Reference Sources | Online Sources | Citing Your Sources | Help

Reference Sources

This is a sampling of reference books available in Staley Library's Reference Collection, located on the first floor, that will have useful background information. If you have trouble finding information, ask for help at the Research Assistance Desk.

• Encyclopedia of Sociology. Ref. HM17 .E5
• Encyclopedia of American Social History. Ref. HN57 .E58
• Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy. Ref. HC110 .P6 P598  
• Encyclopedia of Family Life. Ref. HQ534 .E53
• Statistical Handbook on the American Family. Ref. HQ536 .S727
• The Gallup Poll. Ref. HN90 .P8 G35
• Encyclopedia of Social Work. Ref. HV35 .S6
• Violence in America. Ref. HN90 .V5 V5474
• Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Sourcebook. Ref. HV6626.2 .D66
• Encyclopedia of American Political Reform. Ref. E839.5 .C57
• The Family in America. Ref. HQ536 .H365
• Encyclopedia of Social Work. Ref. HV35 .S6
• Statistical Portrait of the United States: Social Trends and Conditions. Ref. HA214 .S73
• Statistical Abstract of the United States. Ref. HA202 .S7 (shelved at Research Assistance Desk)

Also, try the Library's online subscription to CQ Researcher, which provides introductory information to many social and political topics (on-campus use only).

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Online Sources

• Finding Articles: Using the Databases from the Staley Library web site
  These are some of the article databases that are available through the Staley Library web site that will be useful for your research. Remember, you need to use scholarly literature. If you need help deciding if a source meets those criteria, please refer to our web page, Is It a Magazine or a Journal?
  • Academic Search Premier -- Broad spectrum of topics, including many full-text articles.
  • Social Sciences Abstracts -- Sociology/Psychology database.
  • PsycINFO -- Psychology database.
  • PsycARTICLES -- Psychology database with full-text articles.
  • PerAbs -- Covers a wide variety of topics. Some full-text articles.
  • Wilson Select Plus -- Includes some full-text articles.
  • JSTOR -- Full-text. Complete digitized back-runs of core scholarly journals in the arts and sciences. On-campus use only.
  • Statistical Universe -- After you click on the link, choose the "Statistical" link on the left-hand side. Provides a range of statistical information from federal, state, and international sources.
    
    
• Finding Books: Using MILLINET, the Staley Library online catalog
  MILLINET, the Library Catalog, lists the 2000,000+ books held by Staley Library, as well as some 35 million books and other items held at over 60 Illinois college and university libraries.
  • Try entering a keyword about your topic into the search box
  • Connect two keywords by using a Boolean search
  • When you find a list of books, click on a book title and look at the subject headings to choose appropriate search terms
    
    
• Internet sources
  Remember, when using Internet sources you must critically evaluate each piece of information to determine if it is applicable as an academic resource. The Evaluating Internet Sources web page will provide you with a list of criteria on which to base your evaluation. If you need assistance using Search Engines, see: Using Search Engines Effectively.

• Here are some suggested web sites:
  • U.S. Census Bureau - Poverty -- Official statistics on poverty in the United States
  • Institute for Research on Poverty -- From the University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Joint Center for Poverty Research -- From Northwestern University and the University of Chicago
  • National Center for Children in Poverty -- From Columbia University
  • FirstGov -- a search engine for U.S. federal government web sites

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Citing Your Sources

• APA Format (Millikin Writing Center)
• APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue University)
• Citing Electronic Sources (APA)
• Formatting Citations (Duke University)
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association -- comprehensive guide to citing sources in APA format (available at the Staley Library Research Assistance Desk)
  

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Trouble Getting Started

Try using the Search Strategy Checklist (opens in PDF). This guide is designed to help you gather and keep track of the information you need for a project. Need more help? Come and talk with a librarian at the Research Assistance Desk.

Instant Message a Millikin Librarian for help!

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