Documentation Service

Social Policy and Social Services Bibliographic Database

The SIIS Bibliographic Database consists of a collection of documents specialising in social policy and social services; with around 170,000 records, this increases every year with around 10,000 new entries including the main contributions in scientific literature to the study of all issues related to social care.

The SIIS document collection compiles the more relevant documents published by the major entities in the social sphere. Also, it includes records from more than 1,700 periodicals and magazines, amongst them the main scientific journals in the areas of social work, gerontology, medicine, sociology and social protection. The database also covers the “grey literature” –plans, reports, Annual Reports and evaluations- produced by various institutions -Autonomous, State and international- with areas of responsibility in social care.

More than two thirds of all documents that are currently included in the Database are stored in electronic format, which facilitates both their retrieval and circulation to the people who may want to consult them. On the other hand, the SIIS Library holds a hard copy of all of the documents with an entry reference in the database and those are available for consultation in it, for loan or can be copied through its reprographic service, in accordance with the applicable fees and regulations.

To access the document collection there are different options:

• .Through the Internet, accessing the database on line through the website www.siis.net ; the structure of the database displayed in column, divided by topic areas (people with disabilities, older people, social exclusion, drug dependency, family and gender, children and young people, social policy and social services, volunteers and third sector) allows the client the access, if so they wish, to the documents they are interested in exclusively.
• By phone, fax or e-mail requests, providing the required documents main details –title, subject, language, author, publishing year…-.
• Visit to the SIIS Library, during opening times, and requesting the Documentation staff to do the search.

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Social Policy Legislation Database

The Social Policy Legislation Database compiles the Spanish State and the Autonomous Communities laws on Social Policy and Social Services issues, encompassing all the existing range.

In addition to making a record of all type of legal provisions laid down since the adoption of the Constitution of 1978, it also allows the access to the full text of all current provisions that are included in it. Since 2001, these include EU law.

This database allows the enquiries through a search system based on a list of key words commonly used in the field of social services that does not required any knowledge of legal terms. The search can be refined by choosing from additional fields: type, bulletin, (legislative) body, enactment date or publishing date. As well as the Bibliographic Database, the Social Policy Legislation Database is available on line through the Internet or by requesting a search by e-mail, fax or phone.

This database holds currently almost 20,000 references, with 1,000 new additions every year.

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Press library

The SIIS compiles since 2001 all the news appeared in the Spanish press related to the older people, disability, addictions, poverty, social services and all general policies on social protection. The Press Library gathers items from the digital editions of around twenty newspapers, including those with State or Autonomous Communities’ circulation.

This database holds currently more than 30,000 news and press articles, with more than 3,000 new additions every year. All the news and articles from the Press Library are available in the SIIS for consultation or can be sent by e-mail; in addition, news published after 1st October 2004 can be requested directly through the SIIS website (www.siis.net).

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Custom searches

Through the custom document search service, the client requests -via Internet, E-mail, telephone, fax or a visit to the Library- a document search of the subject they are interested in; the SIIS staff then goes through the database.

The service is open to a single search or, if it is deemed convenient, be part of the custom updating services, for all those institutions that wish to take them up. In this case the centre sends periodically, according to the demand of the client, documents regarding specific subjects or with particular requirements that may have been incorporated to the database within that time.

Also, whenever deemed necessary, the search can be broadened to other specialised databases in health and social sciences.

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Electronic News Bulletins

Since 2003 the SIIS edits and distributes free of charge by e-mail a series of fortnightly monographic electronic bulletins, with focus in these topics:

• Older people
• Gender and family
• Social Exclusion
• Children and Young People
• Disability
• Social Policy
• Volunteers
• Drug dependency

These news bulletins are an updating service to inform interested parties about the latest entries in the documentation centre in their areas of interest.

Each bulletin includes a section of Press Library, events and announcements dairy, links to books and electronic documents, as well as a selection of legislative proposals and legal provisions specific for each field, with access to the full text of the news, documents and legislation recorded.

Subscriptions to the different bulletins can be made through the website www.siis.net or by sending an e-mail to the address documentacion@siis.net.

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Collaboration Network

The SIIS has set up with several organizations a collaboration network system that allows them to include in its Bibliographic Database items available in other Libraries in order to establish a wider integrated collection and offer a better service to its clients. In this instance, the SIIS assists with advice and index-linking services for maintaining libraries from several organizations like the Wellbeing Institute of the Alava Local Assembly, the Department of Social Policy of the Gipuzkoa Local Assembly, the Department of Social Care of the Bizkaia Local Assembly and the Drug Dependencies Directorate of the Basque Government.

In addition, the SIIS also runs, under the scope of the Basque Watchdog for Drug Dependency, the Documentation Centre for Drug Dependencies of the Basque Country (CDD), which holds one of the most important collections specialising in drugs and drug dependency in Spain. Also, in conjunction with the Royal Trust for Disability, the SIIS runs the Spanish Documentation Centre for Disability (CEDD), with headquarters in Madrid.

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