Social and Political Sciences

School of Social and Political Sciences

Internet Resources

On this page:

Internet Web Resources for Sociology

These resources are useful if you want to find large collections of web resources on particular social science themes pre-arranged by topics or collections. The material is usually presented in categories according to the type of resource or its subject matter. (Sociosite below, is a particularly good example of this).

These collections of web resources have been put together so that you don't have to use a search engine. In some cases, particular resources may not be indexed by search engines at all. Therefore it is always a good idea to begin a search with such resources. The downside to using these collections is that individual sites may not be updated often, resulting in older material or even broken links. 'Newest' resources are often found by using search engines ( a search such as 'sociology resources') but explore these sites first. Sociosite is a particularly useful starting point:

Other useful collections of similarly arranged resources include:

Subject Directories

If you want to find resources on many social topics and themes, already put together without you having to use a search engine to find them, then along with the Internet Web Resources for Sociology above, these subject directories are useful.

The following resources share something in common with the more specialised social science resources above but are arranged in often broader categories and are often commercial sites. These days many search engines have such 'directories' of subject hyperlinks to particular topics such as 'family' or 'society'. Despite the broad nature of the subject bandings, there are excellent resources to be found and the material is usually up-to-date. Yahoo (see below) is perhaps the most famous example of a subject directory.

There are two major ways to use these directories:

Begin here if you need specific information or resources and have a good idea of what words or phrases to use in the search boxes. Remember that it can be time-consuming to use search engines if you are unsure what you are searching for. It may be better to use Internet Web Resources for Sociology or Subject Directories first since these Internet resources on social topics have already been found for you. Also bear in mind that search engines tend to index more commercial resources than academic ones, and more American sites than global.

To counter this, try using a search engine such as Alta Vista (see below) which in Advanced Search, can limit results in a particular way.
You will get better results with a search engine if you use '+' (= page MUST contain this) and '-' (= page MUST NOT contain this) joined on to the words you use. Also try to use SPECIFIC words, not general ones.

For a phrase, use double quotes around the words. Type in the most important word or phrase first. Example:
+image +identity +social +gender
+"social control" +deviance
+"social construction" +identity -political -child
A good starting point is to use a site that offers specialised search engines to suit your needs.

Try a specific search engine that indexes large numbers of resources such as:

  • Google
    This search engine has a simple, uncluttered interface and gives accurate results without having to use '+' or '-'. The 'Google Search' button is preferable for most searches. As with all search engines, try to consciously place the more important words first in the search box. Do read the Help file for Google. Don't limit your search to just Google. You should try at least 1-2 other single search engines listed below and a multisearch engine (see below).
    See also IT Assist notes written about Google.

  • AltaVista
    To get the best out of this search engine, you should use the ADVANCED Search link (found on the right hand side of the Alta Vista home page, under the Search button.
    Once you have selected the link, enter search terms using boolean 'and' 'or' 'and not' etc. A good starting point is to look for an important keyword in the TITLE of a web page document AS WELL AS a few keywords in the body of the document.

    Example
    sociology of the Internet and virtual communities

    Enter terms such as:
    title:sociology AND title:Internet AND virtual AND communities
    or
    title:Internet AND title:social AND communities AND cyber AND NOT (syllabuses OR colleges OR courses)

    So if you are looking for resources on social theory and/or social theorists, a good start would be to search in Advanced AltaVista for:
    title:social AND title:(theory OR theorists) AND title:resources
    or
    title:(social or sociologists) AND title:(theories OR theorists) AND (resources OR sites OR links)

    Using such advanced features of AltaVista, you can limit web pages found to those that are academic or from a geographical region.
    Example:
    title:social policy AND (domain:edu OR url:ac) AND (url:au OR url:nz OR url:ca)

    Notice the punctuation. This is important. No spaces between words and the ':' and boolean terms( AND, OR, AND NOT) are in upper case.

  • MSN.com
  • GO Network
  • Hotbot
  • Sociology Search Engines

Metasearch (Multisearch)Engines

Try a search using several search engines at once. This option may be quicker if you want to find fewer resources faster! It is particularly important to use conventions such as '+' for important keywords etc. as various search engines handle the keywords differently, leading to unexpected and irrelevant results.

Only a small number of results is initially returned for each engine so it may be useful to switch to the particular engine that seems to produce the most relevant results for your subject enquiry. Remember that advanced searching techniques are usually unavailable with this type of search tool.

Specialised Search Engines

Specialised search engines tend to index fewer web resources but may be particularly helpful for finding 'invisible web' material (material that the large commercial search engines don't index).

News Search Engines

Begin here if you are looking for national or international news stories on various social topics. The news sources below do not limit themselves to material sourced in newspapers. Rather, they feature news stories aired on radio and television (e.g. Search CNN) as well as published media such as magazines and government publications. Try several engines to get a feel for the type of information indexed and the sources used because each source tends to index different programmes or titles and may have a particular geographical bias. Note which engines index the particular topics you are interested in. Carefully note the source of the stories and make provision to copy and paste material into your word processor or save as a separate file. This will reduce printing costs when particular stories are lengthy etc.

On line newspapers

Begin here if you wish to access online newspapers or wish to take advantage of searchable archives of indexed news stories on particular topics. The archives are particularly valuable but a typical 'free access' archive is limited in terms of its backdated articles available. (Sometimes 'free' access is limited to the last fourteen days).

The New Zealand Herald has a 12 month archive while The Press has a six-week archive for instance. Bear in mind that material indexed in on-line newspapers is not necessarily a reflection of the major news stories in the printed edition and in some cases the on-line archive contains material not otherwise available in printed form.

Perhaps a strategy could be to run the same search terms in a particular range of newspapers (e.g. British newspapers) over a period in order to see how the topic is treated in the various media.

This database can be searched for the full text of articles found in New Zealand INL newspapers.

On line reference tools

The Internet hosts a vast number on online reference tools such as dictionaries, encylopaedias, currency converters, atlases, etc. The sites below are representative but by no means exhaustive.

General 'all-in-one' portals for reference sources

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Citing resources

Access these sites for help with citing journal articles, books and electronic sources such as web sites. It is wise to talk to your academic supervisor regarding which style is the preferred one for your department.

Evaluating resources

There are numerous sites that offer help with critically evaluating the quality of information found on the web. The sites below will offer, collectively, useful criteria for resource evaluation.

Miscellaneous resources

The links below are but a few which emphasise the diverse nature of the Internet as an information source.

  • Google - Newsgroups
    Newsgroups are communities that come together on the Web to share ideas and post messages on thousands of topics, many of them of relevance to Sociology and Anthropology. Do access the 'Groups Help' button on the Google Groups page below as it offers excellent help and advice about accessing groups and posting to them as well as discussing the important aspect of style etiqette with posting messages. (Click the 'Posting Style Guide' button on the left hand side of the Help page)

  • Watching What People Search For!
    This interesting link offers access to a number of sites that let you see 'live search displays' i.e. what people are actually searching for on the Internet or lists of searches conducted over the past week etc.