Using library databases is the most efficient way to search across collections of journal titles all at once. Each database helps you search a different body of literature and will yield results that help you form perspective on a topic. Note that Social Work content is cross disciplinary in nature. Your research will likely span across several subject areas. Think about the kind of content you are looking for and read database descriptions to identify relevant databases for your particular topic.
Each of these links takes you to a collections of subject specific databases:
Disability Studies
Economics
Education
Gender & Women's Studies
Government Information
Health & Wellness (especially Public Health)
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
Statistics
Getting to a successful result often depends on the terminology used to locate research on a particular topic. Here are some terms and phrases to consider. This list is not comprehensive in nature, but it will help you begin to think about the possibilities. Each grouping below may contain broad or narrow terms.
Homelessness
Homeless persons
Hidden homelessness
Homeless youth
Homeless persons--Services for--United States.
Housing instability
Housing insecurity
Shelter and street homeless
Social justice
Social exclusion
Health equity
poor
single-parent families
two-parent families
people who work, but earn too little
victims of domestic violence
runaways
“throw away” kids
unemployed – those looking and those who have never worked
retired people on small incomes
school dropouts
drug addicts
disabled
mentally ill
young mothers on welfare
families who have lost housing
veterans
Structural or societal forces
Individual vulnerability
Psychosocial aspects
Psychosocial factors
Risk assessment
Transitional or short-term
Episodic or intermitant
Chronic or long-term
Welfare reform
Homelessness – policy making
Legislation and jurisprudence – united states
Policy implementation
Policy enactment
Housing first
Harm reduction
Critical time intervention
Rapid rehousing
Foster care
Homelessness prevention
Service coordination and integration
Program implementation
Sociological theory
Bowen Systems Theory
...and more
