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*Social Work Research

This guide provides essential resources and strategies for conducting effective social work research, from developing a research question to locating and evaluating relevant scholarly literature.

Searching for Books

Before beginning your search, first select the SuperSearch Option you want to use when you search:

  • SuperSearch: Searches the physical collection and ebooks 
  • Everything: Searches most of the physical collection and select databases
  • Course Reserves: Searches the collection of books at the circulation desk

Once you have selected the correct option, your searches should provide you with more helpful resources.  

Beginning Your Search

  1. In SuperSearch's Advanced Search, in the search bar, you can type in the book title or keywords, subject topic, or author in the search box. Then, in the Material Type, click on the drop-down menu and select Books. This option searches for both physical and ebooks. 
  2. Then, click on the green magnifying glass search option to search for possible books and ebooks.

Screenshot of the SuperSearch Advanced search page with the beginning of an example search. To highlight where to type in keywords, a highlight box and a directional arrow are pointing to the first search bar, which has the book title: Digital Feedback in Higher Education as an example key phrase. On the right side of the search menu, to show the location of the Material Type dropdown menu is highlighted box and is pointed to by a directional arrow. For the example search, the Material Type is set to search for Books. The last highlight box and directional arrow are located in the bottom right corner, around the Search button.

Refining the Search Results

  • If you want to view only physical or only ebooks, in the left-hand toolbar, go to the Show Only section and click on the checkbox area for either the Online at CSU-Pueblo or Print (Fort Collins & Pueblo) option.
  • If you are looking for physical books, you can also filter the results to a certain library. In the Library section, click on the checkbox for a certain library.
  • An additional helpful filter is the Publication Date, which will let you adjust the date range of when the book was published. This can be useful if you are looking for books from a certain timeframe. 
  • Then, at the bottom of the toolbar, click on Apply Filters.

Screenshot from a completed SuperSearch example search for material connected to the book title or key phrase Digital Feedback in Higher Education. To highlight how to filter the results, a directional arrow is pointing to the left-hand toolbar, and a highlight box is around the Show Only, Library, and Publication Date sections. In the Show Only section, there are check marks next to the filters: Online at CSU-Pueblo and Print (Fort Collins and Pueblo). In the Library section, there is a check mark next to the CSU-Pueblo Library. Finally, in the Publication Date section, the entered dates are 2020-2025. To apply the filters to the results, the Apply Filters button is at the bottom of the left-hand toolbar and has a highlight box and directional arrow pointing at the location. The search will then locate books and ebooks that have been published between 2020-2025. If the search locates a physical book, it would only list books in the CSU-Pueblo library.

Accessing a Book or eBook

  • The search results will indicate at a glance if an ebook has Online Access or if a physical book is Available at the CSU-Pueblo Library or the Morgan Library. If you want additional information, you can click the book title.
  • To access the full text of an ebook, scroll to the section called View Online. In this section, it will list the databases that have the book's full text.
  • For physical books, scroll to Find a Copy, which will list which library has the book and shelf location. 

A screenshot of an example ebook’s information tab that has two highlight boxes with directional arrows. The first highlight box and directional arrow are at the top of the screenshot, around the book title, author, publication date, and the database link to access the full text of the ebook. The second highlight box and directional arrow are in the middle of the screenshot, around the View Online section. This section shows which database has access to the full book. If the example were a physical book, instead of a section titled View Online, it would be titled Find a Copy and list the physical location of the book.

  • To help you provide the reference citation for the article, scroll to the Send To section and click on Citation. Remember to double-check this citation because there might be some mistakes. 

Special Note: Although the Morgan Library is at the Fort Collins campus, the book can be brought down to the Pueblo campus.  

A screenshot of an example book’s information tab shows three highlight boxes and directional arrows pointing to locations that provide reference citations for the book. To use this feature, go to the Send To section and click the Citation button, which is marked with a quote symbol above the text citation. To indicate this, the citation button in the screenshot is surrounded by a highlight box and a directional arrow. After clicking the button, a new menu appears below the Send To section buttons. On the left side, there is a list of popular citation styles: MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard, with a highlight box around the current selection. On the right side, SuperSearch displays the generated citation, which varies depending on the selected style. To copy the citation, click the button labeled 'Copy Citation to Clipboard' located beneath the citation, which is also highlighted in the screenshot.

The EBSCOhost eBook Collection Database

Accessing an eBook

Once you have identified an eBook you wish to access:

  • Viewing Options: Click on the title of the eBook. This will take you to the detailed record page. On this page, you will find an "Access Options" dropdown menu. From here, you can typically choose to read the eBook online in either PDF Full Text or EPUB Full Text format. PDF is often preferred for retaining original formatting, while EPUB is generally more adaptable for reading on various devices.
  • Full Download (Offline Access): For offline reading, many EBSCO eBooks offer a "Full Download" option. Be aware that this typically requires a free My EBSCOhost account and the installation of Adobe Digital Editions software due to certain restrictions. Downloaded eBooks are usually available for a limited borrowing period.
  • Chapter Downloads/Printing: Most EBSCO eBooks allow you to download or print individual chapters or specified page ranges. Look for options within the online reader or on the detailed record page regarding "Chapter Download" or "Print/Save Pages." Pay attention to any stated page limits.
  • Citation Tool: EBSCO provides a citation tool to generate citations in various styles. After clicking on the quotation mark icon, the database will generate a reference citation in the citation style you can select. Remember to double-check these citations since they are auto-generated.

Screenshot of the ebook Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors information page. On the left-hand side is EBSCO’s My dashboard and Research tools, both are features that can be useful when searching in any EBSCO database. In the middle of the screen is the title of the ebook, followed by the publication date, the database where the ebook is located, and the authors. Then, a red highlight box is around the Access options and Download box on how to read the ebook. Displayed is the option to open the ebook as a full PDF text or as a full EPUB text. Below the Access option section are certain permissions that are allowed. From the visible list, the ebook can be accessed, and EBSCO allows for 60 pages to be downloaded, printed, emailed, or saved. On the right side of the screen is an option to bookmark the ebook, download it to a folder, or download the ebook. Finally, there is a red highlight around a quotation mark that will provide the reference citation. Double-check the citation to confirm that citation is correctly written. Below these icon options is an image of the book cover, and then the beginning of the table of contents.

  • Chapter Downloads/Printing: Most EBSCO eBooks allow you to download or print individual chapters or specified page ranges. Look for options within the online reader or on the detailed record page regarding "Chapter Download" or "Print/Save Pages." Pay attention to any stated page limits.

Screenshot of the ebook Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors information page. On the left-hand side is identical to the earlier screenshot by displaying EBSCO’s My dashboard and Research tools. In the middle of the screen are the additional permissions for the ebook. In addition to being able to download, print, email, or save 60 pages, the ebook can be downloaded into the Adobe Digital Editions (a free program), and the readers are not allowed to copy and paste any text. All these features are highlighted by a rex highlight box. On the right side of the screen is the Table of Contents for the ebook.

The ProQuest eBook Central Database

Accessing an eBook

On the eBook's Detail Page, you'll find options for access:

  • Read Online: Most eBooks can be read directly within your web browser. This option provides an online reader with features like searching within the book, highlighting, and adding notes.
  • Download Chapters/Full Book: ProQuest eBook Central often allows you to download individual chapters or, for some titles, the entire book for a limited period. Usually, eBooks have certain restrictions on downloading a copy, such as user limits or download durations, which are indicated on the book's Detail Page.
  • Citation Tool: ProQuest provides a citation tool to generate citations in various styles. After clicking on the "Cite Book" link, the database will generate a reference citation in the citation style you can select. Remember to double-check these citations since they are auto-generated.

Screenshot of the ebook Education in North America information page. Immediately under the title of the book, the authors are listed, followed by the availability information. A red highlight box is around the availability information that lists: the option to read the ebook online, download the ebook, download a PDF of a chapter, print a set number of pages, and save a set number of pages as a PDF. These are the options of how to access ebooks in the ProQuest database. On the left side of the availability section is an image of the book cover, two buttons that will either let you read the ebook online or download the ebook. Then there is another red highlight box around the cite book link, which will provide a reference citation for the ebook. Do check the citation for any errors. On the right side of the availability section are additional citation details about the ebook, such as the edition, publisher, and series.

Screenshot of a blank Prospector advanced search page. To complete an advanced search, you can enter the keywords in the top two search bars. These search bars allow you to adjust the Boolean Operators and search using keywords, title, subject, and author. Under the search bars, you can select the format of the item, language, collection, and publication timeframe. Once you have entered all the search terms and selected the narrowing options, under the narrowing options on the left side, click on the search button to search.

Using Prospector for Interlibrary Loans

Prospector is a regional catalog of public and special libraries across Colorado and Wyoming, with access to over 20 million books, journals, DVDs, CDs, videos, and other materials held in these libraries.

Beginning Your Search

First, search in SuperSearch to make sure the item is not already available in the library and ready for you to check out immediately. If the item is not available in SuperSearch, visit "Prospector" through our link. In the main search bar, you can search by the title, author, keywords, or subject. While reviewing the search results, note that Prospector may display records for electronic resources; however, we request only physical items.

Physical item requests typically arrive within three to five days, though some may take longer. If you're requesting a copy of an item (like an article or book chapter) through Interlibrary Loan, it could arrive as quickly as one day. Please factor in this waiting period when making your request.

Screenshot of the Prospector’s Basic search page with the beginning of an example search. To highlight where to type in keywords, a highlight box and a directional arrow pointing to the single search bar. For an example search, the book title Guide to Digital Accessibility is used as a key phrase. Next to the search bar is a circular button that has an arrow inside that is pointing to the left, which is the search button.

Refining the Search Results

When viewing search results, click on the title of an item to see its detailed record. Pay attention to the availability status at the owning libraries. This will indicate if a library has copies that are currently available for request.

  • Publication Date: In the “Refine by:” toolbar, one option is to narrow your results by publication year. In the boxes under “Publish Date,” enter the publication timeframe you want to narrow the results to and then select “apply.”
  • Adjusting the Format: To help filter the results to a certain format in the “Refine by:” to can adjust what format is in the search results. If you still have a large number in the search results, consider adding another keyword or adjusting the publication timeframe.
  • Reference Citation: To help you provide the reference citation for the item, under the “Request it” link is a quote ( “ ) icon, which provides the citation. Please double-check this citation, as there may be mistakes. 

Screenshot of the Prospector search results of using the key phrase guide to digital accessibility. Next to all the located material is a left-hand bar that has several narrowing features. A red highlight box and directional arrow highlight the top three options; the most helpful limiters are Format and publication date. The format option helps narrow the results to the type of resources you focus on, such as books, DVDs, or CDs (music). With the publication year, you can narrow the results to a certain timeframe the resources were published.  This screenshot also has a highlight box under the “request it” button that is around several icons, which is for one of the search results. It highlights that one icon is a quotation mark, which provides the reference citation for that resource.

Requesting an Item

  1. Once you've identified a physical book or other material you wish to borrow, look for the "Request Item" that is usually located near the title of the item.
  2. A pop-up window will appear, prompting you to select your institution from a drop-down list. Scroll down to select “Alliance – Colorado State Univ – Pueblo.”

Screenshot of an item displayed in Prospector that shows the item’s citation information, the options to “request it,” access the material, add the details to an email list, email the details, and provide a citation. The page also lists which libraries have the item, and outside of the screenshot, it gives additional details such as the edition and a description. On the right side of the screenshot, there is a pop-up window, which appears when you click “request it,” which has a red highlight box around it. After clicking on “request it,” it begins the request process by first asking which institution you are affiliated with. Another red highlight box is around the pop-up window’s dropdown menu, where you need to select “Alliance – Colorado State Univ – Pueblo,” then click on “Submit above information.”

  1. Then enter your name and NetID number (include a capital C or LID), which sets your preferred pickup location to the library's front circulation desk.
  2. After selecting "Submit," your request will be placed. When a Prospector item arrives at the library, you will receive an email notification that the item is ready for pickup.

Screenshot of Prospector in the background with two pop-up windows. The left pop-up window shows the second step of requesting a Prospector item by asking for your name and NetID. When entering the NetID, remember to enter a capital C. Then click on “Submit.” There is then a directional arrow pointing to the right pop-up window, which displays that the request process has been placed and states that when the item arrives, it can be picked up at the front desk in the CSU Pueblo University Library.

 

Screenshot of a blank WorldCat advanced search page. The advanced search first presents the “Search for” section, which contains three search bars for entering search terms. The first dropdown menu lets you select the search index used by WorldCat, followed by blank search bars where you can input your search terms. Lastly, there are dropdown boxes that allow you to change the Boolean Operator. The next section is “Filter by,” which offers options to search for open-access material, adjust the format type, publication years, language, audience (juvenile or non-juvenile), and content type. The last section is Additional tools, which includes options set by the library to find material outside of the CSU-Pueblo Library. Although not in the image, at the bottom of the page, there's a reset button to clear the fields and the search button.

Using WorldCat for Interlibrary Loans

WorldCat is a massive catalog of the holdings of libraries globally. It's your go-to resource for discovering a wide range of materials and initiating Interlibrary Loan requests for items not available at CSU-Pueblo.

Beginning Your Search

Begin by navigating to our WorldCat link on our research guides and “Databases A-Z" list. At times it you may need to enter your NetID (include the c) and password before accessing WorldCat. In the search bar, you can enter search terms such as keywords, title, author's name, or subject terms. If you have multiple search terms, you can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to narrow the results. To search using the Advanced Search option. First, click on the "Advanced Search" link under the Search button. With the advanced search option, you can search in specific fields (for example: "Title," "Author," "Subject"), and apply narrowing filters such as publication date range or format.

Screenshot of a WorldCat advanced search page. The advanced search first presents there is a red highlight box that surrounds the “Search for” section and the three search bars for entering search terms. As an example search, the first dropdown menu is set to search for the keyword with the search term history. The second dropdown is also set to keyword with education as the search term. For the “Filter by” section, no adjustments have been made to the open-access material option, format type, publication years, language, audience, and content type. However, a red highlight box surrounds that section to highlight it as a tool that can help narrow the search results.

After entering the search terms, adjusting the search index, Boolean Operators, and setting the filters, at the bottom right of the search page is the Search button that will begin the search process. 

It is important to remember that physical item requests typically arrive within three to five days, though some may take longer. If you're requesting a copy of an item (like an article or book chapter) through Interlibrary Loan, it could arrive as quickly as one day. Please factor in this waiting period when making your request.

Screenshot of the WorldCat advanced search page, showing the Additional Tools section. In this section, the CSU-Pueblo Library uses default settings to search the WorldCat database, sort results by Best Match, group editions and formats together, and search only in libraries worldwide. On the right side of the screen is the Reset button, which matches the background color, and the Search button is surrounded by a red highlight box.

Refining the Search Results

Your search results will display items from libraries globally. The left toolbar provides narrowing options that can help adjust the search to locate the item.

  • Relevance Ranking: Results are typically ranked by relevance.
  • "Libraries Worldwide": This key feature will indicate how many libraries hold the item and, importantly, which ones are closest to your specified location (often automatically detected, but you can adjust your zip code).
  • Format Filters: On the left-hand side of the results page, utilize the filters to narrow down your results by Format ("Book," "eBook," "Article," "Journal," "Audio," "Video," "Archival Material"). This is an important filter since WorldCat contains records for many types of resources.

Screenshot of the search results from a WorldCat search for the keywords history and education. In the center of the screenshot are the search results showing two print books and their citation information. On the left-hand toolbar are the narrowing options to adjust the search results display (ungroup editions and formats), expand the search (to include book reviews), select if the items are in a certain library (including any results in the CSU-Pueblo library), and select the format. The format dropdown option has been expanded with a red highlight box to highlight the different types of formats that can help narrow the search results.

  • Publication Date: Refine by Year or a custom date range to focus on more recent scholarship or historical materials as needed.
  • Subject/Author: Use the Subject and Author facets to explore related terms or to see more works by a particular author.

Screenshot of the search results from a WorldCat search for the keywords history and education. In the center of the screenshot are the search results showing a print book with the citation information, and incomplete sections of two other books. The entire left-hand toolbar has a red highlight box that surrounds the display narrowing options of the publication years, the author/creator, and the subject terms. Each option also has a directional arrow pointing to them, indicating that they are helpful options that can help narrow the search results.

Requesting an Item

Once you've identified a physical book or other material you wish to borrow, from the page that provides all the details on the item, you can:

  1. Gather the citation information by clicking on the box that has a quotation mark ( " ) followed by "Cite." WorldCat will then generate a reference citation in the citation style you can select. Remember to double-check these citations since they are auto-generated.
  2. Begin the Interlibrary Loan Request by clicking on the "Request Item through Interlibrary Loan" button link located on the right side of the screen.
  3. This will then have you log in to our Interlibrary Loan system and display the request form.

Screenshot of a selected print book. In the middle of the screen, WorldCat first displays an image of the book cover, citation information, and then three buttons: cite, share, and save. There is a red highlight box surrounding the cite button since it provides a citation for the resource, with the share button, which lets you share details of the book, and the save button to save the book to a list. The cite button has a red highlight box around it to Lower on the screen is a physical description of the book, the connecting Library of Congress Subject Headings, which database has this result, the ISBN, and a unique identifier number. On the right-hand toolbar is a box titled Access Options, which provides a dark button that says Request Item Through Interlibrary Loan. A red highlight box surrounds the Access Options since this is the first step to request an item.

  1. Review and Submit the Form: Since the ILL request form will often be pre-populated with information from the WorldCat record. It is important for you to review the details to make sure the needed boxes have information, and finally, at the bottom of the form, click Submit request.
  2. When the requested item arrives, you will receive a notification to pick the item up from the circulation desk.  

Screenshot of the Interlibrary Loan request form in WorldCat. The main screen has boxes asking for citation information, which is usually filled in from the information from the selected resource; however, some details may not be completely autofilled. To help with the requesting process, try to fill in all the citation information that the form needs, especially if you are searching for a certain edition or volume. At the bottom of the form is the Submit request, which will place a request for that resource.

Finding Books in the Library

SuperSearch catalog entry for book

The First Line Describes the Subject

The first letter indicates a vast subject area (and the floor the book is located), which becomes more focused by adding a second and possibly a third letter.  

BF -- The broad subject is: Psychology

The Second and Third Lines Describe the Topic and Sub-Topic

The second line of a call number can be a whole number, anywhere from 1 to 9999, but if it has a decimal, it further defines the topic.

1576 .B79 -- The main topic and subtopic focus on: Witchcraft

 

The Fourth Line Displays the Year of Publication

Publication dates are shelved in chronological order.

2003 -- This book was published in 2003

If there is a Fifth (or Last) Line it Displays a Volume or Copy Number

If a call number has a fifth (or final) line, it indicates a specific volume (vol. 1) or copy (c. 1). 

The University Library has arranged the subjects and categories of books available on each floor:

  • 6th Floor: General Works, Philosophy, Religion, Social Sciences, History of the Americas, Geography, Political Science, and more.
  • 5th Floor: Music and Books on Music, Fine Arts, and Literature.
  • 4th Floor: Language and Literature, Medicine, Technology, Natural History, and various government documents.
  • 3rd Floor: Children's and Young Adult literature, family-friendly resources.
  • 1st Floor: Reference books and new collections.

Image of a floor plan for Colorado State University Pueblo's University Library. The plan lists the subjects and categories of books available on each floor: 6th Floor: General Works, Philosophy, Religion, Social Sciences, History of the Americas, Geography, Political Science, and more. 5th Floor: Music and Books on Music, Fine Arts, and Literature. 4th Floor: Language and Literature, Medicine, Technology, Natural History, and various government documents. 3rd Floor: Children's and Young Adult literature, family-friendly resources. 1st Floor: Reference books and new collections.