Disability Studies | MacOdrum Library

Key Resources

Provides citations with abstracts to articles, books and other written materials on sociology and social planning and policy.

Social Work Abstracts

Provides citations with abstracts to articles on social work, human services and social welfare.

PsycINFO

Provides peer-reviewed literature in the behavioural sciences and mental health.

PAIS Index

Provides citations and abstracts to articles and other documents in the area of public affairs and policy.

CINAHL Database

The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINHAL) includes journal articles in nursing, allied health, biomedicine, alternative/complementary medicine

Pîjashig Kwe kwe! Tunngahugit! She:kon! Aanii! Boozhoo! Tansi! Taanishi! Hello! Bienvenue!
The MacOdrum Library is located on the unceded territories of the Algonquin nation. Use this guide to begin your research and contact Martha Attridge Bufton, who is available for online consultations.

Start your research

Meet Martha Attridge Bufton in the following video.

Pick a research topic

Read your syllabus (assignment instructions).
Pick a topic that interests you and meets the assignment instructions.
Narrow or broaden the scope of your topic so that it is "doable."
- What's scope? Scope refers to the "people, places and things" or "who, what, when and where" that you are studying. For example, Canada or another country? Children or adults? Education or child protection services?

Identify key concepts

Use this worksheet to write out your research topic and identify key ideas.

Do an initial search for academic sources

Here are some videos to help you pick the right search engines and sources for your assignment.
- Beware of filter bubbles: What to know about Google and filtered information.
- Search faster, search smarter: How to search using your key concepts.

Use the CRAAP test to evaluate the quality of online sources.

Find electronic resources

Many digital and electronic resources are available through the library.

Ebooks: The library has a number of ebook collections. These collections include:
Journal articles
Films
Maps

To retrieve these materials with a keyword search in the library main search engine or other databases:

To find ebooks, use the "available online" and "books" filters in Omni.
To find journal articles
- Use the "available online" and "articles" filters in Omni
- Use the "linked to full text" filter in other databases.

Virtual research support is also available:

Ask a Librarian offers virtual reference desk services seven days a week.
Individual consultations: Email your librarian or subject specialists to arrange an individual consultation via Big Blue Button.

Looking for digital or electronic materials that are not in the Carleton University Library Collection? Email your librarian or subject specialist.

Find dictionaries & encyclopedias

Reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks) can help you find a definition as well as an introductory and simple coverage of a topic. You can find these resources using the library’s search system on the home page.

Try searching using terms such as:

dictionar* AND disab*
encyclopedia* AND disab*
Handbook AND "disability studies"

Note: When you put the quotation words around two or more words that create a single idea, you can search for materials that contain this phrase rather than for random keywords. The * (asterisk) allows you to search for multiple words with the same root and different endings (e.g., disable, disable, disability, disabilities).

Here’s a sample of what you can find in the library collection:

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Handbooks

Routledge handbook of disability studies

Find books, peer-reviewed journal articles & grey literature

Find books

In the search field on the library home page, use keywords to find books and ebooks (i.e., use your key concepts to search for relevant materials). Use the filters in the left-hand navigation to limit your results to print/physical items and books for print books.

Try searching for books using terms such as:

disab*
"disability studies"

Here is a small sample of books in our collection:

Databases

Databases with relevant content include:

American History and Life
ERIC (an educational database)
Scopus (a social sciences database)

Open access journals

A sample of recommended peer-review journals in our library collection

Some publications are available either only in print or online. Others are available in both formats. Check UlrichsWeb for more information about individual journals.

Grey Literature: What is it? How to find it?

Grey literature is an important source of information in arts and social science research that:

adds a valuable global perspective
provides detailed overviews on specific populations
may be only source of local information

Grey literature is defined as "information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" i.e., where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997. Expanded in New York, 2004

Types of grey literature

Government information
Dissertations and theses
Conference proceedings
Newspapers and magazines
Library resources

Finding grey literature

Find maps & websites

Maps and atlases

For assistance in locating more relevant maps, please consult our Maps help guide and contact one of our cartographic specialists.

Websites

Cite your sources