Social Work

Start your research

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 CRAP test to evalute the quality of online sources.

Find peer-reviewed journal articles, images, grey literature & track trends

Popular versus academic sources (what's the difference?) and the peer review process

Searching tips: Truncation and phrase searching

Find peer-reviewed journal articles

Use the Social Work Quick Guide for a list of the top five (5) databases.
- Both CPI-Q and CBCA Complete have Canadian content. PAIS International has public policy-related articles.
- Use the Bibliography of Native North Americans or America History and Life for topics related to Indigenous peoples.
Special topics
- Education: ERIC
- Gender and women's studies: Gender Studies database.
- Health (including women's health): Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL)
- History: America History and Life
- Human rights: HuriSearch
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): PILOTS
- Policy-related literature: PAIS Index and Business Source Complete
- Children: Child Development & Adolescent Studies

Open access

Student journals

Journal recommended by faculty members

Faculty in the School of Social Work suggest the following journals. Some of these publications are available only in either print or online while others are available in both formats.

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

Tracking trends
Social work is an evidence-based practice, i.e., your will integrate your individual experience with the best available systematic research. You will also want to track trends, i.e., follow how an issue is developing or changing. The following two-part video series demonstrates how to use social media such as Twitter and Tweet Deck, organizational websites and news sources to track changes that could be relevant to your practice.

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Finding images

Finding and using images: A Carleton University Library guide (including how to cite images in your projects and presentations)

Grey literature

Grey literature is an important source of information in social work.

It adds a valuable global perspective
It provides detailed overviews on specific populations
It 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" ie. 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 (select Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science, you may also want to select the Social Science and Humanities option)
Newspapers and Magazines

Library resources

Google Scholar (change country, for example, to find international material)
Government information (customized Google search)
Databases such as Social Work Abstracts or the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (check document types; may include theses, conference proceedings, etc.)

Resources

Canadian Government Information (a customized search engine for online Canadian government information)
Canadian Public Policy Collection (To limit your search in Scholars Portal, select Canadian Public Policy Collection from drop down menu in Select Collection field.)
Grey Matters (a checklist for health technology assessment from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH))
Grey Net (an international directory of organizations in Grey Literature and a respository)
Grey Literature Report (searchable bimonthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM))
Grey Literature Database - Canadian Evaluation Society

How-to guide

Finding the Hard to Finds: Searching for Grey Literature - University of British Columbia

Web sources of grey literature

Academic research centres and educational websites

Academic Room
Centre for Studies on Poverty and Social Citizenship (Carleton University, School of Social Work)

Labour unions

Social work organizations

Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE-ACFTS)
Council on Social Work Education (United States)
International Federation of Social Workers
National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (United States)
National Institute for Social Work (United Kingdom)

Social research groups

Ontario Public Interest Group (OPIRG) Toronto
Caledon Institute of Social Policy A private, non-profit social policy think tank that conducts social policy research and analysis.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Index of Wellbeing Provides analyses of changes in Canadians' lives in areas such as health, standard of living, quality of the environment, time use, education and skills, community vitality, and civic engagement.
Canadian Non-Governmental Organizations that participated in the recent review of Canada's compliance with the United Nation's International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Canadian Policy Research Networks (closed in 2010 but information still available on website)
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) (Canada)
The Council of Canadians
National Council of Welfare
Social Research and Demonstration Corporation Canada (a non-profit research organization, that develops, does field tests and evaluates social programs)
Think Tanks (University of Alberta Library)
Vanier Institute of the Family

Social Work Gateways

Charity Village Canada's supersite for the nonprofit sector
PRAXIS (Resources for Social and Economic Development)
Social Work Access Network (SWAN) (University of South Carolina)
Social Work Internet Guide (University of Sydney Library)

Related Carleton University websites

Special topics

Children and Youth

Disabilities

ARCH Disability Law Centre (Advocacy Resource Centre for the Handicapped)
Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work
Canadian Disability Resources Society
CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Children with Disabilities
CERA:Centre for Equality Rights in Accomodation
Council of Canadians with Disabilities
DAWN Canada: DisAbled Women's Network Canada
Disability-Related Policy in Canada
EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information
LDOnLine: Learning Disabilities Information & Resources (United States)
NEADS (National Educational Association of Disabled Students)
Neil Squire Foundation
Community Living Ontario
The Ontarians With Disabilities Act: ODA Committee
National Institute of Disability Management and Research

Family

Adoption Council of Canada
Canadian Association for Family Resource Programs
Centre for Families, Work, and Well-Being
Family Law Centre provides comprehensive information on Canada's Divorce and Family Law
Family Service Canada
Vanier Institute of the Family

Feminism

Health

Homelessness

Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa
Canada Without Poverty
Canadian Federation of Municipalities (reports: The State of Canada's Cities and Communities 2012 and Trends and Issues in Affordable Housing and Homelessness)
Homelessness & Housing (Canadian Social Research Links)
National Council of Welfare
Ottawa Innercity Ministries
PovNet (British Columbia)
Raising the Roof Solutions for Canada's Homeless
The Workfare Watch Project
Pilot Atlas of Risk of Homelessness (This atlas represents interactive risk of homelessness data. To view, you require a high speed internet connection and a recent version of Safari, Firefox and/or Chrome.)

Human Rights

Amnesty International Canada
Carleton University: Educational Equity Policy (Equity Services)
Carleton University Library: Human Rights Subject Guide
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Human Rights Organizations and Resources
Office of the High Commisioner for Human Rights (United Nations)

Immigration and resettlement

Ceris: The Ontario Metropolis Centre

Labour

Mental Health

Poverty

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice links

Sexual Orientation

Carleton University Library: Sexuality Studies Subject Guide
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition
EGALE Canada / Equality For Gays & Lesbians Everywhere
Gay and Lesbian Resources (University of Arizona Library)
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Studies (University of California)
GayCanada.COM
The Dr. Kelly McGinnis Library (Canada`s largest gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered lending library)
NGLTF National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Substance Abuse

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug use: Subject Guide
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
The Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (PREVLINE)
Substance abuse: Access to Justice Network (Choose "Substance Abuse" from the 'Select a keyword" pull-down list)

Suicide Prevention

Wellbeing

Canadian Index of Wellbeing

Find books and ebooks

Find books

In the library catalogue, use keywords to find books and ebooks (i.e., use your key concepts to search for relevant materials).

A sample of social work related library books (in print)

Absent citizens : disability politics and policy in Canada
The cost of poverty
How are Canadians Really Doing? (see also the link to the Canadian Index of Wellbeing under the "websites" tab)
New immigrants' assessments of their life in Canada
The new structural social work
Social determinants of health : Canadian perspectives
Social work : theories and methods
Structural social work in action : examples from practice
Trauma and the body : a sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy

Use your library account to save searches:

Save your favorite searches for easy reference so that you can run these searches on demand (note: this feature saves your search terms but not the materials that you find)
Receive email search alerts when material has been added to the collection matching your preferred searches.

How?

Log into your library account and search the catalogue. Click on the Save Search option to save a search.
Return to your account.
Click on the Saved Searches button to view your preferred search list. If no Saved Searches button displays, you have not yet saved any searches.
To receive emails when new material arrives, click on Mark for Email.
To run the search on demand, use the link in the Search column.
To remove searches from your list, use the boxes in the Mark to Remove column , and then click on "update list."

Find government documents, statistics and legislation

Historical parliamentary documents

Federal government policies

The government information library tool (government websites, all levels)
Canadian Heritage. Click on "Funding" in the left-hand corner of the page, then "Topics". From this list pick "Cultural diversity and rights", then "Human Rights" and then "Canada's Reports to the UN" in the middle section of the page. These reports detail government policies and activities (federal and provincial) related to important international treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Employment and Social Development Canada. Click on publications and resources under "About us" at the bottom of the page (audit and evaluation reports as well as the Treasury Board main estimates).
Office of the Auditor General of Canada (evaluations of federal government policies and programs).
Library of Parliament of Canada (publications on policy issues).
The Canadian Government Policy Cycle subject guide. The section on Action explains the ways that the Canadian government can implement policy.
Search both the Canadian Research Index and the Canadian Public Policy Collection which are specialized databases.

Note

Estimates are the detailed breakdown of proposed spending by ministry and government agencies that must be debated and approved by the government (federal or provincial). These detailed reports can continue information about revenues and expenditures are the actual monies received and spent in previous years.

A sample of federal government departments or organizations

Provincial governments

City of Ottawa

City of Ottawa
- Locate Ottawa (use this interactive map based on census data)
Community Information Centre of Ottawa
Community Information Centre of Ottawa e-Blue Book (online directory)
Federation of Canadian Municipalities

International

SourceOECD
United Nations Data
United Nations Treaty Collection
United Nations Official Documents
World Development Indicators (World Bank Group)
World Health Organization

Legislation

Federal

Department of Justice

Justice Laws (consolidated statutes)

Other federal legislation

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Human Rights Act
Constitution of 1867
Criminal Code
LEGISinfo: an essential research tool for finding information on legislation before the Canadian parliament.

Ontario

Other provinces

Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII): for all provinces

Statistics