Home Environment

The number of students from the FdA Community Family Support who have visited the library office today suggests that you're all rather keen! I have spoken to some of you and suggested which of the Athens services should be most useful to you in carrying out research for your course, but it also struck me that there are a lot of good quality websites which address some of the issues you will need to read about. So, if you're not already familiar with some of the sites listed below, then take some time to explore them and see what you can find. (Deep breath) Here goes...

Sites containing research information in your subject area are plentiful. I really can't praise the Joseph Rowntree Foundation enough, as their website is packed with news stories, reports and countless other resources on various social issues. Also well worth a look is Social Care Online, a freely accessible database of research that can be either searched or explored through subject headings. Other free sources of detailed reports and much besides include the Family and Parenting Institute and the Centre for Social Inclusion, while the Social Policy and Social Work gateway to research contains an impressive collection of links to sites covering all social issues. The website of the Economic and Social Research Council also contains information on both its own research and the projects of other organisations.

There are also several official / government websites which you should make yourself familiar with. The Social Exclusion Task Force is part of the Cabinet Office, and "champions the needs of the most disadvantaged members of society". Among the projects they are involved in is the ongoing Families at Risk Review, which has already produced the Reaching Out: Think Family report. The Communities and Local Government website is also worth bookmarking, and there should also be useful materials available from the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Still here? If you'd like a couple of sites which will help you keep up to date with your topic then you can read the archives of Community Care online for free. Similarly, all of the new and past content of the Guardian's Society supplement can be accessed from SocietyGuardian; the site also contains additional features which are not available in the print publication. And now I'm going to lie down...