Class Guide for
GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES SENIOR SEMINAR: GWS 498
Spring 2008

Back to Women and Gender Studies

Welcome! This site has been created to assist you in finding and using library resources for the topics you are researching in your senior seminar.  Our library, one of the largest university libraries in the U.S., can be a bit overwhelming at first, but it is truly a treasure trove for scholars. All of the UIUC Library's resources are available to you as you do your research, so explore, have fun, and don't hesitate to ask questions!

ASK-A-LIBRARIAN FOR HELP WITH YOUR RESEARCH

LIBRARY HOURS

Hours and contact information for all UIUC Libraries.

FINDING ARTICLES

Journal articles are one of the primary means of communicating research and ideas in academia. They can be an important component of your research paper and give you some insight into ongoing debates and conversations about your topic.

Finding articles is a two-step process:

• First, find the citation to the articles you want. You can use reading lists from class, consult a bibliography or the works cited in a relevant book or article, or you can search for the topic you are interested in by using one of the article databases listed below. If you get stuck, ask your professor or Ask-A-Librarian for help getting started.
• Next, find the actual text of the articles you want. Many journals are online, but many still live on the shelves. If the article is not available electronically, you will need to use the Online Library Catalog to look up the source of the citation you have retrieved from the article database.

WHICH DATABASES WILL WORK BEST FOR THIS CLASS?

• Women's Studies International (1972 to date)
  Provides citations to journals, books, book chapters, proceedings, NGO reports, and gray literature. Over 2,000 periodical sources are represented.
• GenderWatch (1974 to date)
  This full text database indexes journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets, and reports. Covers business, education, literature and the arts, health sciences, history, public policy, and contemporary culture.  Has more of a U.S. focus than worldwide.
• LGBT Life
  Includes the full text for 55 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as more than 100 full-text monographs and books. The database includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBT Thesaurus containing over 6,400 terms.
• Academic Search Premier (1984 to date)
  Identifies articles in most scholarly subject areas including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. Also provides access to many magazines such as Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated. This multidisciplinary database provides full text access to about 1500 periodicals and citation/summary access to articles from about 4000 periodicals
• SocINDEX (1985 to date)
  Identifies articles in all areas of sociology including anthropology, criminology, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, and urban studies. Indexes over 620 core coverage journals dating back to 1895, over 500 priority journals as well as selective coverage for over 1,390 additional journals. Extensive indexing for books, monographs, conference papers, and other sources is included.
• Historical Abstracts and America History and Life
  Go here to search for articles, books, dissertations on world history since 1450, and on U.S. and Canadian history from prehistory to the present.
• MLA Bibliography (1921/1925 to date)
  Identifies articles, books, dissertations on literature, languages, film and folklore.
• Health Source (1985 to date)
  Provides basic coverage of literature in journal articles, pamphlets, and health reference books. Searches three databases simultaneously: Heath Source Consumer edition; Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition; and Clinical Pharmacology. 
• PsycINFO (1967 to date)
  Identifies articles, books and dissertations in psychology and related subjects. Some materials are full text. The database covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and other areas. Coverage is worldwide, and includes references and abstracts to dissertations and over 1400 journals in more than 30 languages, and to book chapters and books in the English language.
• Web of Knowledge (1970 to date)
  Identifies articles in science, social science, and arts and humanities, and the articles that cite them.  Indexes the top journals in most academic fields, providing complete bibliographic information and full length author abstracts. Search for articles on a particular topic, or search for articles that have cited a known article. All of an article's references are listed and can be used to search for related articles with common citations.
• Online Research Resources
  The complete list of electronic databases that the UIUC Library purchases. If you don't find what you need using the resources in this section, try browsing this list for resources in your subject area. This source also indicates which journals provide full-text to UIUC students and faculty.

FINDING BOOKS

• Online Library Catalog - Look here to find books, magazines or journals containing articles that you need, DVDs, and many other resources.  In addition to the 10 million volumes we have on this campus, you can connect to over 70 other libraries in Illinois and request books be sent to you.
  
  When you find something you want in the catalog, write down the following:

  Location - in which library the item is kept (or libraries, if we have multiple copies)
  Call Number - this number is essential for finding the item on the shelf
  Status - is it available for you to check out?

  Hint: Catalogs are used for two purposes: (1) If you know exactly what you are looking for - an exact title or author - you can use the catalog to locate your material (this works for book titles and journal titles); (2) You can also use catalogs to discover material that might be helpful to you by doing subject and keyword searching.
• WorldCat and Interlibrary Loan - The places to verify citations for books and request books and articles you cannot find elsewhere.

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU GO FOR INFORMATION? SELECTED WEBSITES

• Women & Gender Studies Information Resources -- The UIUC Library gateway to information resources for women and gender studies.
• Women's Studies/Women's Issues Resources -- This is a selective, annotated list of resources with a particular emphasis on sites of interest for academic women's studies issues. Maintained by Joan Korenman.
• WSSLINKS: Women and Gender Studies Web Sites -- WSSLINKS provides access to a wide range of resources in support of Women's Studies. Maintained by Women' Studies Librarians in the Women's Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

CENSUS DATA AND STATISTICS

• FedStats
• Statistical Abstract

CITING SOURCES IN YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Style and Writing Guides -- How to format citations, write papers, and do research in the the social sciences.
• Refworks -- A great tool for writing papers, Refworks helps you export bibliographic records from databases, change the citation styles as needed and import the citation directly into a Word document so you can create bibliographies on the fly. For help using this utility, see Refworks Help.

MORE TIPS ON USING THE LIBRARY

• Basic Library Usage -- A great source on how to use the UIUC Libraries. See the FAQ at the bottom of the page.
• Research Process -- A step-by-step guide to research that takes you through the entire process, from choosing your topic to citing sources.
• Guide to Sources in Women's Studies -- A guide to women's studies-related sources in the Education and Social Science Library and the Main Library.

February 4, 2008