E-resources In Social Sciences

E-RESOURCES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES Miss. Shantashree S. Sengupta (Librarian & Head, Dept. of Library & Information Science, C.T.Bora College, Shirur, Dist.Pune,Pin-412 210.Maharashtra. Email:[email protected]) Miss. Gauri R. Kulkarni (Librarian, N.G.Naralkar Institute of Management & Research Studies, Pune-411 030. Maharashtra. Email:[email protected]) Abstract: In the last several years, many research studies have focused on how people use electronic resources or on their feelings about electronic and print resources in the library. Libraries of all sizes and types are embracing digital collections in order to provide speedy access to information. Electronic resources were initially available only in the scientific field of studies but with the tremendous information explosion and taking into consideration the benefits of eresources, there usage has also expanded into all the branches of Social Sciences field. The present article attempts to list the important e-resources in all the branches of social sciences along with a brief account of the collections and the types of sources covered by them.

Keywords: E-resources in Social Sciences, Online sources, Digital Collections, E-Resources in Anthropology, E-Resources in Economics, E-Resources in History, E-Resources in Education, E-Resources in Political Science, E-Resources in Public Administration, EResources in Psychology, E-Resources in Sociology, E-Resources in Library Science, EResources in Social Work, E-Resources in Women Studies. Introduction: Electronic resources are the online tools that index, abstract or provide electronic access to articles, books dissertations and other types of content. Electronic resources are defined as “online information resources including bibliographic databases, electronic reference books, search engines for full-text collection, digital collections of data and datasets.” They can be classified into two major areas1) Online e-resources 2) Offline e-resources 1)

ONLINE E-RESOURCES: • e-books • e-journals • e-mail • sms/mms • e-library • e-forum • e-learning • e-shops

• • • • 2)

e-dictionaries search engines meta search engines websites etc.

OFFLINE E-RESOURCES • CD-ROM based e-resources • Offline e-books • Offline e-dictionaries • MS-Office applications( PowerPoint Presentations) • Training Software • E-prompter • PDF Converter • E-resources on mobile devices

Libraries being an agency that selects, collects, organises, preserves, conserves and provides access to information on behalf of a user community have evolved over many hundreds of years to serve the information needs of their communities. Traditional libraries used to deal with paper based information-printed books, manuscripts, journals, pamphlets, maps, newspapers and so on. Major amount of information previously available only in paper format is now available in digital versions. The digital version may sometimes exist in addition to the paper format and sometimes instead of the paper format. Digital libraries are constructed, collected and organised by and for a community of users and their functional capabilities support the information needs and users of that community. Characteristics of E-Resources : 1) E-resources are potentially huge in number. 2) The resources are mostly unorganized. 3) E-resources do not require physical space for storage. 4) Constraints that are in physical libraries are barred in e-resources. 5) Time, space and cost constraints are not a problem in search strategies of e-resources. 6) Hyperlinks lead users quickly to the required information sources. 7) Accessing the back issues is possible in case of e-resources. Advantages of E-Resources: 1) E-resources can be used efficiently and it saves a lot of time. 2) Reduces lot of paper work. 3) The information provided is up to date and of good quality. 4) Provides facility to search across a wide range of journal articles and other links. 5) E-resources can be easily transferred from one place to another. Disadvantages of E-Resources: 1) The most common complaint found regarding e-resources is the discomfort of reading from the screen or poor graphic quality. 2) Access to e-resources requires knowledge of computer and internet skills. 3) The rate of information download depends on the availability of internet speed.

Although, initially e-resources were extensively used in scientific field, later on the use of eresources also became one of the most important ways of accessing information even in the field of social sciences. According to Merriam-Websters Online Dictionary, Social Science can be defined as “a branch of science that deals with the institutions and functioning of human society and with the interpersonal relationships of individuals as members of society.” The branches of social sciences include: 1) Anthropology 2) Economics 3) Geography 4) History 5) Political Science 6) Public Administration 7) Psychology 8) Sociology 9) Library Science 10) Education 11) Population Studies 12) Women Studies 13) Social Work E-Resources on the various branches of social sciences are listed in the following manner: 1)

E-RESOURCES IN ANTHROPOLOGY: Anthropology is the holistic discipline that deals with the integration of different aspects of the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Human Biology. It includes Archaeology, Prehistory, Physical or Biological Anthropology, Anthropological Linguistics, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology and Ethnography. It is an area that is offered at most undergraduate institutions. The word anthropos is from the Greek for "human being" or "person." a)

Anthropology Subject Portal (http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/research/portals/anth-m.html) Developed by the Cleveland State University, the portal covers various anthropological associations, institutions, museums, e-books, fellowships in anthropology, grants, guides, journals, research databases, study centres, web directories etc.

b)

National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au It provides direct link to the following web resources: b.1 Anthropological Index Online Royal Anthropological Institute: The Anthropological Index Online is based on the journal holdings of The Anthropology Library at the The British Museum (formerly Museum of Mankind) which receives periodicals in all branches of anthropology, from academic institutions and publishers around the world. References are available for periodicals from the 1970's to the present.

b.2 Anthropology Review Database (ARD) University at Buffalo: Department of Anthropology: ARD is an ever-growing, free, and fully searchable database of reviews covering the entire gamut of anthropological publications, including books, audiovisual materials, software & multimedia, exhibits, tourist sites, conferences, and on-line resources...Currently the database contains the signed, refereed reviews we publish ourselves, as well as links to those published in a number of online publications and sites. b.3 Anthropology: WWW Virtual Library The objective of the WWW Virtual Library: Anthropology is to provide a comprehensive listing of Internet resources relating to anthropology. This library serves as a starting point for research projects, networking opportunities, and general information pertaining to the broad discipline of anthropology. This library categorizes Internet resources that are specifically produced by anthropologists and also resources that are applicable to the various sub-fields of Anthropology. c) 2)

Portal: Anthropology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Anthropology )

E-RESOURCES IN ECONOMICS Economics is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. The word "economics" is from the Greek word oikos meaning "family, household, estate," and nomos "custom, law," and hence means "household management" or "management of the state." a)

http://www.rfe.org/ This guide is sponsored by the American Economic Association. It lists more than 2,000 resources in 97 sections and sub-sections available on the Internet of interest to academic and practicing economists, and those interested in economics.

b)

National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au It provides direct link to the following web resources: b.1 APECLIT - APEC Literature Database Informit: APECLIT is a bibliographic database that indexes published and unpublished items dealing with Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and related topics. Source documents include reference to monographs, journal articles, working papers, reports, conference proceedings and conference papers, with an emphasis on Australian material. Subject coverage includes economic cooperation, international trade, trade liberalisation, trade in particular products, trade law, industrial science and technology, human resource development, labour standards, energy resources, environment, telecommunications, transportation, and tourism.

b.2 China Academic Journals (Web) China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House: This resource indexes thousands of research level Chinese language periodicals published in the People's Republic of China. Areas covered include economics, politics, law, humanities, engineering science, agriculture, medicine, and electronics. b.3 CSI - Consumer Sciences Index Informit: CSI is an index to the Australian and international periodical literature on areas such as consumer economics, consumer education, fashion, textiles, home economics, craft, nutrition and health, housing and marriage. A list of the journal sources indexed is available. b.4 Encyclopedia of Law and Economics University of Ghent, Belgium: a broad-based collection of resources pertaining to economic and legal issues throughout the world showcasing a comprehensive index of searchable bibliographic resources, This site also includes abstracts of recent law and economics reviews. The Law and Economics Web Resources section features working papers, bibliographies, and mailing lists. In addition, the site links to law and economics academic programs, associations, and an array of relevant Websites. b.5 GIBLIN - Giblin Working Papers Database Informit: GIBLIN lists working papers (also known as research or discussion papers) held by the Giblin Economics and Commerce Library, University of Melbourne. Most of the titles emanate from major universities and research institutes in Australia, UK, Europe and the USA. Subjects covered include economics, econometrics, economic modelling and economic history, as well as actuarial studies, industrial relations, finance and international trade. Only papers published in the last five years are listed, as they have usually been published in conventional sources after that. A list of the papers indexed is available. b.6 RFE: Resources for Economists on the Internet This guide, sponsored by the American Economic Association, lists more than 900 resources on the Internet of interest to academic and practicing economists, and those interested in economics. Almost all resources are also described. b.7 SourceOECD OECD: SourceOECD, full text coverage beginning 1997, the online library of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, comprises monographs, periodicals, and statistical databases. Subjects include agriculture and food; education and skills; emerging economics; employment; energy;

enterprise, industry and trade; environment and sustainable development; finance and investment; general economics and future studies; goverance; international development; nuclear energy; science and information technology; social issues and migration; statistics sources and methods; taxation; territorial economy; transition economics; and transport. Major book and periodicals available in fulltext include OECD Factbook, Education at a Glance, OECD Economic Outlook and OECD Economic Surveys. b.8 VIBES: Virtual International Business & Economic Sources VIBES provides over 1,500 links to Internet sources of international business and economic information that are in English and available free of charge. b.9 WebEc: WWW Resources in Economics WebEc is an effort to categorize free information in economics on the Internet. c)

WebEc: World Wide Web Resources in Economics http://www.helsinki.fi/WebEc/ WebEc categorizes free information in economics on the WWW.

d) 3)

WWW Virtual Library in Economics http://www.helsinki.fi/WebEc/EconVLib.html

E-RESOURCES IN GEOGRAPHY Geography is that branch of social science that attempts to understand the earth in terms of physical and spatial relationships. a)

National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au It provides direct link to the following web resources: a.1 Directorate of Oceanography and Meteorology The Directorate of Oceanography & Meteorology is a component of the Royal Australian Navy's Hydrographic Force Element Group, incorporating the Australian Oceanographic Data Centre. The website contains a number of online data and mapping services. a.2 Geoscience Portal a.3 Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century Collection of historical, social, economic and political world maps and timelines. a.4 National Geographic Maps and Geography National Geographic Society: Access to map making tools to create online maps, as well as geographical and mapping information.

a.5 SAGE: Science and Geography Education SAGE is a bibliographic database that indexes popular journals on a broad range of subjects. It indexes journals in many disciplines, although is strongest in the area of science. Subject coverage includes: Agriculture, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Ethics, Geography, Natural History, Physics, Sustainability and Zoology. Most journals indexed are Australian but selected overseas titles are also included. 4)

5)

E-RESOURCES IN HISTORY History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the study of all events in time, in relation to humanity. a)

The World Wide Web Virtual Library http://vlib.iue.it/history/index.html

b)

RENFRO Library http://www.library.mhc.edu/e-resources/history.htm

c)

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection http://library.acaweb.org Access to the full text of over 1,180 scholarly electronic books of major importance to historical studies.

d)

Oxford Reference Online: History Search the full text of 28 Oxford sources including A Dictionary of British History, A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World History and A Dictionary of World History.

E-RESOURCES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. a) IPSA Portal (http://ipsaportal.unina.it/) It is an official publication of International Political Science Association which covers top 300 websites in Political Science. b)

RENFRO Library http://www.library.mhc.edu/e-resources/politicalscience.htm

c)

Political Science Resources on the Web http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/poliscinew.html Well-organized, searchable gateway with annotated links.

d)

Social Science Resources: Political Science http://www.socsciresearch.com/r12.html Annotated links to political science research sites.

6)

E-RESOURCES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION One of the main branches of political science, public administration can be broadly described as the development, implementation and study of branches of government policy. a) http://www.civilsocietyinternational.org/elctrnic/e-pbadm.htm Provides links to important electronic resources in public administration. b)

7)

8)

http://library.syr.edu/research/internet/public_administration/er.html Provides links to online databases of public administration.

E-RESOURCES IN PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. a) Psychology Virtual Library http://www.vl-site.org/psychology/index.html Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. b)

http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/research/portals/psy-m.html

c)

Psych Web (www.psywww.com ) This Web site contains lots of psychology-related information for students and teachers of psychology.

E-RESOURCES IN SOCIOLOGY Sociology is the study of society and human social action. It generally concerns itself with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, communities and institutions, and includes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. a)

Sociology Virtual Library http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/w3virtsoclib/ Provides links to various institutions, organizations, journals, research centres, databases and archives.

b)

SOSIG: Social Science Information Gateway (www.sosig.ac.uk) SOSIG helps to locate high quality sites on the Internet, which are relevant to social science education and research. The SOSIG Internet Catalogue offers access to thousands of high quality Internet resources, each selected and described by academic librarians and subject specialists.

c)

http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/ Intute is a free online service which provides access to the very best Web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists.

9)

E-RESOURCES IN LIBRARY SCIENCE Library Science comprises study of all branches of universe of knowledge. a) Directory of Open Access Journals (www.doaj.org) b) www.dlib.org c) Emerald Databases (www.emeraldinsight.com) d) Library & Information Science Abstracts (www.csa2.com) e) www.hwwilson.com f) DOIS: Documents in Information Science (http://dois.mimas.ac.uk) Articles and conference proceedings published in electronic format in the area of library and information science. g) Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science The second edition of this online encyclopaedia provides an overview of the library and information science field. New topics in this edition include competitive intelligence; decision support systems; digital library projects; electronic records preservation; ethical issues in information; online library instruction; telecommuting; software reliability; and the user-centered revolution.

10) E-RESOURCES IN EDUCATION Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgement and welldeveloped wisdom. a) Bibliographic Databases (UNESCO) http://www.unesco.org/unesdi/index.php/eng/biblio/tous.html Contains bibliographic databases in the subject areas of education, natural sciences, social sciences, culture and communication. b)

ERIC [Freely available web version] Education Resources Information Center (US): The ERIC database contains over a million bibliographic citations to a broad collection of education-related resources, from government reports to journal articles. Other materials include conference proceedings, project and program descriptions, curriculum guides, bibliographies, and more.

11)

E-RESOURCES IN POPULATION STUDIES Population studies is a study of a group of individuals taken from the general population who share a common characteristic, such as age, sex, or health condition. a) Population Studies Subject Research Guide http://www.hawaii.edu/emailref/subject_guides/population_studies/index.html b) Asian Population Studies (www.informaworld.com) c) http://www.sociosite.net/topics/population.php

12)

E-RESOURCES IN WOMEN STUDIES Women's studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. It often includes feminist theory, women's history, women's fiction, women's health, feminist art, feminist psychoanalysis and the feminist and gender studies-influenced practice of most of the humanities and social sciences.

a) b)

c)

13)

http://libr.org/wss/wsslinks/index.html The purpose of WSSLINKS is to provide access to a wide range of resources in support of Women's Studies. Women's Studies Database (www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies) The University of Maryland women's studies database, begun in September 1992, serves those people interested in the women's studies profession and in general women's issues. GenderWatch (http://libezproxy.syr.edu/) Provides full-text, international coverage of women's and gender issues, including family, childbirth, childcare, sexual harassment, aging, body image, eating disorders, and social roles. It also includes content on the impact of gender and gender roles on areas such as the arts, popular culture and media, business and work, crime, education, research and scholarship, family, health care, politics, religion, and sports. Covers 1970 to the present.

E-RESOURCES IN SOCIAL WORK Social Work is concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their human impacts. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social Work is the profession committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the enhancement of the quality of life, and to the development of the full potential of each individual, group and community in society. a) http://www.library.mhc.edu/e-resources/socialwork.htm Provides subject guides on such topics as aging and gerontology, child welfare, health policy legislation, reference resources for social work. b)

http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Services/lis/resources/socialwork.aspx This website provides information for studies and research, in both print and electronic resources on social work.

Some other websites providing information regarding e-resources in social sciences are: 1) Intute (http://www.intute.ac.uk) 2) Social Sciences Virtual library (http://www.vl-site.org/sciences/index.html) 3) e-SocialSciences (http://www.esocialsciences.com) 4) www.doaj.org 5) SOSIG (Social Sciences Information Gateway) www.sosig.ac.uk The availability of e-resources although is beneficial to the user to access and retrieve variety of information but it is very important to evaluate these resources and to select the most useful one. Evaluating resources is a crucial step in the research process. Whether in print or in electronic form, resources should be scrutinized and evaluated using a standard set of criteria such as the ones listed below: 1) Coverage 2) Scope 3) Currency 4) Audience & Purpose 5) Authority 6) Objectivity

CONCLUSION: E-resources with the help of its online and offline forms are available in the various branches of social sciences like anthropology, economics, political science, history, geography, education, social work, sociology, library science etc. Some of these e-resources are available free of cost while some require subscription. Due to the tremendous availability of e-resources, it becomes essential for the user to evaluate these resources before using them. Librarians conserve collections for the present and the future, acquiring, maintaining, and preserving items physically and making them available. Librarians with the decreasing library budget, limited staff and resources must get trained and re-trained to adapt to new challenges in providing information to users using e-resources. REFERENCES: 1) Agarwal, V. ( 2006). Virtual Collections in Digital Libraries. New Delhi: Rajat Publications. 2) Miller, Ruth. (2000). Electronic Resources and Academic Libraries:1980-2000 A Historical Perspective. Library Trends. 48(4):645-670. 3) http://www.lectureinfo.sekars.net/eers.pdf. (Accessed on 20/05/2009) 4) Tenopir, Carol. (2003) Use and Users of Electronic Library Resources (www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub120) Accessed on 20/05/2009 5) www.nla.gov.au 6) http://en.wikipedia.org (Accessed on 21/05/2009) 7) http://www.vl-site.org/sciences/index.html (Accessed on 21/05/2009) 8) www.sosig.ac.uk (Accessed on 21/05/2009)