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Community Studies 102

Preparation for Field Studies

FTFS News and Research Review and Community Description

 

This site is intended to suggest resources for research on an issue that will be the focus of field study, as well as sources of information on the place and community in which the field study will occur. In addition, this site suggests resources that will benefit your organization, such as grant, government, news, policy, and scholarly information.

Starters

For access to many of these resources from off-campus, you must enter your student number (and have it registered with the Library) through "OCA."

The Library provides a host of valuable "How To" Guides, including ones on finding statistics, distinguishing between primary and secondary sources, using citation styles, and distinguishing between popular and scholarly journals.

For books and journal titles, search the Library catalog, CRUZCAT and the UC-wide catalog, MELVYL.

The Library provides Subject Guides in a huge number of fields. If the area of your work is not covered below, be sure to see if there is a subject guide that will help you.

 

Need help? McHenry reference librarians are skilled at assessing your research needs, identifying appropriate databases, helping you with search terms, and assisting you with access to online and interlibrary loan documents. Use your reference librarian!

In Person: M-Thu 9-9, Friday 9-5, Sat-Sun 1-5
By phone: 459-5171
By email: Ask a Librarian

Researching your social issue

Many of you have conducted research on your issue in a previous class. The main page for Community Studies research lists many of the resources that are relevant to CMMU topics. These fall generally into four categories:

1. Catalogs of books, films (VHS and DVD), and recordings. CRUZCAT, the UCSC catalog, should be your first stop. The UC-wide catalog, MELVYL, and the international WorldCat catalog will list additional material that can be requested and delivered to UCSC

Tips for searching book and article databases. In general, use a basic keyword search to find one or more documents related to your topic. In the descriptions of those documents, keep an eye out for alternate terms or system-created subject terms (also called descriptors) and do additional searches with those terms to fine-tune, limit, or expand your search as needed. Example: keyword "domestic violence japanese americans" suggests additional terms "asian americans" and "family violence."

2. Indexes of journal articles. Academic Search Complete and LexisNexis Academic are excellent general sources, although by now many of you have learned that for comprehensive coverage in a particular area, you must identify one or more subject-specific indexes, such as Psycinfo, Sociological Abstracts, Gender Watch, or PubMed (all are linked at the main CMMU page). Many of these indexes include the full text of some articles; almost all utilize UC-eLinks to connect you to online full-text if available, or the nearest print copy. Many also cover more than just articles, including books and chapters within books as well.

What database to use? Your topic may fall squarely within a major discipline such as sociology. However, a topic like "health issues of black women inmates in Texas" may require searching through databases related to medicine, women's studies, ethnic studies, criminology, and sociology.

3. Newspaper article databases. These are sometimes included in the article indexes above (notably Gender Watch and Ethnic News Watch). However, in general, you will need to consult one or more newspaper sites or newspaper indexes for comprehensive coverage in this medium. Your core newspaper sources are PROQUEST newspapers (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal), Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, and Newsbank (Access World News). By all means, use Google to identify newspapers in the community, region, or area relevant to your field study; however, the above indexes may serve you better if the newspaper site has a limited archive or an inadequate search tool.

Tips for searching Proquest newspapers: For NYT prior to 1999, Los Angeles Times prior to 1985, and WSJ prior to 1982 you will need to search the historical file for that title. Use "document type" to limit to substantial articles if your initial search results are too large.

Tips for searching Lexis Nexis: Change "anywhere in the document" to "headline" or "headline & lead paragraphs" to limit large results; under "select sources" limit your sources appropriate to your field study location.

Tips for searching Newsbank: Select your state or country and limit to publications most relevant to your field study; limit to "lead, first paragraph" or "headline" if desired; under "source types" you may add "magazines" or select from the list of types.

4. Government documents and statistics. While many of these are included in the catalogs and indexes above, much government information, especially statistical information, must be found through additional indexes and sites. The Library's Government Publications and Law page contains links to these resources, including American FactFinder (U.S. Census information), CQ Researcher (coverage of hot topics), and the CQ Public Affairs Collection. The very helpful "How to find statistics" guide lists such sources as Counting California and RAND California, as well as sources for other states and countries.

Researching your place and community

 

The Library maintains an excellent collection, in McHenry reference (2nd floor) call numbers D through F, of travel and reference materials that may provide good basic information on the location of your internship.

Newspapers (both in the sources above and at the newspaper sites) will be an invaluable source of information about your field study location.

Most communities, regions, and areas have excellent free web resources, ranging from city/county government sites (often with a wealth of online documents) to tourism and business-association sites (again with valuable historical and community information).

For statistics on population, health, education, economics, housing, and other features for your field study location, visit "How to find statistics" and follow links to an appropriate resource.

In addition, the following online and print resources have been helpful for this assignment:

Librarian's Index to the Internet -- California
California Cities, Towns, and Counties (McH Ref Desk  HA261.C295)
Lexis-Nexis World Almanac State reports
State profiles (McH Ref Desk HA203 .S74 1999)
County & City Extra (McH Ref HA203 .C68 2002)
Almanac of the 50 States (McH Ref Desk HA203.A5)
Economist Intelligence Unit Profiles and Reports
Virtual Library -- Regional Studies
Lexis-Nexis Country reports (CIA and reference sources)
 Amnesty International Library (full-text reports)
Human Rights Watch Publications and  General Reports  (full-text)
 UN Treaty Collection United Nations Treaty Series and Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (full-text)
 World Bank Development Economics Policy Research Working Papers (text)
Political handbook of the world (McH Ref Desk JF37.P6)
Europa world yearbook (McH Ref Desk JN1.E89)
World development indicators (McH Ref Desk HC59.15 .W656 McH Ref CD-ROM)
South America/Central America and the Caribbean (McH Ref Desk F1414.2.S68)
World factbook (CIA) (McH Ref Desk G122.W67

 

Resources during your field study

 

Virtually all of the resources related to research of your social issue will be useful during your field study. Remember that for most of them you will need to use OCA access when you are off-campus. While government and statistic information is freely available, your ability to access scholarly articles (and electronic books) that are not freely available on the web may prove a valuable asset to your work and your organization.

In addition, your field study may require that you research funding and legal sources, or you may wish to access discussion by other individuals involved in non-profit work:

Foundation Center -- your first stop for U.S. philanthropy. While UCSC is not able to subscribe to the Foundation Directory Online (many organizations and communities have access through their public library, city government, or other agency). Also available is information on such things as fundraising, proposal writing, and nonprofit management.
Foundations.org -- Northern California grant information
Grants for Non-Profits (Michigan State University)
Nonprofit Resource Center -- legal information and source
Idealist.org -- a forum sponsored by Action Without Borders

The following is just a sampling of the wealth of free web information that may be helpful to you and your organization during your field study.

Community Information Database Information on local nonprofits and social service agencies
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County
Help SCC -- Information and Referral for Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties
Volunteer Centers of Santa Cruz County
The Community Center Santa Cruz non-profits and events
CRUZIO Community Guide General links to the Santa Cruz community
Santa Cruz Local Information Library Research Guide
Center for Third World Organizing 
Associations Unlimited Detailed information on associations around the world
San Francisco Bay Area Progressive Directory
Idealist Search, browse 16,000 organizations by location/subject
WeCareToo Information and links to Not-for-Profits
Public Interest Clearinghouse Community education resources, funding
IGC Internet Including PeaceNet, LaborNet, WomensNet, etc.
The Carter Center International peace and health programs
Amnesty International Links AI projects and related organizations
Global Exchange
National Labor Committee
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Resources
National Center on Poverty Law
California Policy & Advocacy Organizations

 

 

 

Contact Paul Machlis machlis@ucsc.edu). Updated 4/08

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