Reference Tools for Research

The following reference tools are useful for researching papers on sociological topics.

A Guide To Writing Sociology Papers, 4th ed. (1998)

This paperback book by the Sociology Writing Group (published by St. Martin's Press) provides information abourt writing various types of research papers. It contains new material on choosing Internet sources and also provides suggestions on how to avoid plagiarism, proper citations, etc. This guide is available at Sun Dance Books.

Sociofile

This is a computer database of the series of annual volumes known as the Sociological Abstracts. The Sociofile is now available via the Geneseo Library Web page. The printed abstracts are in the reference stacks. In addition to bibliographic information, the abstracts provide summaries of articles published in sociology and sociology-related professional journals. These enable you to decide if the article is appropriate to your research and gives the citation so you can look up the entire article

Social Science Index

These are volumes, bound by year, which are located in the reference section of Milne Library. This reference tool is a cumulative index of periodicals in sociology, anthropology, economics, environmental sciences, geography, law and criminology, planning and public administration, political science, psychology, social aspects of medicine, and related subjects. Subjects are arranged alphabetically. Under each subject heading are full references to articles which have been written about the topic in a given year.

Government Documents

Milne Library is one of the few libraries in western New York that is a depository for material published by the federal government. These documents are housed in the basement of Milne, and provide a wealth of up-to-date information from the Census Bureau, the U.S. Congress, and various government agencies. Documents published by New York State are also included in this collection. The documents librarian can help you locate information you need.

Geneseo Sociology Department Web Page

The Sociology Department's Web page provides you with just a few of the many web sites that are available to help students in gaining information for research papers. Some are directed toward general Sociology sites, while others are for Women's Studies, Criminal Justice and Gay and Lesbian Issues.