SA 302 Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism

Research help

This guide will provide assistance with finding scholarly material to support the research paper assignment.  For Library research help, please contact Moninder Lalli, Librarian for Sociology / Anthropology by email moninder_lalli@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Essay  

Start Your Research Here - This page gives you an overview of the research process, or in other words how to find materials for your essay.

Selected handbooks and encyclopedias

Use encyclopedias, handbooks or textbook for overviews, definitions, and to identify key authors or concepts. 

Find books in the Library

Catalogue search will find books, journal articles, videos, government reports and more.  After doing a search, you can limit your search results by "Resource type" of "Books." Sign-in (top right of screen) to obtain access to electronic resources.

Search the SFU Library Catalogue Advanced Search

Combine different concepts using AND
Combine same concepts using OR
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
Use brackets for synonyms
Use asterisk (*) for different endings of words

Note:  For Catalogue Search, when combining concepts, use CAPITAL letters ( "OR", "AND")

Look at the titles in the "results list" and for those books that look relevantclick on their subject headings

 

Selected books

Subject Headings

Browse Search  Change "title" to "subject"

Find journal articles

Search within the databases below for scholarly articles.  

How to find journal articles tutorial. 

What is a scholarly (or peer-reviewed) journal?

If the full-text of the article is not available within the database then use the "Get@SFU" link to find it or to initiate an inter-library loan request.

  • ProQuest Sociology Collection - for issues related to class, gender, racism, sexuality and sexism and theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science.
  • Social Sciences Full Text
  • Canada Commons (formerly, Canadian Electronic Library from desLibris) - for public policy documents from Canadian institutes, think-tanks and research groups.
  • Ageline is an online index to articles from journals and magazines, books, research reports, and videos related to issues of ageing and life at 50+.
  • ELDIS Gateway to Development Information - includes research & policy documents on ageing, population, climate change, corporate social responsibility, debt relief, food security, gender, globalization, health and more.
  • Women's Studies International - key database for feminist perspectives
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete  - Important database for "popular culture", "social media", "body image" and "mass media" topics
  • Academic Search Premier - Multidisciplinary index to academic and popular journals. Indexes many women's studies journals.

News sources

Films

Watch hundreds of NFB films online, including documentaries, animation and alternative dramas.

Library guides

Writing help

Selected resources on writing essays: