About Social Care Online

From January 2023 Social Care Online will no longer be updated. The site will continue to be available until December 2023. Social Care Online’s bibliographic data will continue to be available via the combined Social Policy and Practice database a subscription-based service. Please refer to your organisation’s information and library service for further information about this database and alternatives to Social Care Online relevant to your research interests.

Freely available alternative sources of information include:

  • Kings Fund Library Database for information relating to health and social care management and policy, systems, services and leadership.
  • NSPCC Library catalogue for safeguarding, child protection, child abuse and neglect.
  • AgeInfo – information resource provided by the Centre for Policy on Ageing Library Service, covering social gerontology.

Social Care Online is the UK's largest online database of information on all aspects of social work and social care. It includes legislation, government documents, practice and guidance, systematic reviews, research briefings, UK grey (informally-published) literature, reports, and journal articles. The database is updated daily and contains over 187,000 records from the 1980s onwards.

Who produces Social Care Online?

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) improves the lives of people who use care services by sharing knowledge about what works. We are a leading improvement support agency and independent charity working social care and social work services across the UK. We also work closely with related services such as health care and housing. SCIE also provides a range of paid-for services including training, consultancy, research and product development.

When did Social Care Online start?

Social Care Online was first launched in May 2005. Previously it was known as the Electronic Library for Social Care (eLSC). Content originates from the National Institute for Social Work library and includes resources dating back to the 1980s.

The database was redeveloped and released on a new platform with a refreshed design in 2013.

How can Social Care Online help me?

Whatever your role in social care, you need to keep up to date with the latest information, knowledge and good practice. Social Care Online provides easy access to a wide range of high quality information, research and hard-to-find resources which have been evaluated and indexed by social care information specialists.

Social Care Online is free to use. Remember to Register/log in to get full access to all our services, which include access to resource links, advanced search and email alerts.

For more detailed information about content coverage, journals indexed and the selection of source material please go to Database scope.

Give us your feedback

Social Care Online continues to be developed in response to user feedback.

Contact us with your comments and for any problems using the website.

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