News release

From the University Library

23 May 2007

Trial: Social Theory

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is currently evaluating Social Theory, and has set-up a trial until the end of June. Your feedback will inform their negotiations with the publisher for the eventual subscription offer to the UK HE community.

Details

Social Theory offers an extensive selection of influential writings (key works, documents, and articles) that explore the complexities and interpret the nature of social behaviour and organization. Each book, section, chapter, and article within Social Theory has been indexed using a specially created thesaurus of terms; as a result, users can search this material more efficiently than ever before. Materials are arranged into subject friendly categories including; discipline topics, key historical events and thematic topics. The project interface, co-developed with the University of Chicago, enables in-depth browsing and searching of the bibliographic and full-text elements within the database. The material is organized into three main areas:

  • A comprehensive selection of writings by the most commonly cited social theorists including Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Jürgen Habermas, and Michel Foucault;
  • Multiple major works of lesser-known but highly influential 20th-Century theorists including Theodor Adorno, Jean Baudrillard, Norbert Elias, George Herbert Mead, and Talcott Parsons;
  • Seminal works by other authors including Alexis de Tocqueville, Simone de Beauvoir, John Dewey, and Margaret Mead.

A JISC consultation on Social Theory is in progress. The Library would be very grateful if any users who take advantage of this trial fill in the online feedback form available from the JISC pages.

Further information

More information about this trial, including details for access, is available from our trial resources page (available from the Soton domain only).