LibGuides: Database Search Tips: Sociology Abstracts

About

Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window

Covers the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. It provides abstracts of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.

Most useful for:

Social workers
Counselors
Material centered on the behavior sciences

Getting Started

Sociology Abstracts Tutorial provided by ProQuest

Sociological Abstracts Training from ProQuest
Training resource from Proquest; the best resource is downloadable PowerPoint that documents search strategies.

Basic Searching Instructions

Search using the Sociological Abstracts Thesaurus

The Thesaurus feature in Sociological Abstracts operates much like the Mesh Database, offering hierarchical taxonomy of terms used to index articles with the database. This tool can be helpful both at the beginning of a search or when you are struggling to find relevant results.

Screenshot depicting how to access the Thesaurus feature within the Advanced Search.

Screen shot depicting the hierarchy used within the Thesaurus tool.

Read more specifics about the thesaurus below:

More info about the Thesaurus Feature

Steps to Find Full-Text Articles

Databases (e.g., PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Lexicomp, etc.)
There may be several different full-text links for you to try from publisher links to the blue GetIt@Duke button. Each database looks a bit different or has different options.
Duke Libraries Search Widget
If you were unable to get to the full-text through the database you were searching, try using the Duke Libraries Search Widget. Search the full title of the article and try any of the full-text links. If there are none, you can try looking for free full text (Step #2).
E-Journals
If you were unable to get to the full-text through the database you were searching via the widget, you can search for the specific E-Journal to see if Duke has access. (NOTE: You will need the article citation to look for full-text access.)

Search the name of the journal; then, browse to determine if the library subscribes to the specific year. Select the first link that includes the year the article was published. Each publisher website will look different. Find the specific year, volume, and issue that you need and then look for your specific article title.

If you are unable to find full-text articles using the links below, you will need to order it via InterLibrary Loan (Step #3).

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
1. Make sure your Google Scholar is connected to Duke, as this will give you the Get It @ Duke button. To do this: In Google Scholar > Settings > Library links > Search for Duke > Check all that apply and Save.
2. If you are retrieving too many results, try putting the article title in quotes and / or adding the author last name.

Google
For difficult to find citations, try regular Google.
1. Use the same techniques of putting the title in quotes and adding author information if needed.

Before making a request for full-text articles through Interlibrary Loan (ILL), please try steps #1 and #2 to search for the full-text. This allows our service to focus on articles that are not available for free nor via our Duke subscriptions. Our Interlibrary Loan service is no charge to Duke borrowers for all article requests. If there are copyright or other fees associated with your article request, we will contact you.

Find the article citation in a database: If you aren't already in a database, go back to PubMed or other database such as CINAHL, Embase, or Web of Science to look up the article. Why? Because our Get it @ Duke button will fill out the ILL form for you with all the article information – this saves you time and ensures greater citation accuracy.
Click the GetIt@Duke button: Once you locate the article in a citation database, click the Get It @ Duke link.
Select second button to request as Med Center User: From the page that says “We don't have this online — see below for other ways to get it” click the green button that says “Request – Med Center users.”
Log on with your DHE / NetID username and password: This will take you to the ILL form. The article information will be filled into the form automatically. Scroll to the bottom, verify accuracy, and click submit.

If you can't find the citation in a database or you don't see a GetIt@Duke button, you can place a request manually through our interlibrary loan service. Follow the steps below.

Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Request page
First, log in with your DHE Active directory username and password (NetID/pw).
Next, in the left hand menu, click New Request > Article/Chapter
Finally, fill out the required fields; please take care to ensure accuracy as incorrect citations may cause your order to be delayed or cancelled.

Questions about Interlibrary Loan? All interlibrary loan questions should go to Louis Wiethe, Document Delivery & Interlibrary Loan Manager, 919.660.1179 or louis.wiethe@duke.edu

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