Public Sociology, An Introduction to Australian Society


Case studies	Video clips	Weblinks	Further reading	Podcasts

Weblinks

The online material for this chapter consists of a video clip about searching article databases, as well as an extensive list of recommended websites of sociological interest, and links to some online reading to help refine your sociological gaze. For reasons of space, half the weblinks have been placed on the case study page and half on the weblinks page as usual.

Australian reference sites

APL: Australian Parliamentary Library:
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/
A great source of information on proposed legislation, and research papers on social issues and key economic and social indicators.

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online:
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm
A valuable resource on key Australian figures.

Australasian Digital Theses Program:
http://adt.caul.edu.au/
The database provides access to the digitised content of many PhD theses on a wide range of topics. You can search specific university collections, by author, keyword, or topic, or search the entire database. This is a good site to see what research has been done on particular topics.

Australian Government portal:
http://www.australia.gov.au/
The web entry for all things related to the Federal government. This is a good site to bookmark so that you can easily find the websites of government departments, many of which produce regular online newsletters, research-based reports, and policy documents.

Australian, State, Territory and Local Government links:
http://www.gov.au/
A one-stop site that provides links to all levels of Australian government.

Universities Australia (formerly the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee):
http://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/
Universities Australia produces policy recommendations and reports on the University sector in Australia. It's also a handy way to locate university web sites.

National Archives of Australia:
http://www.naa.gov.au/
This site allows you to search for documents of historical significance, some of which are accessible online. The organisation also hosts regular exhibitions, many of which provide supplementary materials online.

National Library of Australia:
http://www.nla.gov.au/
All books and journals published in Australia are automatically deposited in the national library. Its online search facility provides access to a very comprehensive collection. You can often borrow books from the national library's collection through your own university library, by using its inter-library loan facility.

National Museum of Australia:
http://www.nma.gov.au/
A great resource site on Australian social history.

Australian statistics

The two key sites for statistics on Australia are:

ABS: Australian Bureau of Statistics:
http://www.abs.gov.au/
The key website for access to official statistics on all aspects of Australian life, including the latest census findings.

AIHW: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:
http://www.aihw.gov.au/
This website provides free access to the many publications on all aspects of health, illness, and welfare.

Social science research centres and advocacy groups

Most of the following research centres and groups provide access to online working papers, reports, refereed articles, and further helpful links.

ACSPRI: Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated:
http://www.acspri.org.au/

ASDRI: The Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute (Australian National University):
http://adsri.anu.edu.au/

Australian Council of Social Services:
http://www.acoss.org.au/

AIFS: Australian Institute of Family Studies:
http://www.aifs.gov.au/

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia:
http://www.assa.edu.au/

Australian Council for Educational Research:
http://www.acer.edu.au

Australia Institute:
http://www.tai.org.au/

Australian Society for the Study of Labour History:
http://www.asslh.com/

CHASS: Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences:
http://www.chass.org.au/

Centre for Applied Social Research (RMIT):
http://www.rmit.edu.au/casr

Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human Rights (Deakin University):
http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts/cchr/

Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies:
http://www.cccs.uq.edu.au/

CSAA: Cultural Studies Association of Australasia:
http://www.csaa.asn.au/

Evatt Foundation:
http://evatt.labor.net.au/

Hawke Research Institute:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/

Institute for Social Research: (Swinburne University of Technology):
http://www.sisr.net/

Melbourne Institute (University of Melbourne):
http://melbourneinstitute.com

National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (University of Canberra):
http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/

SPRC: Social Policy Research Centre:
http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/

The Australian Centre (University of Melbourne):
http://www.australian.unimelb.edu.au/

Whitlam Institute (University of Western Sydney):
http://www.whitlam.org/

Alternative press

The following publications provide alternative and often critical in-depth commentary on Australian and international affairs, beyond that which is found in the mass media. Most of these publications are journalistic in style and are not refereed, and are therefore not equivalent to academic journals. They can nonetheless be useful sources of information.

AFTINET: Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network:
http://www.aftinet.org.au

Australian Options Magazine:
http://www.australian-options.org.au/

Australian Policy Online:
http://www.apo.org.au/

Dissent Magazine:
http://www.dissent.com.au/

New Matilda:
http://www.newmatilda.com

Online Opinion—Australia's e-journal of social and political debate:
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/

The Nation (USA):
http://www.thenation.com/about/

International organisations

International organisations can be a good source of (often) free reports that deal with a range of social and political issues. The various sub-sections of the United Nations or OECD websites can be particularly good for finding comparative information and statistics. As with all government and non-government agencies, you should exercise reasonable caution in interpreting the information they provide and should not assume it is necessarily unbiased.

APEC: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation:
http://www.apec.org/

OECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development:
http://www.oecd.org

UN: United Nations:
http://www.un.org/en/index.shtml

World Bank:
http://www.worldbank.org/

General reference sites

Google Scholar:
http://scholar.google.com/
Google Scholar restricts your web search to peer-reviewed journals, books from academic publishers, professional associations, conference abstracts and papers, universities, and various scholarly organisations. It can be a good starting point to see what scholarly information is available on a topic, but it is not an exhaustive search and only includes access to certain databases with which Google has signed agreements.

How Stuff Works:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
An entertaining site aimed at the general public that claims to provide clear and unbiased explanations of how literally 'everything' works (including genetics and all things electronic and mechanical, as well as various features of social life).

Internet Public Library (IPL):
http://www.ipl.org/
The IPL is run as a global public service by the University of Michigan and provides high-quality resources to find, evaluate, and organise information.

The Internet Tourbus:
http://www.internettourbus.com/
A free weekly web and email subscription news service that uses plain English to explain the latest web developments, highlights interesting websites, gives tips on effective use of search engines and how to avoid spam and computer viruses, and how to avoid falling for internet urban legends.

Refdesk.com:
http://www.refdesk.com/
One of the first and most useful indexes of credible web-based resources.

Search Engine Watch:
http://searchenginewatch.com/
A useful site comparing the performance of various search engines and offering various tips on how to maximise their use.

The Scout Report:
http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current/
Published weekly since 1994 on the web and via free email subscription, this report provides short reviews of key web resources and is a helpful way to keep on top of the ever-expanding web.