The sociology collection supports the teaching and research needs of both faculty and students in the Sociology Department and the entire university community.
The collection is strong in social theory, methodology, social organization, social structure and data and social psychology. The collection mirrors the development and transformation of American sociology from the dominance of the Chicago School of Sociology to a broader, changing discipline today. Areas of collection strength include social policy, social economy, and social justice. The collection is rich in material on political sociology and social movements, social change and policy planning, criminology, deviance and social control, race and ethnic relations, social psychology, community and family, social stratification, religion and society, medical sociology, complex organizations, and social problems of the economy. The collection includes broad areas such as gender, race, class, health care and medical sociology, development sociology of emerging nations, globalization, social movements, and inequality in society such as labor, race and ethnicity.
Strong collections in philosophy, political science, gender studies, social psychology, social work, and international relations further expand the resources available for sociology study and research.
The Boston College Libraries have a rapidly growing collection of electronic books. Feedback from sociology faculty members and students indicate that they prefer an electronic format when they want to read a defined section of a book, such as a chapter or an encyclopedia entry. Therefore, the Libraries will make every effort to acquire the electronic versions of edited books, anthologies, encyclopedias, and other reference works. The print format of a book will be purchased when it is likely to be read from cover-to-cover. Users can also specifically request to acquire a book in electronic format.
The library staff recognizes that the world of e-books and user preferences is constantly evolving. The policy towards collecting e-books in sociology will be revisited and changed as needed. For more information on e-books at Boston College, please visit our E-Books at Boston College page.
For information about how the library collections at Boston College are being developed, go to the Collections page.
