SOCIOLOGY 317: Sociology of the Welfare State
LIBRARY RESOURCES - Semester 1, 2010

Contents:
Course Overview
Information Literacy
Exam Papers
Recommended Reading
Reference Books
Voyager Searches
Journals
Newspapers
Databases
Legislation
NZ Government Online
Statistics
Library Tutorials
Referencing and Plagiarism
FAQs

More public policy resources

Lecturer:
Dr Louise Humpage

Sociology Department

Subject Librarian:
Philip Abela
373 7599 ext. 83912
Room 120, Level 1, General Library
University of Auckland

Michael Joseph Savage opening the Social Security Building, Aotea Quay, Wellington, 27 March 1939.
Reference number: 1/4-049203-G
http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz
[Accessed 07/03/2006]

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Course Overview

This course provides an overview of the welfare state since its development in the early part of last century through to the present day. This has been an exciting and turbulent time, incorporating significant challenges to original welfare state ideals. Students will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to assess whether the welfare state is (or has ever been) in ‘crisis’, and the extent of change that has occurred, drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives. They will also develop competency in analysing original policy documents as a means to understanding changes in the welfare state. Although New Zealand will be the main focus of study, the course draws extensively on international examples, particularly the United Kingdom.

Information Literacy

Information Literacy is the set of intellectual capabilities, knowledge and skills needed to use information at a level appropriate to the position, work environment, and discipline of the individual and the ability to continue to develop these skills into the future, as explained in The University of Auckland information literacy policy.

Exam Papers

Previous exam papers for this course are available on the Exam Database.

Recommended Reading

Electronic course readings and books in the Short Loan Collection can be found in the Course Materials list.

• Cheyne, Christine, Mike O'Brien and Michael Belgrave. 2005. Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Critical Introduction. Third Edition, Auckland: Oxford University Press.
  General background to the New Zealand welfare state.
  Library copies
• Lunt, Neil, Mike O’Brien and Robert Stephens, eds. 2008. New Zealand, New Welfare? Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
  A discussion of recent reforms.
  Library copies

Reference Books

You can use Reference Books to get an introduction to a subject. Reference books include things such as specialised dictionaries and encyclopedias. They can give you a quick and easy to read summary of a topic, written by an expert.

Reference books are an excellent place to start your research. You should then go on to read more in-depth journal articles and books.

• Alcock, Pete, Angus Erskine and Margaret May, eds. 2002. The Blackwell Dictionary of Social Policy. Malden: Blackwell.
  General Library Arts Reference 361.6103 A35
• Greve, Bent. 1998. Historical Dictionary of the Welfare State. Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
  General Library Arts Reference 330.126 G83
• New Zealand Government Directory
  To access the online version of the Directory, click link above, and then go to the Special Subscribers link.
  Print copies are available in the General Library New Zealand & Pacific Collection (Latest edition in the Quick Reference shelves) 354.9506 N532
• Ritzer, George, ed. 2007. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Malden: Blackwell.
  General Library Arts Reference 301.03 R61
• Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall, eds. 2005. Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  General Library Arts Reference 301.03 C74 2005

Voyager Searches

Keyword Searches

• You may need to search for several variants of keywords such as Neoliberal or "Neo-liberal"
• Search for both American and British spelling, e.g. privatization or privatisation
• Use truncation symbols to find variant word endings
  Search for immigra? to find immigration, immigrant, immigrants
• Search for synonyms and related terms:
  "higher education" or tertiary education" or university (or universit?)
  "student loan?" or "student debt"
• If you are looking for information about a specific historical period, you may have to use a variety of keywords to describe it, e.g. 1930s, 30s, Thirties, Depression, "First Labour Government"

Examples of Keyword Boolean Searches
housing and policy
housing and policy and zealand
education and policy and zealand
("higher education" or "tertiary education") and policy and zealand

Subject Heading Searches

If there are many titles under a subject you may prefer to sort the results by date, with the most recent publications first. To do this, click on the down arrow by 'Sort by:' and select 'Latest to Earliest Date'

The subject heading is not always the term we normally use when discussing a topic. For example the formal subject heading 'Welfare recipients - Employment' is used instead of the term 'workfare' or informal phrases such as "work for the dole".

Journals

These are some of the useful policy-related journals. Click on the journal title to see the location of print copies in the Library and links to e-journals.

• Social Policy Journal of New Zealand: Te Puna Whakaaro Print copies from Issue 1 (November 1993) to Issue 33 (March 2008) are in the General Library's New Zealand & Pacific Collection [361.60995 S678] The journal is also available online [click the Social Policy Journal online issues link in Voyager]
• Critical Social Policy
• Social Policy and Administration
• Journal of Social Issues
• Policy Studies
• Social Politics
• Journal of Social Policy

Have a look through recent issues of these journals to see the published results of current research. To research a specific subject and to find out what has been written in these and other journals, you should search a database.

Newspapers

As well as the academic articles found in journals, you can find some other source material in newspapers.

Indexes

Databases with full-text newspaper articles

There are links to many other local and international newspapers on this webpage.

Microfilm

Databases

To find more information on a topic, a good place to start is a database that indexes journals and books. More databases are listed on the Sociology resource pages.

• Sociological Abstracts An index with abstracts from almost 2000 social science journals.
• FindNZarticles Includes Index New Zealand INNZ (an index with abstracts from 300 New Zealand journals, magazines and newspapers) plus other indexes of New Zealand newspapers and book chapters.
• Newztext The full-text of articles from 40 New Zealand newspapers and magazines.
• PAIS Public Affairs Information Service. Indexing and abstracts of journals relating to public policy.
• APA-FT Australian Public Affairs. Full-text articles, mostly Australian but with some about New Zealand.

New Zealand Legislation

• New Zealand Legislation
• The Statutes of New Zealand
  General Library New Zealand & Pacific 346.3 N56s
• Reprinted Statutes of New Zealand
  General Library New Zealand & Pacific 346.3 N56re
• Statutory Regulations
  General Library New Zealand & Pacific 346.1 S79
• Some historical statutes are also available online in the database New Zealand Statutes and Regulations - Heritage Collection
• There is more information on the Davis Law Library's guide to New Zealand legislation
• Website of the New Zealand Parliament

NZ Government Online

• NZ Government Online http://www.govt.nz
• New Zealand Government Directory
  To access the online version of the Directory, click link above, and then go to the Special Subscribers link.

Statistics

• New Zealand Official Yearbook
  The Yearbook is a very good starting place to look for statistical information. It is in the Statistics Collection on Level M in the General Library, call number S2/NZ STAy.

• NZSTATS
  New Zealand statistical sources.

• OFFSTATS
  Official Statistics on the Web. Data from government agencies and other organizations around the world.

Library Tutorials

To improve your research skills the Library offers lots of training courses. On the Library course booking page you can enrol in the courses or download the course handouts.

To make the most of our great collection of online databases, e-books, and e-journals you should attend these courses:

• Database Searching I: Getting started
  Library Databases contain millions of articles across all disciplines, but how do you find what you need? This hands-on course will help you: choose a relevant database for your topic; learn basic keyword searching techniques; understand search results and find the full text articles; search multiple databases simultaneously.
• Database Searching II: Extending your skills
  Build on the basics of database searching by constructing effective search strategies. Learn tips and tricks for keyword searching, discover the benefits of subject heading searches and use limits to obtain more specific information. Prerequisite: Familiarity with basic keyword searching skills, including Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT, as taught in Database Searching I: Getting started.
• E-Books: Searching and using online books
  Did you know there are over 300,000 e-books available from the Library’s website? Learn effective ways of searching and accessing e-books relevant to your study. Find out about e-books in the NetLibrary & Ebrary collections, as well as open source e-book libraries. Make the most of extra features such as creating personal profiles and using electronic bookmarks and notes.
• New Zealand Databases & Digital Collections
  This session is an introduction to core New Zealand databases and indexes. Find out how to search for full-text newspaper and magazine articles published in New Zealand and the Pacific. Discover other freely available digital collections of quality New Zealand and Pacific information. Library Databases covered include Index New Zealand (INNZ) and Newztext Plus.

Referencing and Plagiarism

The Sociology Referencing Guide is available on the Department's website.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online.

Honesty and integrity are valued in all academic activities at The University of Auckland. This website provides information about the key principles and practices underlying academic honesty, and advice and resources: Academic Honesty and Plagiarism.

Referen©ite Academic referencing resource.

FAQs

How can I get the full text of an article if it is not available in the database I am searching?
Some databases such as Sociological Abstracts do not include links to the full text of the article. Use the button to find if we have the journal available online or to search The Catalogue for the hard-copy journal in the Library.

Where can I go for more help?
Student Learning Centre