on Aging .
• Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN)
  Collaborative studies exploring critical issues in child abuse. Some data restricted.
• Youth in Transition Survey (YITS)
  Initiative of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, and Statistics Canada.
• National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)
  Statistics Canada long-term study of the development and well-being of Canadian children from birth to early adulthood, including factors influencing social, emotional and behavioural development over time.

• Institute of Marriage and Family Canada
• How Couples Meet and Stay Together
  Stanford University study of 4,000+ American adults to determine whether traditional couples and nontraditional couples meet in the same way and their dissolution rates.

Domestic/Family Violence

• Healing Journey: Family Violence Prevention
  For aboriginal communities.
• National Clearinghouse on Family Violence
• Family Violence Initiative (Dept of Justice, Canada)
• Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System
• Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les problèmes conjugaux et les agressions sexuelles (CRIPCAS)
• Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence against Women (CRI-VIFF)
• IVAT
  Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma.
• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
• VAWnet: National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women

Other Internet Sites

• Canadian Social Work University Programs
• Research Mindedness in Social Work and Social Care
  Includes case studies.
• Homeless in Canada
• FIRA (Father Involvement Research Alliance)
  "Pan-Canadian alliance of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to the development and sharing of knowledge focusing on father involvement."
• International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL)
• Butler Center for Research (Hazelden Foundation)
  Clinical and institutional research re recovery from addiction: surveys, research trends, searchable research library catalogue, and Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs - Data Archives, Surveys and Related Databases.
• Community-Based Research Canada
  "... intended to enable and empower citizens across Canada to access, produce, and put into action knowledge that will make their communities more sustainable, fairer, safer, healthier, and prosperous."
• Centre jeunesse de Montréal -Institut universitaire

Other Resources

Collection Policy

• Social Work Collection Policy, McGill Library

Course-Related Library Guides

• SWRK 723 – Advanced seminar in social policy
  Annotated list, with links, of major sources for government information, compiled for SWRK 723 (Prof. W. Thomson, School of Social Work) by Megan Fitzgibbons, Liaison Librarian, January, 2010.

Related subject guides

• Educational and Counselling Psychology
• Finding instruments, measures, scales & tests in education, health, psychology & social work
• Health Services & Policy Research Resource Guide
• Indigenous Peoples
• Non-profit Organizations
• Psychology
• Sexual Diversity
• Sociology
• Systematic Reviews
• Women's Studies