Sources of Information in the Social Sciences: A Guide to Literature

By William Webb

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 083890405X
• ISBN13: 9780838904053
• Release Date: August 1986
• Publisher: Amer Library Assn
• Length: 777 Pages
• Weight: 2.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Fourth Edition is Much Wanted

In library schools we teach information sources in different domains, including the social sciences. Guides to such sources are extremely important for the identity and qualifications of information specialists. Webbs guide (third edition) from 1986 was the best overall guide to information souces in the social sciences generally. The book has a chapter on social science literature, which also covered such issues as the structure of the information system, the users of social science literature and patterns of use; the evolution of the literature, and presentations of different types of information sources, including sources on different paradigms or approaches. The book is highly structured, and this structure itself is an important subject to teach. After the general sources are chapters devoted to History, Geography, Economics with Business Administration, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Education and Political Science. Each chapter is devided in two main parts "Survey of the Field" and "Survey of the Reference Works". The survey of the field includes systems, approaches, methodologies and history of the field, outstanding primary works, tekstbooks and handbooks, and a survey of the main subdisciplines and their literature. The survey of the reference literature is highly structured and annotated. I have only small objections to the classes used in the typology. For example, the class "reviews" covers both literature reviews and book reviews, which in my opinion are two different things. The book was published by the American Library Association, and representended in my opinion a very important action for the advancement of information science and a cooperative effort between ALA and subject specialist. The core expertise of librarians and information specialists are in my opinion closely related to research and practice in the system of information sources in different domains. If our profession was in front with the development, we should publish a new edition of this work every year in paper, online and on CD-rom.