Research Guides: Science and technology studies: Recommended starting points

Science and technology in society at Virginia Tech

Science and technology studies bring inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to the social dimensions and effects of scientific and technological practices and institutions. Major orientations in STS look at science, technology, and medicine through the lenses of history, philosophy, sociology, and public policy.

In addition, to subject guides in those fields, researchers should also explore social and humanistic content in the resources identified in library's many subject guides for engineering and physical sciences, life sciences, and medicine.

Go to Virginia Tech Department of Science and Technology in Society

Overview of science and technology studies

Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (4th ed) by Ulrike Felt, Rayvon Fouché, Clark A. Miller, Laurel Smith-Doerr, eds.
Call Number: Q158.5.H36 2008
ISBN: 0262035682
Publication Date: 2017

Provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the field, reviewing current research and major theoretical and methodological approaches and analyzing emergent issues in a form that is accessible to new and established scholars from a range of disciplines. Handbook chapters review the dominant theoretical perspectives of STS, present the current state of research on a spectrum of topics in the field, analyze changes brought about by the commercialization of science, study interactions between science and other institutions, examine the role of experts and the public in scientific and technological decision making, and consider the cultural and social dimensions of new technologies.
Previous editions are online: 2007 and > 1995.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2d ed) by James D. Wright, ed.
ISBN: 9780080970868
Publication Date: 2015

Fully revised and updated since the first edition (2001), IESBS 2/e comprises over 3,900 articles, commissioned by 71 section editors, and includes 90,000 bibliographic references as well as comprehensive name and subject indexes; more than 80 percent of the chapters are new or updated since the original text. Both its format and integrated chapters encourage discovery and map contexts and connections within the social and behavioral sciences. See also first edition (2001).

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a collection of searchable ebook reference works. You can search within a particular work or across the entire collection. Individual articles from these sources are presented in HTML and PDF. Illustrations, photos, maps, and multimedia content is often included.
SAGE Research Methods Online
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Allows you to explore the concepts and mechanics of social research to design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct research, and write up your findings. With its focus on methodology rather than disciplines and sophisticated search options, SRMO can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more. Incorporates full-text content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and articles. SRMO incorporates specially commissioned instructional materials illustrating the application of particular methodologies:
- videos,
- sample cases,
- practice datasets.
The Methods Map is an exciting and innovative visualization tool that can be used to discover relationships between methods, to discover new methods and to find content related to them. Underpinning the Methods Map is a new taxonomy of social science research methods, developed by SAGE, and containing over 1,400 unique terms.

The Methods Lists are lists of content within the product that our users have selected and want to share through this product. You can create your own lists, either for private use, or to share with others on the site.

The Little Green Books are our famous series, Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. This entire series is available on SAGE Research Methods, with additional tools across the site to filter your search on just these titles.
Science in Context from Gale
Designed as a starting point for undergraduate papers, discussions, and debates, Science in Context provides curated topic pages that combine academic journal articles, primary sources, reference works, essays, news sources, multimedia, and biographies on people, concepts/theories, current events, and places. Searchable and browseable by topic. One of several similar Gale "in context" databases introducing divergent viewpoints on current and historical issues.

Most literature-searching will start here

History of Science, Technology & Medicine from EBSCOhost
The History of Science, Technology, and Medicine database indexes citations and abstracts of journal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, maps, and other materials on the history of science, medicine, and technology. 1600s-present.
SocINDEX with Full Text from EBSCOhost
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SocINDEX indexes abstracts and full text of journal articles, books, conference papers, case studies, and surveys on all aspects of sociology. Author profiles are provided. You can do cited reference searches and limit to scholarly sources. 1895-present.
Philosopher's Index from EBSCOhost
The Philosopher's Index indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, chapters/essays, book reviews in the fields of philosophy, aesthetics, metaphysics, social philosophy, and axiology. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1940-present.
PubMed from NLM
Indexes citations, abstracts and full text from journal articles, case studies, conference papers, clinical trial reports, news reports, and reviews in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and pre-clinical sciences. Full text available in HTML and PDF. Numerous options to limit/filter searches. 1946-present. From US National Library of Medicine. For historical resources in biomedicine and public health, see NLM's History of Medicine portal.

PubMed citations and abstracts include the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant Web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources.

PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A mobile version is available.
Engineering Village
Engineering Village is the search interface to four engineering databases: Compendex, Inspec, NTIS, and Knovel. Compendex (1884-present) indexes citations and abstracts from over 5,000 engineering journals, conference papers, books, patents, dissertations, and technical reports. Inspec (1898-present) indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and dissertations in engineering and physical sciences. NTIS (1964-present) indexes citations and abstracts of National Technical Information Service reports and audiovisual materials from sources such as NASA and the departments of Energy and Defense. Knovel provides ebooks on engineering and related subjects.
MLA International Bibliography from ProQuest
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MLA International Bibliography indexes citations to journal articles, books, dissertations, and scholarly web sites in disciplines such as language, literature, folklore, linguistics, literary theory and criticism, and the dramatic arts. Coverage includes literature from all over the world and includes citations to materials in many languages other than English. 1926-present.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts from ProQuest
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Worldwide Political Science Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, essays, book reviews, working papers, technical reports, theses, and dissertations in the social sciences related to politics. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1975-present.

The database is building on the merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts, published by IFI / Plenum, 1975-2000, and ABC POL SCI, published by ABC-CLIO, 1984-2000. Over 1,700+ titles are being monitored for coverage; of these, 67% are published outside the United States.

The references cited in the bibliography of the source article have been included for citations to core journals in political science, added to the database since 2001, and for all journals added since 2004. Each individual reference may also have links to an abstract and/or to other papers that cite that reference; these references are linked both within Worldwide Political Science Abstracts and across other social science databases from ProQuest. All records added since 2000 are indexed using a thesaurus of over 3,000 terms.

Major areas of coverage include:

Comparative politics
Developing nations
Disarmament
Economic policy
Electoral systems
Environmental policy
Government/Political systems
History and theory of political science
International relations/trade
Labor relations
Military policy
Methodology and research technology
Political behavior
Political economy
Political psychology
Politics and law
Politics and communication
Politics and religion
Politics and society
Public administration
Security and defense
Welfare systems

HeinOnline Public Law Portal
Functioning something like a JSTOR for legal scholarship, HeinOnline provides full-text PDF legal documents organized into "libraries," notably including Law Journals (ABA, Core US, Criminal Justice, International, Intellectual Property); Legal Classics; US Congressional Documents, US Code; US Statutes at Large; US Federal Legislative History; Code of Federal Regulations; Federal Register; US Presidential Documents; US Treaties and Agreements; World Constitutions Illustrated. Topical collections include Women and the Law; Pentagon Papers; Slavery in America and the World. Some Canadian, UK, continental European content. 1200s-present.

Social Sciences & History Librarian

Bruce Pencek

Email Me

Contact:

3050 Newman Library (MC 0434)
560 Drillfield Dr
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Office hours (academic year):
Tu 1-3 pm,
Wed 2-4 pm,
and by appointment.

(540) 231-2140

Subjects:Humanities and performing arts, Social sciences and education

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Science and technology studies: Recommended starting points

Science and technology in society at Virginia Tech

Overview of science and technology studies

Most literature-searching will start here

Social Sciences & History Librarian

Ask a Librarian

Temporary, trial access only -- use while you can

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