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Human Services: Reference Materials

Reference Materials

Why Reference Sources?

Is your research topic too big to cover in a short paper?  Is your topic so specific that sources will be hard to find?

Before you even begin your research, start the process with reference sources-- in the Library's Reference Section or online in our databases.  Reference books, like subject encyclopedias, can give you a head start and make your research easier in the long run.  Use reference sources to:

  • find a topic
  • narrow your topic
  • find keywords
  • get background information on your topic

MOST IMPORTANT:    Encyclopedia of Social Work  

Collections of Many Online Reference Books in one place:

Credo Reference     and    Gale eBooks / Gale Virtual Reference Library   and   Salem Press

Oxford Reference and Sage Knowledge Reference also have thousands of scholarly, academic articles, but they are a bit more difficult to use.   Click here to find instructions on how to use these collections of reference books.


Allsides Red Blue Dictionary

Community and Family Health Issues:  An Encyclopedia of Trends, Conditions, and Treatments.   Reference  RA 418.5 .F 3 C 666 2017

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Ed. (DSM-V).  Ready Reference  RC 455.2 .C 4 D 54 2013
Dictionary of Conflict Resolution

Dictionary of Hallucinations.  Reference RC 553 .H 3 B 56 2010

Dictionary of Social Work and Social Care.  Reference  HV 12 .H 37 2013

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.

Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States
Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World

Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues

Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior

Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity

Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health
Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms 

Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work

Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology

Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America. Reference  HV 12 .E 497 2005

Encyclopedia of Social Work with Groups

Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development.  Reference  HM 626 .E 538 2009

Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy.
Etiquette and Taboos around the World : A Geographic Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Customs.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health

The Global Encyclopedia of Informality:  Volume 2, Understanding of Social and Cultural Complexity

Human Services Dictionary.  Reference HV 12 .R 67 2003.

Humanitarianism:  Keywords

International Encyclopedia of DepressionReference  RC 573 .I 573 2009 

Key Concepts in Anti-Discriminatory Social Work.

Key Concepts in Health Psychology

Key Concepts in Social Work Practice.   CCIC  HV 40 .K 4248 2013

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Intergroup Communication

Poverty in the United States:  An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy.   Reference  HC 110 .P 6 P 598 2004

Routlede Spanish Bilingual Dictionary of Psychology and Psychiatry.  Reference  BF 31 .K 356 2011

Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies .

The Social Work Dictionary.   Reference  HV  12 .B 37 2014  

The Social Workers Desk Reference.  Reference HV 40 .S 6464

Statistical Abstract of the United States.   Latest print editions at Ready Reference. Older editions at General HA 202 .U 5 S 93.

List of COD databases to use to find statistics

  • URL: https://library.cod.edu/humanservices
  • Last Updated: Mar 5, 2024 1:10 PM
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