Things to keep in mind while choosing a topic and doing background research:
-
What agencies, levels of government, or organzitions create policy on your topic?
Definitions of Policy:
-a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group"it was a policy of retribution"; "a politician keeps changing his policies"
-a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government"they debated the policy or impolicy of the proposed legislation"
from: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=policy [Accessed 10/19/2007]
-The settled method by which the government and affairs of a nation are, or may be, administered; a system of public or official administration, as designed to promote the external or internal prosperity of a state.
-The method by which any institution is administered; system of management; course.
from ARTFL Project: Webster Dictionary, 1913 http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=policy [Accessed 10/19/2007]
- Definitions of Administrative Law and Regulations:
Administrative Law- regulations and rules established by agencies formed by federal or state legislatures. The legislative statutes establishing these agencies give them their authority.
from: administrative law. (1998). In Mosby's Emergency Dictionary. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/5893923
Regulation- An agency is often delegated the power to issue regulations by the legislation that created it. Regulations must be made in accordance with prescribed procedures, such as those set out in the federal or a state Administrative Procedure Act. Federal regulations are first published in the Federal Register and later codified in the Code of Federal Regulations.
from: regulation. (1996). In Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/5178899
- Is the information you are looking for legislative (laws or bills), executive (regulations), or judicial (court decisions)?
- Legislation, including laws and bills, come from the legislative branch of government, which is Congress (House of Representatives and Senate for federal, Assembly and Senate for New York State).
- Regulations come from the executive branch of government, which includes government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.
- The judicial branch of government decides cases.
- Do you know if a law was passed or if a bill was introduced on your topic?
- If so, was it at local, state, or federal level? Federal laws and bills can be located online or in print in the Library. New York State laws can be located online or in print in the Library. Only currently active New York State bills are available online.
- When did the law pass or when was the bill introduced?
- Have you found a public law (PL) number or a bill number? You can use these to locate the text of the law or bill.
Databases and other sources for background information about legislative issues
Use databases to search for journal articles and information on your topic. You will retrieve citations. Some databases also offer full-text articles. Most of these databases are subscribed to by the library and are only available to SU faculty, staff, and students. If you are off campus, you will be asked to enter your last name and SUID number to log in to the database. *Enter all ten digits of your SUID, including the last one.*
Essential strategies for searching databases (from a SWK 662 webpage)
Using subject headings to search databases (from a SWK 662 web page)
Social Work related databases
Includes databases about: Social Work/Psychology/Sociology | Age Groups | Criminal Justice | Ethnic Groups | Gender | Health | Public Affairs
Highlights:
Social Services Abstracts [Cambridge] -- Bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,500 serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews.
News databases
Newspapers are sometimes the best resource for state or local information. These are SU Library subscription databases. You can find many recent newspapers, often the previous week or so, online for free. These databases allow to search articles from current and past years.
National Journal
The Week Magazine
National Public Radio- News and Notes
"From newsmakers to performers, health to finance, News & Notes explores fascinating issues and people from an African American perspective."
West's Encyclopedia of American Law 2nd ed. Detroit : Thomson/Gale, c2005 Call Number: KF154 .W47 2005 Location: Bird Library Reference, 1st floor.
This offers helpful overviews of the relevant federal laws on various topics.
Cornell University Law School - Wex
This offers overviews of relevant state and federal laws on various topics including adoption, child custody,
children's rights, divorce, food stamps ,
juvenile justice ,
marriage and
welfare.
Please contact Adina Mulliken for help finding citations to articles on your topic if needed.
Finding full text and Citing
I found some citations to articles that I want in a database. Where do I find the text?
Citation style guides
These links explain how to write citations and a bibliography for your paper. More thorough explanations are available in Publication manual of the American Psychological Association and other style guides, located at the Reference Desk in Bird Library.
Please Ask Us for help locating text of articles once you have a citation if needed.
Websites
State, Federal Government and United Nations
Administration for Children & Families (ACF)
Administers the state-federal welfare program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, national child support enforcement system, the Head Start program, and more.
- Child Welfare Information Gateway
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families . It includes statistics, case management guides, National Adoption Directory adoption, and more.
Administration on Aging (AOA)
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
A service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)
National Governor's Association Center for Best Practices
"This is a
consulting firm for governors and their key policy staff. The Center's mission is to develop and implement innovative solutions to public policy challenges." Includes extensive topics related to child and family welfare.
National Conference of State Legislatures - Human Services
US Dept. of Health and Human Services- Families and Children links
Youth Indicators: Trends in the Well-Being of American Youth
Statistical data relevant to youth: school, home, health, future, employment, values, violent crime, etc. (National Center for Education Statistics).
New York State Department of Family Assistance
Includes NY Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and the Office of Children and Family Services.
Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund)
Lists resources by theme or topic. Includes articles, statistics, and links to conferences, organizations. Includes online editions of the familiar UNICEF publication, State of the World's Children
Research organizations
Brookings Institution- Center for Children and Families
Chapin Hall Center for Children
Children Now
Economic Policy Institute
Focuses on the economic condition of low- and middle-income Americans and their families. It says that it "adheres to strict standards of sound, objective research and analysis, and couples its findings with outreach and popular education."
Electronic Policy Network
Handsnet: Linking the Human Service Community Online
Institute for Policy Research- Northwestern University
Institute for Women's Policy Research
National Issue Forums
National Issues Forums bring people together to talk about important issues. They range from small study circles held in peoples’ homes to large community gatherings modeled on New England town meetings. Each forum focuses on a specific issue such as illegal drugs, Social Security, or juvenile crime.
Office of Child Support Enforcement - Administration for Children and Families
Open Society Institute-Children and Youth
Also see their other issues and initiatives.
Pew Charitable Trusts - Foster Care Reform
RAND Corporation- Child Policy
Also see their other research areas.
Stateline
Funded entirely by The Pew Charitable Trusts as a public service. Staffed entirely by professional journalists. Includes timely tips and research material on state policy innovations and trends about state-level issues such as healthcare, tax and budget policy, the environment, welfare reform and other issues
Urban Institute
See the links for children, family/parents, and adolescents.
Professional organizations
Alliance for Children & Families (See the link for Public Policy/Advocacy.)
"The Alliance for Children and Families provides services to nonprofit child and family serving and economic empowerment organizations. Motivated by a vision of a healthy society and strong communities, we work to strengthen America’s nonprofit sector and through advocacy assure the sector’s continued independence."
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
"CWLA is an association of nearly 800 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist more than 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year with a range of services." See the links for special initiatives, advocacy, and research and data.
Children Youth and Family Consortium
Many excellent resources, including articles and other research material.
National Association of Social Workers- Children and Families
Additional web guides
SU Library - Social Work websites
Including substance abuse and statistics on disabilities and homelessness.
Summit Catalog
If you have the title of a legislative document, such as a report or hearing, you can check the Catalog to see if the Library has a copy. You may find background information on your topic through the Catalog, although newspapers, websites, and journal article databases tend to have more current information. Use the Catalog to find books, journal titles, videos, sound recordings, government documents, and other materials (NOT articles within journals) located in the libraries on the Syracuse University campus. You can renew library books and look at your library record by clicking Patron Info towards the top of the page.
Statistics
You may find statistics you want within journal articles, websites of relevant organizations or government agencies, or interviews of people in the relevant local organizations. The following are some guides to statistical sources that can lead you to government agencies and other statistical sources.
FedStats
Comprehensive guide to the statistics produced by over 100 U.S. federal government agencies. Search by subject, state, or agency name.
LexisNexis Statistical
Compiles statistics from many sources, covering many topics and geographic areas. It is suggested to click "Search Tables Research Edition" to start because this edition provides actual text of the data. If you find something in "Search Abstracts edition" that does not give you the full text, you may be able to get it in print on the third floor of Bird Library (Maps and Government Information Desk 443- 4176).
Statistical Resources on the Web
Very comprehensive organization of statistical sources. Organized into subject menus, broad to narrow. From the University of Michigan Documents Center.
Data Sources compiled by SU's Numeric Data Services Librarian
Includes:
City of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York and more .
The following are a few statistical sources relevant for social work:
Population Reference Bureau
Provides articles, datasheets, and reports on a number of topics including: Environment, HiV/AIDS, Population Trends, Reproductive Health, Marriage/Family, Education, Family Planning, Fertility, Health, Race/Ethnicity, Poverty, Migration, Youth, Aging, Mortality, and Gender.
National Center for Health Statistics
Offers alphabetical index of subjects (FASTATS A to Z); also searchable using NCHS Web Search. Maintained by the Centers for Disease Control.
Condition of Education
Statistics on all aspects of education in the United States, from the National Center for Education Statistics. See also National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
U.S. Census Bureau: The Official Statistics
Data from U.S. population and economic censuses. Searchable by keyword(s), place name, map location. See also City of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York
The Green Book
A committee print of the House Ways and Means Committee. Provides statistical data on major entitlement and social programs, e.g. Medicare, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), etc.
Official title = Background material and data on major programs within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means.
Also available in print:
Y 4.W 36:10-4/ Bird-Govt Info-USA, 3rd floor
Legislative Resources
Learning about the Federal Legislative Process
Legislative Research: A Web-Based Bibliographic Instruction Program
This will give you an overview of the research process for federal legislative documents. It is maintained by the Documents Center at the University of Michigan.
Definitions of Common Versions of Bills
Accessing Federal Legislation and Government Documents
LexisNexis Congressional
Library subscription database includes comprehensive index to bills, hearings, reports, committee prints, public laws, etc. Many items in full text. For other items, use SuDoc or accession numbers to find publication on shelves or in fiche cabinets (most on 3rd floor Bird Library).
To find laws chronologically as they were passed, look for Public Law.
To find legislation integrated with other legislation on relevant subjects, look for US Code. This version of the law is sometimes referred to as "consolidated law". It is divided by title, chapter, and section numbers.
If you are interested in additional documents created during the legislative process, such as hearings, debates and reports, choose Legislative history.
Thomas
Freely available government website includes the Congressional Record and full text legislation from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. THOMAS also provides summaries (not full text) of legislation back to 1975 (94th Congress). Includes bill summaries and status, committee information, roll call votes, historical documents, etc. A service of the Library of Congress.
US Code Classification Tables
" These tables show where recently enacted laws will appear in the United States Code and which sections of the Code have been amended by those laws. The tables sorted in Public Law order may be used to identify the sections of the Code affected by a particular law. The tables sorted in Code order may be used to determine whether a particular section of the Code has recently been amended. The tables only include those provisions of law that have been classified to the Code. The text of recently enacted laws may be found through the Library of Congress Thomas web site."
Learning about US State Legislative Processes
Guide to Compiling NY State Legislative History from the New York State Library
State Legal Resources on the Web for all states. Fewer documents are available on the web for states than for the federal government. Some print sources for New York laws are available on the 3rd floor of Bird Library, as listed below.
Accessing US State Legislation and Government Documents
Findlaw
Links to the information each state makes freely available online. Some states post more than others.
New York Consolidated Laws Service-Statutory Code Lexis Nexis
This "contains the statutory code for the State of New York as published in the compilation entitled New York Consolidated Laws Service. It includes all laws of a general and permanent nature, as enacted by the New York Legislature."
New York Advance Legislative Service Lexis Nexis
"This file contains the full text of laws enacted during a legislative session." "Updated continuously throughout the legislative session."
To get to New York Advance Legislative Service:
Click on the Sources tab
Enter "New York Advance Legislative Service" in the "Find a source" box
Click "New York Advance Legislative Service"
Click the OK-Continue button
NY - New York Consolidated Laws Service, Constitution, Court Rules & ALS, Combined Lexis Nexis
This "contains documents from the compilation entitled New York Consolidated Laws Service (Statutes, Constitution and Rules) and the New York Advance Legislative Service.
The New York Advance Legislative Service (ALS) contains the full text of all laws enacted during a legislative session. This group file includes only those ALS documents that have been enacted since the code was last updated."
Laws of New York
Select Laws of New York from the menu. That page will include consolidated and unconsolidated laws, Court Acts, Rules, and miscellaneous (constitution, NY City charter and administrative code). Unconsolidated laws are any laws passed by the legislature that are not part of the Consolidated Laws. They can include court acts, the NY City Charter and Administrative Code, miscellaneous laws that do not fit into the Consolidated Laws, and other special laws.
NY State Assembly bill search
Freely available government website allows searching by bill number or keyword; current bills only (latest amended version). Results may include summary, action, votes, memos; plus full text of bill.
McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated (print source)
New York's statutory code, compiled into 91 subject areas. Pocket parts (located inside back covers) include text of very recent legislation. Table volumes show major revisions and trace section changes. Also includes separate general indexes and popular names table. Cross-references to New York Official Compilation of Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR). Source notes provide chapter numbers and year of passage. Historical notes show law's development and may reference corresponding Session Laws.
KFN 5030 1939 A324
Government Information Reference
3rd floor, Bird Library
McKinney's Session Laws of New York (print source)
Session laws are printed in chronological order, exactly as they were passed. Also includes related reports and memoranda. "Legislative findings and purpose," if available within the Session Law, express the official intent of the legislation. They do not show subsequent appeals or amendments. Pamphlets contain subject indexes and cumulative tables indicating which sections of the Consolidated Laws are affected by new legislation.
KFN 5025 M3
Government Information Reference
3rd floor, Bird Library
NY State Assembly Committees Commissions and Task Forces
See the Committees on Aging, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Children and Families, Health, Insurance, Mental Health and others. The links for Public Hearing Calendar, Press Releases, and Legislative Reports may also be of interest.
NY State Library Digital Collections
To browse legislative resources, click the browse button, New York State Government Publications, Legislative Branch, then the chamber and and files you want, such as Legislature (Assembly) and New York State Assembly Committee on Health. Text of some public hearings, committee reports, testimonies and more are available. Be sure to disable popup blockers to see the documents.
For more information, including some print sources, see SU Library's Government Information page.
Please contact Adina Mulliken for help with legislative resources if needed.
Journal Submission and Writing Resources
Peer review The process used by publishers and editors of academic journals to provide a chance for scholars to examine and critique a paper or monograph before it is published to help ensure its integrity and veracity.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Timothy Darvill. Oxford University Press, 2002. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Syracuse Univeristy. 23 September 2005 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t102.e3052>
Evaluating websites
Evaluating web material
This site gives an explanation of criteria for evaluating material from the free Internet.
JCR: Journal Citation Reports contains information about impact factor and other measures of a journal's influence. Only includes journals that ISI has ranked. Excludes some subjects. Use sources below for other subjects.
Suggestion:
Click Journal Citation Reports
Click
JCR Social Sciences Edition
Click Submit
Choose a subject category to view a list of journals on that topic.
Magazines for Libraries includes information about journals and indexing; available at E.S. Bird Library Reference Desk; Call Number: REF Z6941 .K2
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory includes information for specific journal titles about:
- whether a publication is refereed
- circulation rates for print issues (but not online)
- publication frequency
- reader demographics of some journals
- description and reviews of some journals
Journal descriptions, acceptance rates, impact factors, refereed/peer-reviewed listings
The following titles include information about journals and publishers, including acceptance rates. As you can see, these sources are not published very recently. You may use these sources to identify some journals, but it is best to visit the journal's website or contact the publisher to find out the current circulation rates and acceptance rates.
- An Author's Guide to Social Work Journals. Location: E.S. Bird Library Reference; Call Number: REF HV85 .A93 1997
- A guide to social work journals : journal information, ratings & rankings.
Montreal, QC : McGill University, Centre for Applied Family Studies, c2001. Location:
Bird-Reference, 1st Floor; Call Number: HV1 .R69 2001
- Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Curriculum and Methods. 6th ed. Beaumont, TX: Cabell Pub. Co., 2002. Location: E.S. Bird Library Reference; Call Number: REF Z286.E3 C322.
- Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Psychology and Administration. 6th ed. Beaumont, TX: Cabell Pub. Co., 2002. Location: E.S. Bird Library Reference; Call Number REF Z286.E3 C323.
Syracuse University Writing Center
