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Theory Informed Direct Practice: SSWG 5101 and SSWG 5102

Recommended library resources for theory-informed social work direct practice with individuals and families

Database Language

Platform-wide thesaurus and subjects

The ProQuest and EBSCOhost interface or platforms (multi-disciplinary database aggregators) provide full-text access, each has a platform-wide thesaurus that applies to ALL of its databases.

Gale has platform-wide subjects (located top right). There is also Topic Finder.  Its multi-subjects database is Academic OneFile.

Specialized thesaurus

These thesauri are useful for Social Work and may be viewed on the website or platform.  Temple AccessNet ID is required to access ProQuest databases.

Multi-disciplinary Databases - Full text

Cited Reference Searching

Subject Indexing Databases

Databases for Specific Populations

Ten Finding Tips

In addition to Library Search and talking with Subject Librarians, use the library research guides (or LibGuides) and databases and resources listed on this page to search and identify journal articles, books, book chapters and other publications in Social Work and related fields.

  1. Use all relevant terms or keywords and, if available, the database controlled vocabulary or indexing and cataloging terms ( thesaurus, subject headings, descriptors) in advanced search. Subject dictionaries, thesauri, and Credo Reference can help identify concepts and words for searching.  These guides maybe useful:
  1. Search one concept at a time and then combine them using "AND" or "OR".  Most databases automatically add "AND" between terms so AND may not be needed.
  • Parentheses can be used to specify the search order for operators in a search string.  If not, for example, in ProQuest and Web of Science, the order is PRE, NEAR, AND, OR, NOT. 
  • Watch Build Better Searches in Web of Science (5 min), to know how to use truncation, operators, parentheses (to set order for operators) and proximity. These functions are similar for other databases.
  • Be aware that Google operators work differently than those in library databases.
  1. Use database fields and filters, such as Date, Peer-Reviewed, Source Type, and Methodology  to focus and narrow your search.
    Check documentation to see which fields are mandatory or required to appear in every record.  In APA PsycINFO, for example, the only required fields in every record are title, abstract, author, keywords, publication date, publication type, release date, unique identifier. PubMed check tags appearing in nearly all indexed records include human, animal, male, female, pregnancy, age. These tags are ignored if not mentioned in the article.
    Geographic location:  For library catalogs, use location field and the geographic subject headings.  For APA PsycINFO search in geographic location field. For ERIC, there are location, laws, polices and programs and assessment and surveys identifiers.
    Use the How to apply methodology filters and Find Empirical and Evidence-Base Articles guides.
  2. Use database guides, tutorials, search tips, tools, and help to efficiently search, filter, save/download, cite and more.
  1. Follow linkages, such as subject, keyword, author, title or series, organization links and links to Similar Titles, Citations or Cited By, References, and More Like This.
  1. Register/Create account and login to save your search history and create alerts.
     
  2. Select the Find Full Text links to get the entire source for non-full text indexing databases.
    Link Google Scholar to Temple libraries to get full text within our collections.
     
  3. To save time, search the entire ProQuest Social Sciences Premium collection
  • Some database specific advanced filtering capability and thesaurus terms may not be available.
  • For the broadest ProQuest platform wide search, use ProQuest Academic One, which includes ProQuest Central (nearly all disciplines/subjects and different media types)
  1. Use Browzine to browse and read scholarly articles in Social Work journals.
    To create an account with the Browzine App, select Temple University and login with your TU AccesNet ID.
     
  2. Target Core Journals in Social Work and search all relevant databases.