A Critical Analysis of SocINDEX and Sociological Abstracts Using an Evaluation Method for the Practicing Bibliographer

Abstract

This study provides a database evaluation method for the practicing bibliographer that is more than a brief review yet less than a controlled experiment. The author establishes evaluation criteria in the context of the bibliographic instruction provided to meet the research requirements of undergraduate sociology majors at Queens College, City University of New York. Applying the criteria to critically analyze SocINDEX and Sociological Abstracts finds that Sociological Abstracts better meets the needs of sociology undergraduates and concludes that Sociological Abstracts is the more inherently reliable and authoritative bibliographic resource for the indexing, abstracting, and researching of scholarly sociological literature.