Social Worker Research Guide

SOCIAL WORK, a professional activity aimed generally at enriching and enhancing individual and group development or at alleviating adverse social and economic conditions. Its practitioners work to provide care for abused or neglected children; rehabilitate the physically, mentally, or emotionally handicapped; and extend financial aid to the poor and the aged. Social workers also carry out treatment, counseling, and direct-service activities to help those individuals with mental and emotional disorders, to help rehabilitate those with disabilities, or to provide preventive services   --From Funk & Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia.  [Accessed 11 September 2009].

Guide Contents:

Print Resources in the Library

Online Databases and Electronic Journals

Internet Resources

Job Information

Major Institutions

Learning Resources

 

Print Resources in the Library

Search the Library Catalog for books by author, title, subject, or keyword.  There are a number of subject headings related to social work.  Some of the main subject terms include: Social Work, Social Service, Social Workers, Social Case Work, Psychiatric Social Work, Medical Social Work, and Counseling.  These subjects can be used in combination with other terms like: United States, statistics, children, older people, ethics, biography, etc.  For example, to find materials about social work related to children, use the Advanced Search option in the Library Catalog and use "social work" as a subject and "children" as a keyword.

Books and other materials on same subject are usually found together on the shelves, giving you the opportunity to browse and look in the indexes for your topic.  Circulating items can be found on the lower level of the Library.  Reference books on the topic can found on the main floor in the REF HV section.  Here are some featured selections:

General:

• Encyclopedia of Social Work  REF HV35.S6 2003

Statistics:

• Statistical Abstract of the United States  REF HA202 .A39  2009
• Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970  REF HA202 .B87 1976  v.1&2
• Datapedia of the United States : American History in Numbers  REF HA202 .K87 2009

Online Databases and Electronic Journals

To find journal and magazine articles, use the Library's online databases. These databases are research tools that cover thousands of printed publications. The Britannica Online and Funk and Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia are places to start defining and limiting your topic.

Subject Specific Databases:

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection: Covers topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods.

 

ERIC: Created and maintained by the U.S. Department of Education, indexes education articles and education-related research papers and books from 1966 to present. One of the key resources in education research.

General Subject Databases:

Academic Search Premier: Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1975 - present.
Expanded Academic ASAP:  Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1980 - present..
SIRS Researcher:  Contains thousands of full-text articles exploring social, scientific, health, historic, business, economic, political and global issues.

Internet Resources

Job Information

World Wide Learn: This website offers a list of different fields in the social work profession and types of programs and certificates that are required for specific settings.

U.S. Dept. of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Provides general information about the employment possibility in the social work profession. Recent information of available training, earnings, and job outlook can be found here.

Council on Social Work Education: Offers options to create and post resumes. Information about job posting and the skills needed to apply for a specific field in the social work profession can be found as well.

Major Institutions

Homepage of the Council of Social Work Education: CSWE is an institution granting accreditation for colleges and universities offering social work programs. In order to work in the social work field students need to have a degree from an accredited institution. This website allows locating specific programs to ensure having proper accreditation. 

National Association of Social Workers: This is the biggest social work organization. Offers information about professional development, recent publications, and the mission of the social work profession.

Official website of the International Federation of Social Work. Offers a global perspective of the profession and presents current issues in different countries.

Social Work Access Network: Information about different social work organizations can be found on this website.

Learning Resources

NASW Code of Ethics: Can be downloaded and analyzed. 

HelpStartsHere.org: Presents different stories and articles of people who needed help from a social worker. Good source to find out information about social workers, clients, and their lives.

Mental Health Channel: Provides general information about clinical social work. Describes the causes, symptoms, and treatments for a variety of conditions & health problems social workers might be working with.

National Organization of Forensic Social Work: Offers information about a forensic social worker. Information about functions, conferences, and news can be found on this website.

Association of Oncology Social Workers: Provides information on the settings and functions of social workers in the oncology field.

Social Work Cafe: Offers the possibility to connect with students and professionals to exchange ideas and information from the field.

SocialWorkExam.com: Website that offers test preparation for license and certificates.

Social Work News: Social work news can be found on this website. A variety of stories can be searched from different countries which gives a global perspective in the profession.

Social Work Today: This website offers information about the current issues in specific fields of the social work profession.