Social, Ethical and Economic Aspects of Science and Engineering

Subject Librarian: Fred O'Bryant

I'd like to schedule a Research Tutorial

Databases/Indexes	Web Resources	Go To
Book Indexes Conference Paper Indexes Upcoming Conferences Index Current Awareness Services Dissertations Journal Article Indexes VIRGO (Library Catalog)	Comprehensive Subject Lists Organizations Reference Sources Software	Subject Guides Menu SEL Homepage

Recommended Reference Works
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms Concise Encyclopedia of the Ethics of New Technologies — SEL Reference QH332.C66 2001 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy	Referex Large collection of engineering e-books and references Science and Its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery — SEL Reference Q175.46.S35 2000 Social Issues in Science and Technology: an Encyclopedia — SEL Reference Q175.5.N49 1999

Databases / Indexes

Book Indexes

Search these databases for books.

VIRGO
Information on 5 million books, journals, and other items held in the University of Virginia's libraries, including business, health sciences, and law. Some potentially useful subject terms include: Science—Social Aspects, Technology—Social Aspects; Engineering Ethics; Medical Ethics; the subheading "Moral and Ethical Aspects" combined with any specific topic or discipline; and Engineering Economy. Ask a librarian for assistance in formulating search queries.
Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information Catalogue
Search for books, technical reports, journals and conference proceedings in all areas of science, engineering, health sciences and agriculture. Same search terms as above.
Center for Research Libraries Online Catalog
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is an international not-for-profit consortium of colleges, universities, and libraries that makes available scholarly research resources to users everywhere. These resources include many hard-to-find and scarce items often not readily available elsewhere. UVA faculty and students may request books from CRL's collections via Interlibrary Services. Same search terms as above.
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology
The Linda Hall Library, a private institution funded by endowment, serves the scientific research community as a resource for engineering and technical materials, including over 600,000 volumes, 1.1 million microforms, U.S. Patents since 1946, and subscriptions to 16,500 journals. Same search terms as above.
WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Contains records from thousands of North American libraries. Same search terms as above.

Conference Proceedings Indexes

Search this database for citations to conference proceedings papers.

Conference Papers Index 1982+ (CSA)
Provides citations to papers and poster sessions presented at major scientific meetings around the world.
PapersFirst 1993+ (FirstSearch)
Citations of papers presented at worldwide meetings, conferences, expositions, workshops, congresses and symposia. Updated monthly.

Current Awareness Services

- Many journal publishers and database vendors offer alerting services which you can use to have journal tables of contents or other information about articles of interest E-mailed to you on a periodic basis. Some of these services appear below. You can learn more about keeping current in your field at Alison McNab's Keeping Your Research Up to Date web page or at the Engineering Current Awareness Services web page from the Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library (EEVL).

Journal Indexes

-Search these indexes for citations to journal articles.
-To get more information about a database, click the information icon ( ).
-Additional databases are available on the SEL Databases page.

-Note that most subject-specific databases will include articles on the social and ethical aspects of their subjects. However, you should also comb several of the databases below for information outside the scope of traditional science, technology and medicine databases.

Alternative Press Index
Indexes nearly 300 alternative, radical and left newspapers and magazines covering cultural, economic, political & social change. Most are from the US, but some other countries are covered.
America: History and Life
Covers the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to present and has almost 400,000 citations from 2,000 key English-language journals published worldwide.
Anthropological Literature
Indexes articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. May be most suited to medical topics but does contain information on engineering and technology.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Citation index covers over 1300 arts and humanities journals and related articles from 5800 social science and science journals. Part of the Web of Science database.
ASSIA: Applied Social Science Index & Abstracts 1987+ (CSA)
Covers health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education.
ATLA Religion Database
Provides international coverage on all aspects of religious studies and includes essay and book review citations. Covers the religious and ethical aspects of technology and medicine. This version adds the full text of many journal articles.
Avery Index
Indexes and abstracts 1,000 international architecture and design periodicals; probably most useful for environmental ethics questions in the S/T/M context.
Business Index ASAP
Contains abstracts and full text from business, finance, management and industry periodicals and includes articles on the ethical and social implications of these areas.
CAB Direct
With over four million records dating back to 1973, CAB Direct covers research and development literature in the fields of agriculture, forestry, human health, human nutrition, animal health and the management and conservation of natural resources.
CLASE/PERIODICA
From the mid-1970s on, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México has produced these two databases covering over 2800 journals from 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries. CLASE indexes journals specializing in social sciences and humanities. PERIÓDICA covers journals specializing in science and technology.
CQ Researcher
Provides in depth reports on selected issues in the news.
EconLit
International coverage of economics in journal articles, books, dissertations, book reviews.
Ethnic Newswatch
Full-text of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from 200 ethnic, minority, and native publications in the U.S. Available in English and Spanish.
FACTIVA
Company and business information from Dow Jones and articles from over 6,000 newspapers and periodicals as well as news photographs from Reuters News Service. Logout at the end of a session to avoid problems connecting the next time.
InfoTrac OneFile
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Other InfoTrac databases may also be of use.
LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe
News from sources around the world; information on companies, industries, markets, government and politics; legal news, country profiles; book reviews, biographical, and other reference sources; U.S. Code, constitution, and court cases.
New York Times (1851-1999)
Search and see full text of articles from the New York Times (1851-1999), the Wall Street Journal (1889-1995), and the Washington Post (1877-1987). For more recent issues, use FACTIVA (see above).
PAIS International
International database covering public and social policy, and the social sciences. Includes journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, and reports of public, intergovernmental, and private organizations. Coverage is from 1972 to the present.
Periodicals Index Online (PIO) and
Periodicals Archive Online (PIO)
Search for articles and book reviews in over 4000 international humanities and social sciences journals published from 1770-1995. Includes full text of articles in some 300 journals and links to the humanities and social science titles from JSTOR.
Philosopher's Index
Provides indexing and abstracting from books and over 300 journals of philosophy and related disciplines. Covers the areas of aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of disciplines such as education, history, law, religion, and science.
PsycINFO
Covers international professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, and other areas. Abstracts over 1400 journals and dissertations in more than 30 languages, and book chapters, books, and book reviews in English.
Social Sciences Citation Index
Part of Web of Science. Provides access to bibliographic information and cited references. Covers more than 1,700 leading social sciences journals in a broad range of disciplines from Anthropology to Women's Studies.
Sociological Abstracts
Sociology and related fields. All languages. 2600 scholarly journals. Includes book, book chapter, and conference paper abstracts and book reviews.
SourceOECD
Provides the full text (in PDF format) of all books, reports, periodicals, and statistical databases published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
SPORT Discus
International database covering sports medicine, exercise physiology, biomechanics, coaching, recreation, and more.
STAT-USA
Includes National Trade Data Bank, Economic Bulletin Board, Global Business Procurement Opportunities, and Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Information.
The Times, Digital Archive 1785-1985
Search the full text of The Times (London) including articles, advertisements, and picture captions. See an image of either just the article or the full page.
Women Writers Online
Contains the full-texts of more than 200 works by English and American women published between 1400 and 1850. The texts include letters, poems, novels, histories, drama, speeches, ecclesiastical and philosophical writings, and advice books.
World News Connection
From 1995 on, information from thousands of foreign media sources, including speeches, radio, television, newspapers, periodicals, and books. Includes unclassified military, political, environmental, sociological, scientific and technical data. All material translated into English.

Social, Ethical and Economic Aspects of Science and Engineering

Databases / Indexes

Book Indexes

Conference Proceedings Indexes

Current Awareness Services

Journal Indexes

Web Resources

Comprehensive Subject Lists

Organizations