LibGuides: Interdisciplinary Health Programs: SWRK 6030

YOUR PROPOSAL - ASSIGNMENT #3 - Where do I begin?!

Start with e) to develop your proposal.
What is the Canadian welfare policy area of your interest? Brainstorm possible ideas...
Did you hear any welfare policy related topics in the news recently?
If you are not sure where to start, search Canadian Business and Current Affairs with some keywords of your choice. You will be able to do a quick media scan.
As you search and browse records, keep revising and developing your keywords to reflect your focus.
What are your most workable search strategies (search strings)?
Based on your background information, define what welfare policy and what aspect(s) of the policy you are addressing.
Look for scholarly articles. Are they informative on your research?
As you gather more information, at some point, you might want to re-frame your focus so that you are sure to successfully develop the project.

Databases Suggested:

Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database (CBCA) This link opens in a new window
Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database combines full text and indexed content from all four CBCA database subsets (Business, Current Events, Education, and Reference). Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database includes over 540 periodicals and daily news sources (over 480 of which are Canadian), plus indexing to an additional 1,100 other titles (over 95% Canadian).
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Please Note: Scopus has limited functionality with Safari.

Scopus is a multi-disciplinary abstract and citation database which includes journal articles and patents. Scopus also tracks cited references, allowing users to search for subsequently published papers that cite an original research paper.
Social Work Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Simultaneous user limit: 8
Coverage: 1965 - present

Social Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of social work and human services journals. Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the database provides citations and abstracts dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems.

Canadian Social Research Links
The site is compiled and maintained by Gilles Séguin and keeps track of a wide range of sources that are useful when you are conducting Canadian public policy research.

NOTE:

As I mentioned in the class, ebrary platform offers Canadian Public Policy Collection until the end of December 2016. From 2017, the Collection is only available from desLibris (the link provided above). Searching ebrary platform is superior and easy to use. I strongly recommend students to search ebrary at the beginning of their research so you can tap into relevant policy discussions on your topic. All the titles included in the Collection are in public domain. As long as you identify the document of your interest, you can Google the title to locate the full-text.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR SEARCH STRINGS

Start with your keywords or concepts. Jot it down in a piece of paper.
Understand how you can combine your keywords with the use of boolean operator(s) to come up with search strings (search strategies).
Don't get struck in one search string if it doesn't work for you. Keep moving and exploring more keywords to develop better search strings and scoop manageable size of records for browsing.

Boolean Operators:

AND, OR, and NOT

Source: School District of Onalaska web site