- Welcome
- Books
- Journal Articles
- Databases
- Journals
- Archives & Primary Sources
- Data & Statistics
- Government Information
- Laws & Legislation
- Maps & GIS
- Media
- Websites
- Writing & Citing
Welcome
Welcome. This guide is designed to help you with your research. You can use this guide to begin your research or book an appointment to work on your research with Martha Attridge Bufton, your subject specialist.
Martha can help you find the research materials you need to complete your assignments and papers. See the side menu for Martha’s contact information.
Instructional videos
Beware of filter bubbles: using search engines to find good, relevant information
Dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks are a good place to start because they provide short definitions and introductions to key concepts.
Dictionaries
- A critical dictionary of educational concepts : an appraisal of selected ideas and issues in educational theory and practice
- A dictionary of education
- Human services dictionary
Encyclopedias
- Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition
- Canadian Encyclopedia of Social Work
- The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development
- Encyclopedia of Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology
- Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
- Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
- The Social Science Encyclopedia
Handbooks
- Key concepts in childhood studies
- The Routledge international handbook of the sociology of education
Plus, see our Library Guide for Child Studies, a listing of resources held by the library including bibliographies, dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Books
Use keywords to find books, government and other documents as well as films in the library’s collection. For all relevant titles, click on the subject headings to continue your search.
Here is a small sample of books found in the library's collection that are related to child development and child studies:
- Children and play
- Every image, every child. Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse in Canada
- Developmental milestones of young children
- Child development at the intersection of emotion and cognition
- Media and youth: a developmental perspective
- Peer groups and children's development
- The development of shyness and social withdrawal
- Rethinking learning disabilities: understanding children who struggle in school
- Researching IT in education: theory, practice and future directions
- Views on positive parenting and non-violent upbringing: a report from the Consultation with Children and Parents, Strasbourg, October 2005
Save search alerts: save your favorite searches for easy reference so that you can run these searches on demand (note: this feature saves your search terms but not the materials that you find).
Journal Articles
Start your search with Child Development and Adolescent Studies which is the key database for this discipline and then broaden your search by looking at the literature in pscyhology and sociology.
For Human Rights related materials, try HuriSearch, a human rights search engine.
Click on the Databases tab to view the list of other sources for finding journal articles in child studies.
Databases
You can also use Family and Society Studies Worldwide.
Journals
The following journals are recommended by Child Studies faculty. Some of these publications are available only in either print or online while others are available in both formats.
Archives & Primary Sources
If your research has an historical component, you may want to consult the following archives for primary and secondary sources:
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is the shared documentary heritage of all Canadians. The collection comprises materials in all media (e.g., books, maps, films and music) from all parts of the country, as well as records and publications of Canadian interest from outside the country. LAC has a number of special collections such as:
- The Aboriginal Resources and Services Portal provides a window to collections of resources created by or about Aboriginal peoples in Canada from private and government sources, digital copies of these works, virtual exhibitions, finding aids and other tools to locate materials.
- Ethno-Cultural Groups
In addition, you can search the archival collection to find collections from organizations such as:
- Save the Children-Canada
- Canadian Council on Children and Youth
- Children's Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto
Carleton University Archives and Research Collections
The Carleton University Archives and Research Collections (ARC) has some rare books related to child studies. Here is a sample:
- Instructions for putting together the "chart of somatotypes in children"
- First or Mother's Dictionary for Children
- Tail feathers from Mother Goose: the Opie rhyme book
Visit the ARC website for further information about the collections.
Data & Statistics
Federal
- Aboriginal Peoples Survey 1991 and 2001
- Aboriginal Peoples Survey (Statistics Canada)
- Ontario Data Documentation, Extraction Service and Infrastructure Initiative
- National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth
The Data Centre acquires, manages, and preserves quantitative computer-readable data files from the various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and provides data-related services as needed to support research and instruction at Carleton.
Federal
Statistics Canada has a number of resources related to children and youth including:
- Aboriginal Children's Survey 2006
- Canadian Community Profiles 2006 (Statistics Canada)
- Census information
- Children and Youth Research Paper Series
- The Early Learning Experiences of Inuit, Métis and Off-reserve First Nations Children in Canada (Statistics Canada)
- Community Information Database (based on census data, provides socioeconomic and demographic data and information for all Canadian communities)
Provincial
- Alberta Official Statistics
- British Columbia Statistics
- Institute de la statistique Québec
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency
- Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics
- Nunavut Bureau of Statistics
- Ontario
- Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics
- Yukon Bureau of Statistics
- Provincial Vital Statistics Offices
Note: statistics on provincial Aboriginal populations is often drawn from the 2006 national census.
United States
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) statistics and monitoring
United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention: Obesity Trends
For more information or research assistance, consult the Maps, Data and Government information web pages on the library's website.
Government Information
Find government information online.
In addition, the following federal departments and agencies have programs which directly impact children and their families:
- Canada Mortage and Housing Corporation
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- Correctional Service of Canada
- Department of Finance (including Canadian government budgets)
- Department of Justice
- Canadian Human Rights Commission
- Government of Canada
- Health Canada
- Health Canada National Anti-Drug Strategy
- Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
- HRSDC Income Security Programs
- HRSDC Indicators of Well-being
- Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
- Parliament of Canada
- Public Health Agency of Canada: Childhood and Adolescence
- Public Health Agency of Canada: Safe, Health Environments
In addition to the following websites, you can do a Google search for governnment web links on the library's Maps, Data and Government Information web page.
Federal responsibilities include making laws "for the peace, order and good government of Canada,” except for those assigned to the provincial governments including:
- direct taxation in the province for provincial purposes
- natural resources
- prisons (except penitentiaries)
- education
- hospitals
Here are links to the provincial and territorial governments:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- New Brunswick
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Prince Edward Island
- Québec
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon
Other provincial sites
Ontario
- City of Ottawa
- City of Ottawa Family Support Program
- Community Information Centre of Ottawa
- Community Information Centre of Ottawa e-Blue Book (online directory)
Laws & Legislation
- Justice Laws (consolidated statutes)
- Young Offenders Act
- Youth Criminal Justice Act
Other federal legislation
Ontario
- Child and Family Services Act (Ontario)
- Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 (Ontario)
- Ontario Disability Support Program Act (Ontario)
- Ministry of Health and Long-term Care
- Ministry of the Attorney General (family law)
For other legislation, please use one of the links below:
- Ontario E-Laws
- Quebec Laws & Regulations
- Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII): for all provinces
Maps & GIS
GeoGratis
GeoGratis is a portal provided by the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada which provides free geospatial data and without restrictions via your Web browser.
Media
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collections include
- Aboriginal peoples
- Canada's Digital Collections (operated by Industry Canada from 1996 to 2004 and archived at LAC)
- Ethnocultural groups
- Photographs
Other images of Canadian children can be found at:
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada's online screening room allows you to watch hundreds of films free online documentaries, animated and alternatiave drama films.
Carleton University film collection
Our collection contains many films related to child studies including:
- Boys, toys and the big blue marble. Abused and exploited youngsters on different continents speak about their lives and their amusements. They describe suffocating poverty as well as hopes and dreams. This documentary is told from the boys' viewpoint.
- Childhood. Presents an insightful and richly textured examination of the various influences that shape us as individuals and as members of the families and societies in which we are raised.
- Four feet up. A documentary on child poverty in Canada.
- Of hopscotch and little girls. This documentary looks at the lives and inequalities faced by little girls around the world through the game of hopscotch.
- The Pinecrest diaries. This documentary follows is the story of three boys, their low-income Ottawa community and a principal who refused to give up on the troubled elementary school that connects them all.
Websites
Listed below are general links in addition to links on special topics such as the social determinants of health.
General links
- Adoption Council of Canada
- Canadian Institute of Child Health
- Canadian Council on Social Development: social policy links
- Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-being
- Children and Youth Services Review (electronic journal)
- The Consortium for Street Children
- Department of Justice Canada: Programs for children of loss: Separation, Divorce and Death
- Fraser Mustard Chair in Early Childhood Development
- International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBCR)
- Vanier Institute of the Family
Abuse and Violence
- La Marsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution (York University)
- Child Welfare Information Gateway (United States)
- National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (Canada)
- Victims of Violence (Canadian Centre for Missing Children)
Bereavement
Child care
Child Welfare and Poverty
- 2009 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada (Campaign 2000)
- Campaign 2000. End Child Poverty in Canada.
- National Child Benefit (Canada)
- Child Welfare League of Canada
- Child Welfare League of America
- Unicef Canada. Aboriginal Children's Health: Leaving No Child Behind. Canadian supplement to The State of the World's Children 2009
Developmental Psychology
- American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Canadian Paediatric Society
- Developmental Psychology Links (APA )
- Developmental Psychology (Athabasca University)
- Child Neurology Home Page
- Early Childhood Research & Practice (ECRP)
- Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative Information Technology Group
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- Society for Research In Child Development
Education
- Canadian Education Association
- Canadian Global Campaign for Education
- Community Social Planning Council of Toronto (see recent reports)
- Ontario Ministry of Education
Impact of the Internet
- World Internet Project (Click on the Canadian flag and then CIP - Canada Online! 2007)
Social Determinants of Health
- Canadian Nurse Association (Do a Google search for social determinants of health to find the background report)
- Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
- Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (WHO)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- UCL International Institute for Society and Health (Do a search for social determinants of health)
Suicide prevention
Writing & Citing
Copies of the most recent versions of the major academic style manuals (e.g., APA, MLA, Turabian) are available at the Research Help Desk (2nd floor, MacOdrum Library).
Guides to citing online materials
The Columbia Guide to Online Style. 2006
Recommended websites
613-520-2600 x2985