Databases and electronic libraries

Alcohol and drug misuse
Black and minority ethnic people
Children and young people
Health and social care
Learning disabilities
Mental health
Miscellaneous
Older people
Social policy
Social Sciences

Alcohol and drug misuse

• Alcohol Concern Library database - Produced by Alcohol Concern is a specialist collection of journals, e-journals books and electronic literature on alcohol-related issues dating from 1996. Copies of journal articles can be ordered on line via the website.
  
  
• DrugData - Produced by DrugScope is a searchable database of over 100,000 records of drugs literature in the English Language. DrugScope also publish DrugSearch, an online encyclopaedia of drugs and their history.
  
  
• Scottish Addiction Studies Online Library
  Owned and maintained by Scottish Addiction Studies at the University of Stirling, is a small collection of resources, with links to over 45 journal titles, 28 online-line libraries and over 400 documents. The strength of this online library is that it specialises in full text documents which are available for downloading.
  

Black and minority ethnic people

• Ethnicity & Health Specialist Library - This is part of the National Library for Health. This electronic library provides evidence needed about specific needs in health care for minority ethnic groups and the management of a health care service in a multicultural, diverse society.  It attempts to select the best available evidence relevant to 'culturally competent healthcare' for minority ethnic groups and cultures present in Britain in significant numbers. The main topic areas include: Disease and conditions; Service delivery; Cultural competence and Management and policy statistics. The resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information. 

Children and young people

• Child Health Specialist Library - This is part of the National Library for Health.  This electronic library addresses a wide range of topics related to the health and well being of children. It is primarily aimed at professionals involved in the care of children, but it is hoped that it will be of value to all users when seeking information on a wide variety of aspects of child health. The resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information. Some areas of the library have restricted access.
  
  
• ChildData - Produced by the National Children's Bureau (subscription required). This resource contains four databases - a catalogue of over 75,000 records of books, reports and journal articles; abstracted summaries of newspaper coverage of issues affecting children since 1996, a directory of over 2,500 child care organisations and details of past and forthcoming conferences and events in the child care field.
  
  
• NSPCC Inform - Produced by NSPCC, is UK 's only free, online, specialised child protection resource. Developed specifically to share information with practitioners, researchers, trainers and other professionals working to protect children, it brings together all NSPCC products and services. NSPCC Inform includes access to the library catalogue of over 30,000 child protection related references.
  
  
• ORB Children's database - A small database of children's literature research with specific reference to Northern Ireland . The main focus is on research carried out since 1990. The database is funded by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, supported by the Children's Research Forum and hosted through Queen's University.
  
  
• Register of researchers - Produced by Research in Practice, is a database of over 150 researchers whose work may be of interest to children’s services professionals. Research interests, current research projects and key publications are provided. (Available to RIP partners only)
  
  
• RiP EvidenceBank - Produced by Research in Practice, is a database of research reviews, the content of which relates to the Every Child Matters agenda. EvidenceBank presents a report on each research review. This includes a brief description of the review method and a summary that maps the scope and content of the review. Available to members only (Click here to view participating agencies)

Health and social care

• Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) – Produced by the Health Care Information Service of the British Library it covers selected journals from three areas -  complementary medicine, allied health professions and palliative care. (subscription required). NHS professionals in England and Wales have free access to AMED via NHSnet.
  
  
• British Nursing Index (BNI) - UK-based nursing and midwifery index (subscription required).
  
  
• Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) - Key nursing and allied health database (subscription required).
  
  
• EMBASE - Combines biomedical and pharmaceutical databases (subscription required).
  
  
• Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC) - Combination of three databases: Department of Health Data, Kings Fund Library Catalogue Database and the Health Management Information Service (subscription required).
  
  
• Health Technology Assessment database -  Managed by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), at the University of York, this is an international database of health technology assessments (defined as prevention and rehabilitation, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and devices, medical and surgical procedures, and the systems within which health is protected and maintained.)
  
  
• Kings Fund Library Catalogue - This database is a free resource which contains more than 80,000 bibliographic records. It covers policy and management of health and social care services, primarily UK material with a London focus.
  
  
• Medline - principal biomedical database, US emphasis (subscription required).
  
  
• National Library for Health (NLH) - The NLH will encompass resources from NHS services (500 physical libraries, a number of digital services, and 1000 staff) partners (Higher and Further Education Libraries, Public Libraries, British Library, National Library of Medicine) and suppliers (including publishers and technical). Currently there are 7 broad categories: Evidence based reviews; Guidance; Specialist libraries; Books, journals and bibliographic databases (subscription only); Images; For patients and Drugs, which can be browsed or searched.
  
  
• Palliative and Supportive Care Specialist library - is part of the National Library for Health. This electronic library is delivered by a Project team with reference to an Editorial Board, supported by a Review Group and other interested parties. It is well developed and is organised by broad topic areas, which include: Conditions; Service provision; Ethics & law; Death, dying & bereavement; and Research, education & training.  Material includes organisations, articles; and databases. Resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information.
  
  
• Patient and public involvement Specialist library - is part of the National Library for Health. Launched in July 2007 and managed by the Kings Fund, the PPI specialist library aims to support the implementation of patient, user, carer and public involvement in health care by providing access to information on the web. The main topic areas of this electronic library include: PPI in practice; care groups and education for PPI and organisations supporting PPI. Resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information.
  
  
• Pubmed – A service of the US Library of Medicine gives free access to over 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles dating back to the 1950s.
  
  
• Research Register for Social Care (RRSC) – Managed by SCIE with support of the Department of Health, Department of Education and Skills and the Welsh Assembly Government, is a new resource for social care research, practice and service user communities. The RRSC will eventually record all social care research being undertaken within Councils with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSRs) that has been subject to independent ethical and scientific review, including student projects. It can be searched to obtain summary details of the individual studies and links to further information about them.
  
  
• Social Services Abstracts - US-orientated database of articles, books and reports on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development.
  
  
• Social Work Abstracts - US-based database on social work and social welfare

Learning disabilities

• CASonline  - This is part of the British Institute for Learning Disabilities (BILD) current awareness service. (subscription required) The database contains references to over 40,000 journal articles, books and pieces of research covering all aspects of learning disabilities and covers more than 20 years of publications. Many of the articles listed can be obtained from BILD as a photocopy. A sample version of the database containing references to over 2000 journal articles published between 2000 and 2005 is available to try.
  
  
• Learning Disabilities Specialist Library - is part of the National Library for Health. This electronic library is collaboratively produced by a number of individuals and organisations The main topic areas include: Advocacy & empowerment; Communication. Resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information.  . A monthly evidence bulletin is also published.

Mental health

• Mental Health Specialist Library - is part of the National Library for Health. This electronic library is collaboratively produced by a number of individuals and organisations. The main topic areas include: Adult conditions, Children and adolescent conditions and Mental health promotion. Each condition listed has an introductory article to the subject area and in some cases a reference selected by the Editor. Resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information. 

Miscellaneous

• British Library Direct (BL Direct)
  A free resource which covers the last five years of data from the British Library’s INSIDE database. It includes content from over 20,000 of the most frequently requested journals held by the British Library (approximately 9 million records). Full text articles can be purchased online.

Older people

• AgeInfo - Produced by the Centre for Policy on Ageing and available free only via Social Care Online, AgeInfo is an information service about old age and ageing. It provides a bibliographic database of over 40,000 books, articles and reports. AgeInfo requires a subscription if accessed directly.
  
  
• AgeLine – A free US-based resource of over 75,000 books and articles. The database covers literature of social gerontology as well as aging-related content from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, social work, demography, economics and health sciences.
  
  
• Dementia Catalogue - Produced by the Alzheimer’s Society library is a free bibliographic resource of 1000 records of published materials about all aspects of dementia care and research. It includes references to books, journal articles, videos/DVDs and dementia care training materials.
  
  
• Later Life Specialist Library - is part of the National Library for Health. The aim of this electronic library is to signpost the best available evidence and other key documents to support people who are making health care decisions related to Later Life. The main topic areas include: Ageism; Dementia; Screening and surveillance and Stroke. Resources can also be viewed by type: Guidance & pathways; Evidence; Reference; Education & CPD and Patient information.

Social policy

• ripfA  (research in practice for Adults)  the knowledge
  This is a  library of research summaries covering a range of adult social care practice and policy. The studies were selected some years ago as being among the most important in their respective fields. Each study was reviewed under the headings of methodology, critical appraisal, key findings, and the social work practice or policy implications.
  
  
• Labordoc - The catalogue of the International Labour Office (ILO) includes over 350,000 records relating to labour, employment and related social and economic development around the world. Useful for social development, immigration and social inclusion resources. (subscription required)
  
  
• Planex - Formerly produced by the Planning Exchange, is now produced by IDOX plc covers most aspects of applied social sciences and public policy that relate to local government. It includes over 100, 000 records and is particularly strong on its coverage of grey literature. (subscription required)
  
  
• Social Policy and Practice (SPP) - UK orientated resource of over 200,000 abstracted references from four major UK databases - AgeInfo, Social Care Online, Acompline and Planex. It covers sources for applied social science, policy makers and practitioners working within human resources, public safety, social services, social administration, economic and social development, social work, social work education and care management. Subjects include public health, social care, homelessness and housing, crime and law and order, families, children and older people, and public and social policy.(subscription required).
  
  
• Urbadoc - A service which gives access to Acompline and Urbaline. These databases were initially created by the Greater London Council Research Library in 1980 and are now maintained by the Greater London Authority. Acompline contains abstracted journal papers, reports, government publications and books on all aspects of local government with an emphasis on London. Urbaline covers the same subject area but focuses on material from newspapers, press notices etc. (subscription required)

Social Sciences

• Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) - large US & UK database covering a wide range of social science topics (subscription required).
  
  
• British Education Index - UK based index of articles from education journals (subscription required). Free access to registered British Library users as part of International ERIC.
  
  
• Campbell Library: C2-RIPE (Reviews of Interventions and Policy Evaluations) and C2-SPECTR (Social, Psychological, Education and Criminological Trials Registry) - The Campbell Library of systematic reviews in social sciences.
  
  
• Cochrane Library: includes Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - Collection of evidence-based medicine databases.
  
  
• CommunityWISE - Covers community development, social policy health, welfare and education (subscription required).
  
  
• ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) - US-orientated database of education abstracts and other resources. ERIC provides free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials and, if available, includes links to full text.
  
  
• Evidence Based Policy and Practice (EBPP) Resources Listing - Produced by the UK Centre for Evidence-based Policy and Practice covers six major types of resource, bibliographic and research databases, internet gateways, systematic review centres, EBPP centres, research centres and library services.
  
  
• Index to Theses - Theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since 1716 (subscription required).
  
  
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences – Produced by the London School of Economics and Political Science this International database covers the fields of economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology (subscription required).
  
  
• Intute – created by a network of UK universities and partners, this is a free online service providing access to the web resources for education and research. The database contains more than 110,000 records which have been selected and evaluated by subject specialists. The database can be searched or browsed by subject areas. Within the Social sciences section is a list of 23 Social welfare topics.
  
  
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts - US based; Contains summaries of more than 190,000 criminal justice publications.
  
  
• PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service) - This database includes publications from over 120 countries and covers global public policy and social issues (subscription required).
  
  
• PsycInfo – a large international psychology database of more than 2.3 million records (subscription required).
  
  
• Social Sciences Citation Index - Provides access to bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references found in over 1,700 world social science journals covering more than 50 disciplines (subscription required).
  
  
• Sociological Abstracts (SocAbs) - International database covering sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioural sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews from over 1,800 journal publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations and conference papers. (subscription required).