Objective: Researching Social Policy

I. Choose a policy to research

• Pick a policy area that interests you.
• If you choose a policy that has been existence for a while, or is very sweeping, remember that you may need to focus on only one aspect of that policy.
• Some online resources that may be of help include:
  • West's Encyclopedia of American Law
  • Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS
  • LexisNexis Academic
  • LexisNexis Congressional
• To learn about policy issues under discussion in the current Utah legislative session, go to the Utah State Legislature Home Page.

II. Devise your search strategy

• Develop a list of search terms for your policy:
  TANF, "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families"
  HCH, "Health Care for the Homeless"
  Note that phrases should be enclosed in quotation marks

• use boolean operator OR; this tells the computer to search for all the terms at the same time:
  TANF or "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families"
  HCH or "Health Care for the Homeless"

III. Find relevant federal information

By Public Law Number: 

When a law is passed by Congress, it is assigned a Public Law Number and published in a series known as United States Statutes at Large. This series is found in our Government Documents (Middle Level, north end) reference collection at AE 2.111. Public law numbers are normally indicated using the following format: P.L. 107-115. The letters (P.L.) are an abbreviation for Public Law, the first number (107th) indicates the Congress that passed the law, and the second number (115) indicates the number assigned to that law by the Congress that passed it. When looking for this law, you will need to locate the volume(s) of the United States Statutes at Large for the 107th Congress and find law number 107-115. You may also search by public law number on FindLaw.Com or LexisNexis Congressional.

By United States Statutes at Large Citation:

Some legal and legislative resources will cite laws passed by Congress using United States Statutes at Large citations in the following format: 115 Stat. 2118. The first number (115) refers to volume number (not number of the Congress), the letters (Stat.) indicate that the citation is to United States States at Large, and the last number (2118) refers to the page in volume 115 where the text of the law begins.

By Name:

Many acts of Congress are also given a name, such as the Welfare Reform Act or the Social Security Act. If the name includes a year, you can usually find it by looking for the volume(s) of the United States Statutes at Large for the year in question. Otherwise, the best way to find them is to search by name or subject using FindLaw.Com or LexisNexis Congressional.

By United States Code Citation:

A year or two following passage of a law, the government adds it to a compilation known as the United States Code, the print version of which is found in our Government Documents (Middle Level, north end) reference collection at Y 1.2/5. The United States Code is organized by subject areas instead of law name or number. In many cases, portions of a specific act will be put into different sections (known as Titles) of the code because they cover different areas of the law or effect different federal agencies. Citations to the United States Code use the following format: 19 U.S.C. § 52. The first number (19) indicates the Title (section) of the code, the letters (U.S.C.) indicate that the citation is to the United States Code, and the last number (§ 52) indicates the specific section of the Title where the law if found. You may also access the U.S. Code on a number of web sites, including FindLaw.Com, LexisNexis Congressional, and the Cornell University U.S. Code site.

Congressional Debate, Voting Records and Legislative Histories: 

Several resources are available to investigate the context in which a specific bill became law:

• Congressional Record - Middle Level, ask at Reference Desk
  This is the official record of debate in the Senate and House of Representatives.  It is organized by date. To find a record of debate on a specific law, consult the Congressional Record for the day on which the law was passed, as well as previous dates when the law was debated. Use the index to help identify dates when congress debated the bill.
• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report - Middle Level, Reference Shelves: JK 1 .C7491
  This weekly publication provides detailed information on federal legislative activity for each week Congress is in session.
• Congressional Quarterly Almanac - Middle Level, Reference Shelves: JK 1 .C749
  This annual print publication summarizes federal legislative activity on a yearly basis.  Consult the index of the volume for the year in which a law was passed to find a description of the legislation and the context in which it passed, including the results of roll call votes, etc.
• LexisNexis Congressional
  This web database provides access to all kinds of information regarding congress, including references to testimony presented before congressional committees and complete legislative histories for a number of important acts of congress. You can search the database in a number of ways, including name, subject, and public law number.

Additional Federal Policy Resources:

• Thomas: Best source for current legislative activity; from the Library of Congress
• GPO Access: Gateway to federal information, provided by the Government Printing Office
• FedWorld: Another online gateway to federal information

IV. Find books on your policy

To find books on you policy, search one or more of the following library catalogs :

• WSU Stewart Library Online Catalog (iPac) - catalog for WSU's library
• Utah Library Catalogs - links to catalogs for other libraries in Utah
• WorldCat - combined catalog of libraries from around the world

Be sure to check the shelves near any books you find; there may be other books with similar information nearby.

When you find a good book, check the bibliography to identify other books and articles on your subject.

If we do not own a particular book that you need, we will borrow it for you from another library through ILLiad (our online Interlibrary Loan system).

V. Find articles on your policy

An article database is a searchable database of references to magazine and journal articles. Some article databases also include the full-text of the article. Unfortunately, the major databases for Social Work do not include the full-text.

To find scholarly journal articles in Social Work, a great place to start is Social Work Abstracts. Other useful article databases are Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts and PsycINFO. Of these, only Social Work Abstracts and PsycINFO include full-text, but only for some articles.

Another good article database to use is Academic Search Premier. It contains thousands of full-text articles from hundreds of magazines and scholarly journals, including many in social work, sociology, psychology, and related disciplines. To limit your search to scholary journal articles in Academic Search Premier, click on the box next to Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals. You may also limit your search to articles available in full-text on the computer by clicking on the box next to Full Text.

To find newspaper articles and other general information on social policy, try Lexis-Nexis Academic, ProQuest Newspapers, or Newspaper Source. These databases provide full-text for hundreds of national, regional and local newspapers.

If the article is available as PDF Full Text in the article database you are using, download, email or print the article.

If the article is not available PDF Full Text, click on the Linked Full Text or Find Full Text buttons to see if we have it in full-text in another database.

If there are no Linked Full Text or Find Full Text buttons, or if it says that no full-text is available when you follow any of the links, check the library's EJournals list to see if full-text for the journal containing the article is available in another article database. This list will also tell you if we subscribe to the journal in print format.

If the article is only available in print, do a Journal Alphabetical search in our Online Catalog to identify the call number for the print journal. Recent issues of print journals are shelved by call number in the Current Periodicals area on the Middle Level of the library at the south end. Earlier issues are shelved by call number in bound volumes on the Top Level of the library.

If the article is not available either online or in print, use ILLiad (our online Interlibrary Loan system) to request a copy of the article from another library. This usually takes 2 to 4 days.

VI. Verify that the articles are scholarly

Use the following criteria to determine if the article represents scholarly research:

• Does it include a Methods section that describes such things as the independent and dependent variables; the population studied; and the methods used?
• Does it include a Literature Review that discussed previous research on the topic?
• Does it include a Results section that provides detailed information on the results of the research, including tables, charts, etc.?
• Does it include a Discussion section that discusses the results of the research?
• Does it include an extensive Bibliography or list of References Cited?

You can also use the general criteria found on the library's Scholarly vs. Popular Articles guide to determine if the article is indeed scholarly. You should also verify this with your instructor.

VII. Prepare your annotated bibliography

Cornell University has prepared a very useful guide on How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.

Need Help?

• Visit the Reference Desk or call  626-6415 and speak to a reference librarian
• Send an email to Dr. Kotter: wkotter@weber.edu
• Online reference help via email: Ask-A-Librarian Service