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Librarian
Finding Sources in Social Work
You can search using a General Search of our catalog, or, If you're looking for scholarly journal articles, consider using one of our specialized databases below for better results.
To find strong search terms related to your specific topic, try the following:
- Look at the subject headings and keywords of resources you've already found.
- Consult relevant entries in some of the encyclopedias and other reference sources we have available.
Can't find full text?
Click the 
button by the article to get it elsewhere, or to order it.
General Search
Journal Databases
Journal databases are specialized tools for finding scholarly articles in academic journals, with advanced options for targeting your search on a specific topic.
If they seem a little intimidating, remember that the librarians are happy to show you how to use them to find the best sources as fast as possible.
General Social Work & Sociology
- Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThis is the definitive source of research for the field. Social Services Abstracts focuses on current research in social services and welfare. These major areas include community and mental health services; crisis intervention; evaluation research; gerontology; policy, planning and forecasting; poverty and homelessness; violence: abuse and neglect.
There is little or no full text in this database. Use the
button to locate your articles. - Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides abstracts and citations for international research in sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Covers current research on sociology, social work, urban studies, social welfare, social policy, community development, and more. Indexes articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers. Does not contain full-text.
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new windowA general-purpose database with a lot of full text articles. This is also a good source for interdisciplinary research.
Mental Health
- APA PsycArticles This link opens in a new window
The APA's comprehensive social and behavioral sciences database which delivers full-text, peer-reviewed articles. Updates twice weekly to ensure access to cutting-edge research and includes coverage dating back to 1894.
Education
- ERIC This link opens in a new window
The definitive resource for journal articles, books, government documents, theses, dissertations, and other literature on all aspects of education at all levels. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Medical
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowComprises over 26 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Produced by the (US) National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine.
- CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
CINAHL, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, offers full-text articles in fields such as nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and other allied health disciplines.
Other
- Ethnic Diversity Source This link opens in a new window
Covering the culture, traditions, social treatment and lived experiences of different ethnic groups in America.
- Google ScholarSearches a vast amount of scholarly material! However, it only accesses full-text materials if Augsburg has a subscription to that journal. Use Interlibrary Loan for the titles to which Augsburg does not subscribe.
Newspaper Articles
Newspapers can also be useful sources for Social Work research.
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Prominent U.S. papers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It's also a good place to look for Star Tribune articles, with archives from 1986. Use the advanced search tab to limit to particular titles or dates.
Statistics Sources
If you're looking for data, we have a whole separate page of statistics sources.