AIFS library

The Institute's Library aims to provide a widely accessible repository of Australian and overseas family research and information.

The library collection

Online library catalogue - provides access to the most substantial and up-to-date collection of international and Australian research on family wellbeing in Australia.

The collection features a large amount of 'grey literature' such as hard to find reports as well as books, journal articles, conference papers and presentations, book chapters, DVDs and kits.

The core collection covers the following broad areas:

child care;
child development and psychology;
family dynamics and relationships;
family economics;
family law;
parenting and parent education;
research methodology
social problems relating to families; and
sociology of the family.

To support the work of Child Family Community Australia, and the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault significant collections have also been developed relating to the areas of:

child abuse prevention;
child protection;
out-of-home care; and
sexual assault.

Australian Family & Society Abstracts

Produced by staff at the Institute's Library since 1984 the Australian Family & Society Abstracts is a database which:

records the research, policy and practice literature about Australian families and the social issues that affect them;
draws upon a wide range of social science disciplines, including sociology, psychology, demography, health, education, economics, law, history and social work; and
contains source documents including journal articles, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, research reports, discussion and working papers, unpublished papers, statistical documents and theses. Journal articles make up approximately 50 per cent of the literature indexed.

Family & Society Plus, an enhanced version of the database with a full text focus, was launched in 2004. This was replaced from January 2011 by the Informit Families and Society Collection.

You can:

subscribe online through Informit Online, an Australian web-based service of research and education databases operated by RMIT Publishing; or
review a list of journals regularly scanned for indexing by Library staff. Journals listed are available in libraries, from the AIFS Library via the interlibrary loan system, or directly from the publisher/distributor.

Records which form the basis of the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database can also be accessed through the AIFS library catalogue. Search by author, title or subject to find records describing material of interest.

Many of the documents are available online. These records include a URL which provides direct access to the document. However copyright restrictions do not allow us to provide the full text of all material online.

Family Thesaurus

Family Thesaurus provides a list of the subject terms developed for indexing and retrieving information in the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database. Terms included in the thesaurus reflect the database's multidisciplinary approach to factors affecting life in Australian society and are drawn directly from the literature being indexed. Please contact the library if you require a copy of Family Thesaurus.

Interlibrary loans and document delivery

Loans and photocopies of material from the Institute's library are available via interlibrary loan. Please contact your library to make arrangements.

Procedures and charges are based on the Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Code.

Visiting the library

The library is open to the public by appointment. Please contact the library to make an appointment. We are open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm (closed public holidays).