Sociology

     The ANSS website is an interesting mix of organization-specific news and features and resources helpful to any librarian. In each newsletter, there are reviews of new databases, websites, or print resources, as well as insightful articles which discuss issues important to academic librarians. The authors often write about their own experiences with day-to-day librarian work; using a new tool to create a library guide or working with a new research database. The newsletters also provide updates as to what events are going on, and what different organization members are up to. While I wouldn't read these typically, it is a good way to stay up to date on trends going on in the social sciences and to look at model-librarians for inspiration. Aside from the publications, there are also resource bibliographies, links to select subject guides from which to draw inspiration, and various assessments and standards to put to use in your library. I really liked the linked tool kits from the ALA, which provide key resources not only for patrons in sociology and anthropology but resources for librarians, such as publications through which to find book reviews, and best practices.
http://connect.ala.org/node/173714

     I had never looked at the Library of Congress Teacher Resources before, but I will definitely consult this page in the future. The guide for non-LOC sociology resources is extensive, and while some of the links are dated or broken, most of the resources are valuable. I would recommend them to teachers and librarians alike. There are similar lists for other subjects and I will be sure to look in to them in the future.

     I like videos like Cale Brook's sociology theories introduction. I think these are great ways to brush up on a subject. As librarians, we will undoubtedly come into contact with more subjects and information-situations than we could possibly be prepared for. We won't be able to go in to every reference transaction already matching the patrons understanding of a topic, nor will we be able to enter every classroom with the same grasp as the students or professor. While we are surely equipped with the tools to find any book we could need on a subject, sometimes little explanations like these are all we need to get up to speed on a subject, at least until we have a better understanding. If I was asked last minute to provide bibliographic instruction to a sociology class, I might not have time to wade through all of the necessary material to understand sociological theories in full. A short video like this, made specifically to teach people would be a great resource to consult for a quick refresher. The multitude of informational videos on Youtube from amateur and professional teachers alike eases my mind that I will never know nothing about a topic, even on short notice. The same can be said for free online courses and podcasts. Understanding even the gist of sociological theories would allow me to provide better instruction to sociologists. The same goes for any topic.

http://libguides.bc.edu/content.php?pid=174749&sid=4431332
     When I'm looking for resources on my own I always try and look for ones that are open access. I liked this guide provided by Boston College for open-access sociology resources. The Directory of Open-Access Journals is a great portal to journals freely available to anyone. The link in the LibGuide takes you to the social sciences section, where there are many journals to look through. You can also search the entire DOAJ for articles of interest. The other pages include the open-access publisher/repository of the University of California. It would be great to one day see all state universities follow suit!

https://support.google.com/fusiontables/answer/2571232?hl=en
     Fusion Tables is a visualization tool that sociologists can use to analyze and publish their data in an accessible environment. I have not played around with it too much yet, but it uses spreadsheets to visualize or map data. What makes it special is that you can take other people's public data and incorporate it into your own projects. The "merged" tables are live and will change as others modify or add their data. This could be a really interesting collaborative tool students and researchers. Of course, it works with Google Drive, and so any spreadsheets you already have will be ready to go. Unfortunately, it does not seem to do statistical analysis, so one would have to do that sort of work in another environment.