SWK 256

Welcome to the library resource guide for Char Schuler's Development of Social Welfare course. This orientation will cover the following:

• How to access electronic resources from the Mildred Johnson Library
• What is peer reviewed literature?
• How to find databases
• How to search databases
• Databases at the Mildred Johnson Library specific to the field of social work 
• APA style guidelines

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (sixth edition) defines literature reviews in the following way: 

Literature reviews...are critical evaluations of materials that have already been published. By organizing, integrating and evaluating previously published materials, authors of literature reviews consider the progress of research toward clarifying a problem. In a sense, literature reviews are tutorials, in that authors:

• define and clarify the problem;
• summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of research;
• identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and 
• suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.

The components of literature reviews can be arranged in various ways (e.g., by grouping research based on similarity in the concepts or theories of interest, methodological similarities among the studies reviewed, or the historical development of the field).