Sociology 315
Complex Organizations

Professor Smith
Spring 2007

Finding books in the Library

You may want to start your research with some Reference sources:

• Encyclopedia of Associations, R 060 E56A
• Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2nd ed. R 301.03 E56 2000; also available through Gale Virtual Referece Library
• Gale World of Sociology [through xreferplus]
• Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology, R 658.30019 H236
• Handbook of Work and Organizational Psychology, R 158.7 H236 1998

I-Share (the library catalog) can also be used to find books on your topic. Try using Subject searching for more efficient results.

Examples of Subject searches:

• Organization
• Organizational behavior
• Organizational sociology
• Social sciences -- Research
• Social structure
• Structuralism
• Complex organizations
• Organizational change

• Use I-Share to find books at 65 other libraries in the states
• If a library is close by, you can use your Jaypass to check out materials
• Use I-Share to order books from other libraries
• Or request non-Illinet books it through our online Interlibrary Loan book request form

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Finding Articles in Library Databases

For your assignment, you are being asked to look at articles from scholarly or professional journals, as well as articles from popular press sources. How can you tell the difference? Here are some links to websites with information on how to tell.

• Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals

• Scholarly Journals vs Popular Magazine Articles

• Distinguishing Between Popular and Scholarly Sources

The following databases have articles and citations from many different kinds of resources, from business and pyschology publications to sociology journals. Depending on what kind of organization you are focussing on, it may make sense to search in several of the databases for the resources you need.

• ABI/Inform
  • Contains U.S. and international articles on business and management topics.
  • Includes some full text; note that many journals will NOT have the most recent articles, due to embargoes which restrict release of full-text articles until one year after publication.
  • Full text of past articles of Journal of Management (to 1997), Journal of Human Resources (to 1998), and Administrative Science Quarterly (to 2001).
    
• Academic Search Premier
  • A general database that contains both scholarly and popular journal sources.
  • Many articles are available in full text.
  • Full text current articles from such sociological journals as Annual Review of Sociology and American Journal of Sociology are available.
    
• Annual Review of Sociology
  • Patrons can link to the index of this respected source of sociology research for free.
  • The library does not subscribe to this resource in full-text.
  • However, full text articles from this resource can be found in a number of online databases, such as Academic Search Premier , Wilson Select Plus, ProQuest Psychology, JSTOR, and Periodical Abstracts.
    
• Business Source Elite
  • A database that contains both scholarly and popular journal sources in business and management topics
  • Many articles are available in full text.
  • Full text of articles of Journal of Management (to 11/01/2001), Journal of Human Resources (to 1 year ago), and Administrative Science Quarterly (to present) are available.
    
• JSTOR
  • An electronic archives of titles, often going back to the first issue of a journal's existence.
  • JSTOR does not include current issues of journals.
  • Journal issues are all available in full text.
  • Articles are available from American Journal of Sociology (to 2000), Annual Review of Sociology (to 1999), American Sociological Review (to 2002), Administrative Science Quarterly (to 12/01/2001) and Journal of Human Resources (to Fall 2002).

    • Current articles from these jounals can be found in other databases.
      
• ProQuest Psychology Journals

  • Nearly 300 full text journals, include sociology periodicals.
• Current articles from American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review and Annual Review of Sociology.
• Full-text articles from Administrative Science Quarterly (to 09/01/2001) are also available.
  
• Sociological Abstracts (1962-present) 
  • The key print index for sociology.
  • Contains citations from journals in sociology and related disciplines.
  • Shelved alphabetically behind the Bound Periodicals section of the library (downstairs)

Does Elmhurst Own This Article?

• Use I-Share to determine if the library owns the journal in print or microfilm
• Check the Alphabetical List of Electronic Journals for electronic access to journals.
  • If the article you seek is unavailable from these sources, please request it through our online Interlibrary Loan article request form

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Writing a Literature Review

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a descriptive summary of selected sources in a field or topic area that analyzes and compares sources relevant to the research question. It is more than a list of sources and a brief description (annotated bibliography) but less than a synthesis paper about the sources.

Here are some links to provide you with resources and examples for writing your literature review:

Why Write a Review of the Literature? This page has a nice step-by-step description of the process of writing a literature review
How to write a literature review from UC Santa Cruz--has a nice description of the steps
Literature Reviews a good UNC page that describes the process of writing a literature review
Researching and Writing Literature Reviews an excellent multi-page resource for writing literature reviews

You may also find this page useful:
Writing In Sociology an excellent page from UNC that describes the process of writing about sociological research.

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Evaluating Resources

No matter what sources you are using, you need to evaluate them. Here are some links to websites with advice on how to do that:

• What is a Primary Source?
• Critically Analyzing Information Sources
• Popular vs. Scholarly Articles - Guide
• Evaluating Web Sites

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Writing and Citing Information

For help with writing your outlines and bibliographies, try the Elmhurst College Writing Center online help page.

You can also try these online resources:

A Quick Style Guide for Students Writing Sociology Papers
Formatting in Sociology--ASA Style--OWL at Purdue
ASA Citation Style (UW Parkside)

More links here: Writing and Citing: Sociology ~ sites showing the use of American Sociological Review format

If you need any help finding articles or writing, you can also contact the Reference Desk any time the library is open:

Reference: 630-617-3173
Email: ref[at[elmhurst[dot]edu
AIM: elmhrstcollibref   |   Yahoo!Messenger: eclibraryreference   |   MSN Messenger: ref[at]elmhurst.edu

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