Resources for: Sociology

To find books:

1. Use Libraries Search (linked above) to find materials across University of Minnesota library collections and databases.
2. Enter your search terms into the large search box. If you know the title of the book enter it with quotation marks, e.g. "Braiding Sweetgrass"
3. Use filters to limit your results by material type to books.
4. Select the link for the title to see more information.
5. For e-books, select the link under View It.
6. For print books, you can:
   • Find it on the shelf: Go to the appropriate library with the call number (e.g. PR6068.O93 Z73 2009). 
   • Have it delivered to the front desk of a convenient library, your home, or residence hall (learn more about Get It): Under Get It sign in and click the Get It button. 
   • Request a book the library does not own: Use the request form for the digital delivery and interlibrary loan services. 

Whether you are searching in the library catalog, databases, Google Scholar, or even Google, creating a good search query will help you to find relevant information. 

Keywords

Keywords are single words and phrases that describe your topic. Before and during the search process make a list of keywords. Write them down. In sociology names of identity groups, sub-cultures, methodologies, sub-fields, and geographic locations can provide useful keywords. Refine the list of keywords as you go.

It may be necessary to use terms that are more or less broad depending on the type of information you are seeking. Books and reference materials tend to use broader terms for easier browsing. Journal articles and archives tend to be more specific in scope.

Creating a search query

Taking the time to create a search query with your keywords will help you get better results whether searching a library database or even Google. Below are some tips and examples to help you create a useful search string.

• Use quotation marks to search words as a phrase, ex. "social movements"
• Use the word AND to link together concepts, ex. "social movements" AND poverty
• Use the word OR to search for synonyms, ex. "social movements" OR activism

Subject headings

Each item on the bulleted list below links to the UMN library search by subject heading. Subject links appear in the catalog record for most items and can be helpful in narrowing a search. 

• communities
• criminology
• demography
• family
• migration
• political sociology
• recreation
• social conditions
• social movements
• social networks
• social sciences
• social sciences -- philosophy
• social stratification
• sociology of law

You can pair subject searches with keywords to get even more precision. Try it! Click one of the links above and adding a keyword in the second line of the search section at the top of the page.