More Sociological Abstracts Help

For in-depth database help or AnSo research assistance, please contact C. Scott Dorris, the liaison librarian for the AnSo Department.

or

Contact the Reference Desk at  341-7228

Other Online Sociology Resources

Contents

 Use Sociological Abstracts
to search for scholarly sources in 
Sociology and its related disciplines.
Emile Durkheim

What is Sociological Abstracts

Sociological Abstracts is an online database that indexes the international sociological literature, including related disciplines like Gender Studies and Cultural Anthropology.
  • It covers journals, book chapters and reviews, conference proceedings, and dissertations.
    • Important note: Dissertations, Conference Proceedings, and foreign language publications are usually not obtainable through interlibrary loan.
  • Database coverage is from 1952 to the present. 
  • It is not a full-text database, but Knox may still subscribe to these journals either online or in print. Always click the Find It! button and check the Library Catalog for full-text availability.
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How to Access Sociological Abstracts
Database Access Option 1
  1. Click on “Selecting a journal database: A-Z list”
  2. Scroll down toward the bottom and select Sociological Abstracts
Database Access Option 2
  1. Click on “Selecting a journal database: subject list”
  2. Within the box, select Anthropology & Sociology, then Sociological Abstracts
Off Campus Database Access
  1. Click on "Selecting a journal database: A-Z list"
  2. Click the link for Sociological Abstracts
  3. Type in your Knox user name and password
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Searching Sociological Abstracts: Quick Search
  • Start here with a basic keyword search (it searches every field in the entire database).
  • Multiple words will automatically search as a phrase (no need for quotation marks) unless the words are separated by AND, OR, or NOT
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Searching Sociological Abstracts: Advanced Search
  • Use the Advanced Search feature if you want to combine keywords to search for multiple concepts.
  • Add synonyms in the boxes between the ORs.
  • Add different concepts on each line and combine the concepts with AND, OR, or NOT.
Sociological Abstracts Advanced Search Example
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Understanding Search Results
Sociological Abstracts Citation Anatomy
  1. Click on the article title or View Record to view the complete record.
  2. Click on author’s name to view all items in the database by that author.
  3. Click on References to view the cited references in article.
  4. Click on Cited by… to view citations in Sociological Abstracts that refer to that article.
  5. Click on the Find It! button to check full-text availability in another database.
  6. Descriptors: these words describe the content of the article/record. Search with these terms to focus/narrow your search.
Article Citation from a Journal Sociological Abstracts Journal Citation Example
Entire Book Citation Sociological Abstracts Book Citation Example
Book Chapter Citation
Sociological Abstracts Book Chapter Citation Example

In this case, search with the book's title for availability (Youth Culture), not the chapter title ("Growing Up Punk").
Conference Paper
Sociological Abstracts Conference Paper Citation Example

* These are rarely obtainable via Interlibrary Loan *
Dissertation

Sociological Abstracts Dissertation Citation Example1

* These are not obtainable via Interlibrary Loan *
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Finding the Full Text
This database does not have any full text. In order to see if another database has the article's full-text, you can click on the 'Findarticle' link at the bottom of each complete record.
Sociological Abstracts Find It Link

After clicking the 'Findarticle' link, a new window will open. The 3 steps of Find It!:
1. If the article is available electronically from another database, select the appropriate link.
2. If it is not available electronically, check the Library Catalog for journal availability.
3. If it is not available online or in the library, click the Interlibrary Loan link and submit a request. We usually receive requests in 5-7 days. 
If you have problems with the Find It! service and cannot find what you are looking for, you can open "e-journals lookup" or the Library Catalog in a new window and check journal or book availability respectively.
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Search Tools and Other Helpful Features
History This function allows you to combine searches and narrow your results.
Thesaurus This function will help find preferred terms that the database uses to describe the contents of the record. They also provide broader, narrower, and related terms.
Indexes Alphabetical listing of author and journal names which then can be selected and searched.
Marked Records Use this feature to save records for later use. Check the boxes of the records you want to save and then click “Update Marked List” View them later by clicking the marked records link toward the top of the page.
Save, Print, Email Save, print, or email your marked records or all search results.
QuickBib This feature converts the saved records into ALA, Chicago, MLA formats.
My Research Use this feature to save searches, create email alerts and RSS feeds for new content, and customize the database interface.
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