Background & Overviews
Don't know where to start?
Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. -- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
For an introduction to concepts and ideas for research topics, subject Encyclopedias can be useful. For example checkout the following search Sociology Encyclopedias @ RU Libraries or you may be more specifically interested in reading about social movements - try Encyclopedia of American social movements. The overviews available here can be useful to compare entries from Wikipedia. Rather than citing the overview itself, check out the list of references used in such overviews which may be particularly useful.
Encyclopedias that may help you get started:
Try: CQ Researcher for overviews of issues
Here are the two websites that are useful for finding summaries of major legal cases.
Find Overviews
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences by ISBN: 9780080430768
Encyclopedia of Social Problems by ISBN: 9781412941655
Find Subject Specific Definitions
The dictionaries listed below and more are available from the Rutgers Libraries. Please check RU Library catalog or run a Call Number Search
The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology by Call Number: Reference HM425.C36 2006ISBN: 052183290XPublication Date: 2006-08-14
The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology by Call Number: Reference HM425.A23 2006ISBN: 0141013753Publication Date: 2006-08-29
The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology by Call Number: Stacks HM425.J64 2000ISBN: 0631216804Publication Date: 2000-06-30
Oxford Dictionary of Sociology by Call Number: Reference HM425.D5735 2005ISBN: 0198609868Publication Date: 2005-09-08
The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought by Call Number: Reference H41.B53 2003ISBN: 0631221646Publication Date: 2003-01-02
The SAGE Dictionary of Criminology by Call Number: Reference HV6017.S24 2013ISBN: 9781446200827Publication Date: 2013-06-21
The American Dictionary of Criminal Justice by Call Number: Reference HV7411.C48 2005ISBN: 0810854066Publication Date: 2004-11-03Death Dictionary by
Call Number: Reference HQ1073.Q54 1994ISBN: 0899508693Publication Date: 1993-12-01
Dictionary of Gerontology by Call Number: Reference HQ1061.H338 1988ISBN: 0313252874Publication Date: 1988-07-27
Dictionary of Medical Sociology by Call Number: Reference RA418.C655 1997ISBN: 0313292698Publication Date: 1997-03-25
Dictionary of Demography by Call Number: Stacks HB849.2.P7413 1985ISBN: 0631127461Publication Date: 1985-09-01
Dictionary of Demography by Call Number: Stacks HB855.P47 1985ISBN: 0313251371Publication Date: 1985-12-23
The Latest Illustrated Book of Development Definitions by Call Number: Reference HT167.M683 2004ISBN: 0882851772Publication Date: 2004-12-31
Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture by Call Number: Reference GN495.6.D53 2003ISBN: 0761968997Publication Date: 2002-12-26
Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations by Call Number: Stacks GN496.C37 1997ISBN: 0415151678Publication Date: 1996-12-05Nationalism and Ethnicity Terminologies by
Call Number: Reference JC311.S636 1999ISBN: 0875692052Publication Date: 1999-01-01The Color of Words by
Call Number: Reference E184.A1H466 1997ISBN: 1877864420Publication Date: 1997-06-01A Dictionary of International Slurs by
Call Number: Reference HT1523.R6 1979ISBN: 0916500055Publication Date: 1979-12-01
Who's Who of the Colored Race by Call Number: Reference E185.96.W6 1976ISBN: 0810342472Publication Date: 1976-09-01
Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology Second Edition by Call Number: Reference GN562.S74 1999ISBN: 081301705XPublication Date: 1999-12-31
An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China by Call Number: Reference DS730.O74 1998ISBN: 0313288534Publication Date: 1998-02-24
Race and Ethnic Relations in Latin America and the Caribbean by Call Number: Stacks F1419.A1L48ISBN: 0810813246Publication Date: 1980-08-28
Dictionary of Polling by Call Number: Stacks HM261.Y684 1991ISBN: 031327598XPublication Date: 1992-05-30A Dictionary of Social Science Methods by
Call Number: Reference H41.M54 1983ISBN: 0471900354Publication Date: 1983-04-01
Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology by Call Number: Reference HA17.V64 2005ISBN: 0761988548Publication Date: 2005-04-27
Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry by Call Number: Reference H61.S4435 2001ISBN: 0761921656Publication Date: 2001-04-04The Dictionary of Personality and Social Psychology by
Call Number: Stacks BF698.D527 1986ISBN: 0262580780Publication Date: 1986-10-09
The Social Work Dictionary by Call Number: Reference HV12.B37 2003ISBN: 087101355XPublication Date: 2003-06-01
Historical Dictionary of Feminism by Call Number: Reference HQ1115.B65 2004ISBN: 0810849461Publication Date: 2004-05-17
The Dictionary of Feminist Theory by Call Number: Stacks HQ1115.H86 1995ISBN: 0814206662Publication Date: 1995-04-01
From the Goddess to the Glass Ceiling by Call Number: Stacks HQ1115.F77 1996ISBN: 1568330723Publication Date: 1996-05-07
American Community Organizations by Call Number: Stacks HN90.C6A69 1986ISBN: 0313240531Publication Date: 1986-11-18
