About Social Care Online

• What is Social Care Online?
• When did Social Care Online Start?
• What topic areas are covered in Social Care Online?
• What types of resources are on Social Care Online?
• How is content selected for Social Care Online?
• How do I use Social Care Online?
• What will my search results contain?
• How do I get full text articles and books?
• What is the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)?

What is Social Care Online?

Social Care Online is the UK's most extensive free database of social care information. With everything from research briefings, to reports, government documents, journal articles, and websites and you find it all with the click of a button. Updated daily by SCIE's experienced information managers, Social Care Online offers unrivalled free access and ease of use.

Social Care Online is a product of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).

When did Social Care Online start?

Social Care Online was launched in its present form in May 2005. Previously it was known as the Electronic Library for Social Care (eLSC). Content of the database originates from the catalogue of National Institute for Social Work library and includes resources dating from the 1980s. Abstracted articles from key social work journals, such as the British Journal of Social Work, and defining texts, by authors such as John Bowlby (Attachment Theory), which were published in the 60s and 70s can also be found on Social Care Online.

There are over 110,000 records on Social Care Online (as of January 2009). Where possible a link is made to the full text of a document. When this is not available, an abstract is provided.

What topic areas are covered in Social Care Online?

• Benefits and personal finance
• Criminal justice, law and rights
• Education, training and employment
• Government and social policy
• Health and health care
• Housing and environment
• Living and life events
• Management and organisational development
• Mental health and mental health care
• People, groups and communities
• Physical and learning disabilities
• Research and evaluation
• Social care services
• Social work and social workers

The topic tree is available for reference, in hierarchical and alphabetical formats, as a PDF file.

• Hierarchical topic tree (122kb PDF file)
• Alphabetical topic tree (541kb PDF file)
• Changes to the topic tree - May 2008 (37kb PDF file)

What types of resources are on Social Care Online?

• Biographies and autobiographies are collected if they are about service users and carers or key figures in the social care world.
• Current awareness/news (articles only) are included if they are substantial, i.e. one page or more. They should be obtained from key social care weeklies.
• Government documents (see also legislation) are collected in the core subject areas, and from the supporting subject areas if they have an impact on social care, including:
  • circulars from England , Wales and Northern Ireland
  • policy documents
  • documents from think tanks, non-departmental government organisations and agencies
  • other relevant documents, including articles.
• Legislation and related documents and articles are collected in the core subject areas, and from the supporting subject areas if they have an impact on social care, including:
  • consultation documents
  • command papers
  • white and green papers
  • bills (for core subject areas every stage of the bill is collected)
  • all primary legislation relating to core areas that applies to England , Wales or Northern Ireland , plus all amending legislation but not commencement orders.
  • legislation relating to supporting areas if it has an impact on social care
  • guidance and standards
  • commentaries, books, text books and articles on legislation.
• Practice-orientated books, articles, briefings and case studies, and research report, briefing papers and research articles are collected from:
  • academic organisations
  • commercial publishers
  • government departments
  • independent organisations
  • local government
  • voluntary organisations.
  • practical books aimed at users and carers relating to the core subject areas.
• Research papers, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis
• Textbooks at all levels.
• Substantial items aimed at users and carers are added after evaluation (excluding advice leaflets).
• Mixed and non-print media including:
  • CDs, audio tape, videos, DVDs
  • e-learning packages
  • online resources
  • training and teaching packs
  • websites.

How is content selected for Social Care Online?

What we collect information about

The core subject areas where we collect all relevant information include:

• families, children, young people
• government and social policy
• mental health and mental health care
• people, groups and communities (including older people and black and minority ethnic people)
• physical and learning disabilities
• social care
• social work and social workers.

Supporting and peripheral areas where we selectively collect material include:

• benefits and personal finance
• criminal justice, law and rights
• education (covered very selectively for books and articles, with a tight focus on social care issues, including mental health, social exclusion, school exclusion and policy issues around inclusive learning), training and employment
• health and health care
• housing
• local government
• management and organisational development
• psychology.

Where we collect information from

We collect core material from the UK . We collect non-UK material if:

• the subject matter is not well covered in UK literature
• it is a comparative study
• it contains topics of relevance to the UK
• it contains overviews of the situation in other countries.

Who is Social Care Online for?

• Researchers and academics
• Social care managers and practitioners
• Social work students
• Librarians and information professionals
• Service users and carers

How do I use Social Care Online?

Social Care Online offers lots of different ways to access its content. You can browse the topic tree, do a simple search, or, if you are a frequent and experienced user, you can use the intermediate or advanced search options. Whatever level of research expertise you have, you will be able to find what you want, when you need it.

Find out more about how to use the search functions by visiting the Social Care Online's help pages.

What is the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)?

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) aims to improve the experience of people who use social care by developing and promoting knowledge about good practice in the sector. Using knowledge gathered from diverse sources and a broad range of people and organisations, we develop resources which we share freely, supporting those working in social care and empowering service users.