Women's Studies 187
Visibilities/Invisibilities: The Sexual Politics of Looking
Spring 2008
Library Research Guide
Ellen Broidy
Librarian for Women's Studies
(310) 825-1324
Getting to this page:
Go to the UCLA Library's webpage (www.library.ucla.edu) and follow these simple steps:
Introduction
This guide is designed as an introduction to print ("real") and online ("virtual") resources critical for conducting research on topics related to "sexuality, representation & resistance" located at the UCLA Library and beyond. It is extremely selective, both in terms of the sources cited and the research strategies recommended (or implied). All reference and "finding" sources listed are available at UCLA, although not necessarily in the same library; however, a number of these point to materials, both real and virtual, beyond the campus borders.
The guide covers the following areas:
1. Basic Research Strategies and Tips
3. Finding Books / Monographic Materials
5. Full-Text Journals on the Web
1. Basic Research Strategies and Tips
a. Search tips ~Systems and Serendipity: Successful research is often a combination of systematic approaches and, when appropriate, serendipity.
b. Topic Identification and Description: Identify a topic of interest and describe it as narrowly/focused as possible. Consider subtopics, perspective you wish to take, geographical and/or chronological focus. Ask: What? Who? When? Where?
c. Search Vocabulary: Make a list of search terms (keywords) that describe your topic. Include synonyms, relevant proper names, etc. Avoid very common words if possible, but also include some general (e.g., healthcare) as well as precise descriptors.
d. Truncation: Use truncation symbols (?, *, or #) building on the root of a word or within a term to expand your retrieval. Specific symbol depends on the system you're using (UCLA Library Catalog, MELVYL, article database).
Examples:
wom#n = woman or women
sex? = sex, sexual, sexuality, sexualized, etc.
e. Call Numbers: Call numbers are determined by the first/primary subject heading of the publication. Thus, most (but not always necessarily all) books on women's healthcare, for instance, will be classed and shelved together. Once you find a promising call number(s) for your topic, browse the shelves in this area for serendipitous discoveries of other items that might be of interest/use. Important: topics for this class cover a wide range of disciplines (and libraries) so be careful not to rely on the first call number you locate.
f. Search Documentation: Keep careful track of your research process: sources consulted, date ranges covered, search terms used, as well as promising citations. Use a notebook, index cards (paper or electronic), and/or email messages to yourself, etc. to document your research process.
g. Some things to consider when assessing the quality and usefulness of an item (for print and electronic resources):
* Author: Credentials? Scholar? Academic field? Other publications?
* Publisher: University press? Other scholarly publisher? Trade? Other?
* Notes, etc.: Bibliography? Footnotes? Use to refine and/or expand research.
* Periodical: Scholarly journal? Popular magazine?
* Date: Original publication date (unless revised) - critically important!
* Reviews: If a book, can you locate book reviews?
This is the front door to a wide variety of print and electronic resources in Women's Studies; MELVYL, the union catalog for the University of California libraries; subject-related web pages developed at UCLA, and a range of general information about the Library.
3. Finding Books / Monographic Publications: UCLA Library and MELVYL Catalogs
Identifying and locating books on your topic is most conveniently done through a keyword or subject (heading) search using the UCLA Library Catalog or the UC systemwide MELVYL Catalog. Keyword searching (when available) is the most flexible, usually producing the largest retrieval (often including "false
drops"), while subject searching can often be more precise since it relies on authorized Library of Congress Subject Headings.
a. Library of Congress Subject Headings
Although the advent of online catalogs with keyword search capabilities has sounded the death knell for rigidly structured subject heading/classification schemes, it is still worth considering how language is used to organize materials in a research library. For example, it is possible (and frequently extremely beneficial) to do a subject search in the UCLA Library Catalog or MELVYL using Library of Congress subject headings.
A subject heading is a word or term that describes, often quite broadly, the contents of a book, journal article, videotape, dataset, etc. All nonfiction books and media are assigned one or more subject headings, allowing for multiple points of access to the same item. "Authorized" headings are found listed in Library of Congress Subject Headings, a four-volume set with a bright red cover located in YRL Reference (Z695.Z8 L524a).
One of the best and most efficient ways to identify subject headings for your topic is to do a keyword or title search in the UCLA Library Catalog or MELVYL and then display results in a format that shows subject headings. Note the subject headings for the most promising items then click on the subject heading (a live link) to execute a search on that subject.
b. UCLA Library Catalog
http://catalog.library.ucla.edu
The UCLA Library Catalog provides quick and efficient access to the holdings of the UCLA Library. The catalog should be your first stop for books and other monographic materials, periodicals, and media.
The UCLA Library Catalog is directly accessible from the UCLA Library homepage; Click on the "search and find" tab. The catalog is the first item on the drop-down menu.
The UCLA Library Catalog offers the following unique features:
* Circulation status of material -- the catalog tells you whether a book is available (on the shelf), checked out (and date it's due back), or missing;
* Serials information -- catalog lists both print and electronic serials publications with UCLA holdings
* Personal circulation data -- the catalog allows you to keep track online of materials you have checked out of the Library. Click on My Account and key in your UCLA Bruin Card number.
* Electronic reserves -- from the Services button at the top of the page you can go to course reserves and from there link to a specific course and check to see what, if anything, is "on-reserve" for the class in electronic format. .
c. UC MELVYL CATALOG
If your UCLA Library Catalog search does not produce the desired results, you may want to search the holdings of other libraries, particularly other UC libraries. The UC MELVYL Catalog opens doors to worlds beyond UCLA
To use the MELVYL Catalog, click on Search and Find and then on Other Catalogs. To research a topic, you may use either the default Basic Search screen or click on Advanced in the gold bar at the top of the page. Subject searches require word(s) from authorized LC subject headings but word order does not matter. If you are unsure of a subject heading, try a Keyword search instead.
4. Finding Articles: Periodical Indexes and Abstracting Services
The most convenient direct access to periodical indexes and abstracts is through the UCLA Library Homepage. Click on search and find and then on article databases or electronic resources. If you know a particular title, you can search for it here.
An interdisciplinary database combined from Women Studies Abstracts (1984-present), Women's Studies Database (1972-present), New Books on Women and Feminism (1987-present), Women of Color and Southern Women (1975-present), The History of Women and Science, Health, and Technology: A Bibliographic Guide to the Professions and Disciplines (1970-1995), Women's Health and Development: An
Annotated Bibliography (1995), Women, Race, and Ethnicity: A Bibliography (1970- 1990), WAVE: Women's Audiovisuals in English: A Guide to Nonprint Resources in Women's Studies (1985-1990).
The Contemporary Women's Issues database provides full-text access to global information on women. Journals, newsletters, and research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies are easily accessed through CWI. Information on women in over 190 countries is compiled in a single
collection bringing together such disciplines as sociology, psychology, health, education, business administration and political science. Coverage: 1992-present
.
Contains the full text of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas from the 1970's to the present. Provides in-depth coverage of subjects that are uniquely central to women's lives.
Both an index and abstracting database as well as a source for full-text on the web. You can limit retrieval to full-text.
A resource for literature regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues. Contains indexing and abstracts for more than 120 GLBT-specific core periodicals. Also contains data mined from over 40 priority periodicals as well as data mined from over 1400 select titles. Includes over 50,000 records relevant to all areas of GLBT studies selected from Sexual Diversity Studies database.
The FLI Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to journal articles on film and television, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001
5. Full-Text Journals on the Web
Access from either the UCLA Homepage E-Resources site (use dropdown menu; click on Women's Studies and then on either Electronic Journal Collections or Electronic Journals) or search by title in the UCLA Library Catalog.
Includes many full-text journals; click on pdf file for full-text online or UC-elinks to connect either to electronic version held by UC or to find out whether UC/UCLA subscribes to the journal in which the article appears.
Online access to full back-runs of academic journals across the disciplines. Includes:
Feminist Review 1979-2004
Feminist Studies 1972-2002**
Signs 1975-2002*
Gender & Society 1987-2004*
Women's Art Journal 1980-2006
Cinema Journal 1966-2006*
Film Quarterly 1958-2005*
PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 1998-2002
* = current issues available full-text online; check UCLA Online Catalog for links
** = selected articles from current issues full-text online; check UCLA Online Catalog for links
Full text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences, includes
differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies (fall 1998-2004; archive only)
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies (2001-)
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies (n.3, 1999;2000-)
Journal of the History of Sexuality (2001-)
PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art (1998- )
America's "newspaper of record," this site provides searchable access to the full-text of the New York Times. Separate links take you the historical backfile and the current issues (1980- ). The link from this page goes to the 1980- site.
Women's Studies / Women's Issues Resource Sites
Women's Studies / Women's Issues Resource Sites is a selective, annotated, highly acclaimed listing of web sites containing resources and information about women's studies / women's issues, with an emphasis on sites of particular use to an academic women's studies program. If you're looking for sites on a specific
women-focused topic, you may prefer to use the following subject sections rather than scroll through the all-inclusive alphabetical listing (the "last updated" sections are marked )