can this be done by 1pm today?

Note that to access journals and other online academic resources that USCB has access to,

you will need to start from the library website and either be using an on-campus computer

or login (see this page for directions on accessing resources off-campus:

http://library.uscb.edu/how-do-i/off-campus-access/).

1. Using the Databases

Go to the USCB Libraries homepage (http://library.uscb.edu/), click on the “Find Journals

and Databases” tab, and choose “Sociology and Human Services” as the subject area. Here

you will find the LibGuides for both disciplines and a list of applicable databases (click on

the tab). I typically begin with Social Sciences Full Text or Sociological Abstracts, although

you may want to try some of the other databases listed as well. JSTOR tends to have the

largest number of accessible articles; however, it typically does not contain the three most

recent years. In JSTOR you will need to use the “Advanced Search” option to limit results to

a particular subject area (most likely sociology, but you may want to look under social

sciences or another field as well because gerontology or aging are not options). Google

Scholar is also helpful, but it is not subject area-specific, so you may be overwhelmed by

unrelated results that are returned and you may miss some of the important journals to the

discipline – make sure you are searching in at least one database as well. Some of these

databases operate slightly differently and offer varying options, but typically you will be

able to enter one or more keywords to search. Once you are presented with a list of results,

scan the titles and abstracts for those that seem of interest to you. Most recent articles will

be available through e-journals; others are only available in hardcopies. If you find

navigating any of these databases confusing or cannot figure out how to access an article

you need, please feel free to touch base with me. Our Reference and Instruction Librarians

are also great help if you are stuck on where to start (but they will not be in the library as

much over the summer).

2. Searching the Journals

You can search in individual journals for articles of interest. If you know of a particular

journal that focuses on the area of study you are most interested in, it may be helpful to

look directly in it for research related to your topic. Some of the aging journals that I

recommend are Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, The Gerontologist, Ageing and

Society, Journal of Aging Studies, Advances in Life Course Research, Journal of Applied

Gerontology, Research on Aging, Journal of Aging and Social Policy, and Educational

Gerontology. To access these journals, go to the USCB Libraries homepage, click on the

“Find Journals and Databases” tab, and select “Search TDNet for Journals by Title." You can

enter the full or partial title of the journal in the search bar. Once you get to the homepage

of these journals, you can either search the archives using keywords, or you can scan the

titles/abstracts of issues from the most recent years. As with searching the databases, not

all years are available electronically, so check to see how you can access the full articles of

any issues you are interested in reading.

3. Other Places to Find Research

By clicking on the “Find Books” tab of the USCB Libraries website, you can search for books

available both in hardcopy and electronic formats. However, your searches are limited

because keywords can typically only be found in titles or subject area and not all books will

be based on social research. You may also find it helpful to skim the bibliography of the

textbook for articles of interest, as all the research cited in the reading is listed there. Just

make sure that any sources you use for your literature review are relevant and scholarly –

sources that are not appropriate for this class are newspaper articles, magazines, works of

fiction, and items that are solely web-based (i.e., blogs) and not connected in any way to

academic research. Although I am happy to discuss how you might be able to use these

types of sources in providing contemporary relevance to your topic, if you find one that is

particularly interesting, the vast majority of your research brief must be composed of peer-

reviewed, academic sources.

If you find an article or book that sounds perfectly suited to your research topic, but our

library does not have online access, and it is not available in hardcopy on the shelves, you

can typically receive it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). I recommend everyone starts off

this week by registering for ILL (http://ill3.tcl.sc.edu/illiad/beau/default.html), so that you

can quickly request any materials you need but to which we do not have direct access. We

also have a wonderful Interlibrary Loan and Serials Librarian, who is great help with

getting you quick access to articles and books you might need.