Sociology Resources Guide

Princeton University Library has access to many resources that may be useful for your academic work. These include books, journal articles, datasets, video and audio material, and more.

There are three main tools you could use to identify literature relevant to your research project or class work. The Princeton University Library Catalog, Articles+ and specific Databases. All three could be accessed through the Princeton University Library page.

Use the Library Catalog to search library holdings for resources, in a variety of formats, on your topic of interest.

If you are off campus and don't have access to physical material, search could be restricted to resources that are available online only, by clicking the "Online" button under the "Access" menu. Searches could be conducted by keywords, title, author or subject (drop down menu). Search results could be narrowed down further using filters such as location, format, publication year, language and other preferences located on the left hand side of the Library Catalog page.

The Princeton University Library book holdings are extensive. However, if the material you are looking for is not available locally, we may be able to obtain it from a different institution through ArticleExpress, Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan.

Use Article+ to search for journal articles throughout the Princeton University Library holdings. Broad search could be conducted using keywords. Search could be modified and narrowed using the fields in the "Advanced" search page. To assure that your search results meet academic standards, make sure to check the "Scholarly & Peer Review" filter.

Use a specific database for  a search that may be efficient and targeted. The databases are curated and follow a more standard format and a careful process to decide what literature to include. The databases search could be narrowed by subject, using the "Choose Subject" drop down menu. Choosing "Sociology" will highlight Sociology related databases. However, if your research topic relates to another field, you may want to check that field's databases as well. For example, if you are researching a health related topic, you may want to consult health databases as well.

      Commonly used Sociology databases are:

•          Annual Review of Sociology
•          Sociological Abstracts