Library Resources
By Margie Ruppel, Social Sciences Librarian
UK Libraries is a comprehensive research library system, offering millions of online and hardcopy materials (2.5 million eBooks!), hundreds of research databases, 222,000+ journal subscriptions, seven library buildings, a team of social science librarians (and other subject teams), chat and email reference services, online instruction, one-on-one Zoom research consultations, interlibrary loan, and print book delivery for distance students.
Getting Started
- InfoKat Discovery https://libraries.uky.edu/ – check InfoKat Discovery to see what UK Libraries owns. No need to set up a personal account.
- Social Work Research Guide https://libguides.uky.edu/socialwork – the most efficient starting place to search for scholarly journal articles on social work topics. Bookmark for later use!
- LibKey Nomad https://libguides.uky.edu/ThirdIron/NomadStart – a browser extension that provides seamless one-click (!) access to UK Library journal subscriptions, no matter where you are on the Internet. up today. Available for Chrome and Firefox browsers. Add your extension today to make PDF-hunting easier.
- Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/ – Google Scholar does not know you have access to UK Library subscriptions unless you tell it! In Google Scholar, go to Settings –> Library Links –> type: University of Kentucky –> add all U of Ky options –> Save.
- Interlibrary Loan https://libraries.uky.edu/ILL – borrow journal articles and print books from other libraries. Article PDFs usually arrive within 48 hours. Set up your free ILLiad account today.
- EndNote Online (optional)– bibliographic management software. Get started at https://libguides.uky.edu/socialwork/writing. Or use Zotero, a Firefox plug-in, to manage your articles and other resources.
- UKnowledge https://uknowledge.uky.edu/csw_etds/ – UK repository includes social work dissertations and theses
Streaming Video
UK Libraries provide access to thousands (maybe millions) of streaming (online) video titles. Search by title or subject in InfoKat Discovery (available at https://libraries.uky.edu/) to find out which titles UK Libraries own. Most streaming video titles related to social work are purchased from Counseling and Therapy in Video, Appalshop, Films for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Swank, Kanopy, DocuSeek, and PBS.
Self-Guided Courses
UK Libraries offers two self-guided courses that are free and openly available in Canvas. You may focus on specific modules or complete the whole course. Anyone at UK can enroll in the courses using the links below.
The Open Academic Research course is aimed at budding researchers and graduate students and covers:
- Discovering your field’s keywords, scholars, and journals
- Finding specialized databases and reference sources in your field
- Selecting journals to consider for submission
- Incorporating digital media and technology tools into your research
- Finding and using primary sources
Each mini-module includes learning materials, slides and/or videos, activities to try, and a list of further resources.
The Open Information Literacy course is designed to help students improve their library research skills. The course takes about 40 minutes to complete and covers topics such as:
- Developing research questions and search terms
- Evaluating information
- Making effective use of sources
The course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end of each of its five modules.
Book Delivery
If the book you need is not available as an eBook but is owned by UK Libraries in hardcopy (print) format, consider having the book sent to you via postal mail, a service available to UK distance education students who live 60+ miles from Lexington, Kentucky. The library covers the cost of shipping print materials to distance learning students and asks that students cover the cost of returning materials. Learn more on the Distance Learning Services site https://libraries.uky.edu/DLLS.
