COLLECTIONS:

Special Collections

University Archives

Collection Preservation

Research Collections:
Social Work Collection

Collection Overview
The collection supports teaching needs, advanced study and research through the doctoral level of the Graduate School of Social Work.  The collection is a distinctive and comprehensive set of materials focusing on professional social work education in the following areas: social work admininstration, social work profession, methods (theory and practice), social problems, social policy and planning, social welfare and service delivery systems, and social work research.  The collection has been developed to serve these areas with special emphasis on the individual, families, groups, organizations and communities.  Strengths of the collection are in the areas of clinical social work, social policy/planning and administration and research.  Other concentrations are child welfare, health and medical care, gerontology, forensic and occupational social work.

Selected Resources

In the Social Work Library

• Major works include:  The Altruistic Imagination: A History of Social Work and Social Policy in the United States; American Immigration and Ethnicity; Child Abuse: A Multidisciplinary Survey; Five Thousand American Families Patterns of Economic Progress; among others.

• Important sets:

  • National Conference on Social Welfare. Forum

  • National Conference on Catholic Charities, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting 1910-1962

  • Perspectives on Social Problems

  • Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction

  • Proceedings of the National Conference of Social Work

  • State of Corrections, Proceedings, ACA Annual Conferences

  • Social Work and Social Welfare

  • Urban Affairs Annual Reviews

• Extensive holdings in social work and psychological journal literature, many from the first volume through the current issue.  Examples: Psychology of Women Quarterly, Social Development Issues, Social Work.

• Reference works: DSM-IV, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Encyclopedia of Social Work, Measures for Clinical Practice, among others.

• Publications of major social work associations such as the Council of Social Work Education and the National Association of Social Workers.

On the Web (Restricted to the BC Community)

• Subject index to the literature: Social Work Abstracts.

• Other Relevant Databases: Alt-Health Watch, ABI/Inform, CINAHL, Dissertation Abstracts Online, ERIC, Education Index and Abstracts, Ethnic NewsWatch, Expanded Academic Index ASAP (InfoTrac), GenderWatch, HAPI (Health and Psychosocial Instruments), Health Reference Center (InfoTrac), HAPI Hispanic American Periodicals Index, Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe, MEDLINE, Mental Measurements Yearbook (Buros), PsycLit, Sociological Abstracts (Sociofile), Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science), Statistical Universe.

• Other databases in the social sciences: Subject Indexes to Online Databases: Social Sciences.

• Full text electronic journals relevant to the study of social work may be found at the following e-journal gateways: Emerald Library, JSTOR, Project Muse.

Research Guides
More information about available resources can be found in the following resources guides: Subject Guides to Social Work Research

Interdisciplinary Elements of Subject Area
The social work profession requires a foundation in a broad range of areas including psychology, sociology, psychiatry, education, economics, political science, law, nursing and allied health fields.

Formats and Types of Materials
The bulk of the collection is in print format although materials in electronic and audiovisual format are also collected.  Priority is given to materials which support the School's present curriculum as well as the research interests of the faculty and doctoral students.  Resources are concentrated in periodical titles, and theory and research level monographs.  Textbooks are purchased on a selective basis, and chiefly when requested for their reference and research value. Social Work Library patrons often use the O'Neill Library for multidisciplinary study.

Reference books, indexes and abstracts are chosen for their timeliness.  Masters theses and doctoral dissertations from the GSSW students are available in print form.  Government documents are purchased minimally since the O'Neill Library is the selective depository collection for Boston College. Videocassettes are purchased selectively based on curriculum requirements.

Languages
English is the primary language of the collection.  A course is offered in comparative social policy which includes a visit to either Cuba or China.  In order to support this course, a few books in Spanish and Chinese are purchased at the specific request of the faculty member in charge.

Geographic Areas (Subject Approach)
The primary emphasis of the collection is on social work practice in the United States.  Other geographic areas are collected selectively with the intent of providing a sampling of international social work literature.

Time Periods (Subject Approach)
Primary emphasis is on the twentieth century, particularly contemporary developments.  Usually nothing over ten years old is acquired unless it has historical significance for the curriculum.

Date of Publication
Collection development is concentrated on the acquisition of current imprints.  There are occasional retrospective selections.

Subject Areas Collected by Library of Congress Classification Number
The Social Work Library collection can be accessed online as part of BCAT, the Boston College Libraries' catalog. Check the location of an item to determine whether it is part of the Social Work Library collection. The following LC Classification numbers are collected at the Social Work Library: