Core 160-04 (Jean Henscheid)  Sex and Culture: Oral Histories on Gender, Work, Aging and UI History

research guide
Librarian: Diane Prorak
E-mail: prorak@uidaho.edu

UI Library Website: www.lib.uidaho.edu

If you need additional help with your research, try:
Reference Works
The reference section can be the best place to start your research. 

Use reference works to:

  • Get an overview or background information on a topic 

  • Get ideas for focusing your own research
  • Find bibliographies of more in-depth sources
  • Find quick facts and statistics
  • Find biographical information
How To Use The Reference Section
The reference section is located on the 1st floor of the library. Because it is a fairly small area, browsing the shelves in the general area of your topic is a quick way to look for relevant material. Books are shelved using the Library of Congress classification scheme. Reference works (both print and electronic) can also be found by searching the library catalog. Remember to make your search terms general as reference works tend to have broad coverage. For example, a keyword search using "gender" and "encyclopedia" finds two encyclopedias  covering many different aspects of gender.

 
Selected Reference Works for Sex & Culture: Gender, Work and Aging

Title/Description

Call #
Encyclopedia of Aging Ref HQ1061.E53 2001
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender Ref HQ16.E53 2004
Encyclopedia of Women in the American West  Ref HQ1438.W45E53
Encyclopedia of Women and Gender Ref HQ1115.E43 2001
Graying of America Ref HQ1064.U5K39 2001
A Handbook of Death and Dying Ref HQ1073.H36 2003
A History of Women in the United States (organized by state) Ref HQ1410.H58 2004
International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family Ref HQ9.E52 2003
Books
Books may contain a broad overview of a topic or an in-depth exploration of a topic. Books range from popular to scholarly and as with all sources, you should be aware of the author's credentials. 

Keep in Mind:

  • Books on a broad topic may contain chapters or essays on your topic. Often these are not indicated by the title. When searching, think both broadly and narrowly. 
  • Check the index of a book to find your subject.
  • The bibliography in a book can be a great place to find additional sources.
How To Find Books
Books located at the UI Library, the UI Women's Center (in Memorial Gym) the UI Law Library, NIC (North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene), and LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston) can be found by searching the Library Catalog. For help with searching  the catalog, see the Searching for Books Library Guide. 

For this assignment a subject search may work well. Examples of subject search terms are:

Possible subject terms

  • Aging
  • Aging Psychological Aspects
  • Family Economic Aspects
  • Gerontology
  • Mothers Employment United States
  • Old age United states
  • Older People United States
  • Older People Social Conditions (or social aspects)
  • Retirees
  • Sex differences
  • Sexual Division of Labor
  • Women College Teachers United States History
  • Women Employment United States History
  • Women United States Social Conditions
  • Work and Family United States

 
Selected Books for Sex and Culture: Gender, Work and Aging

Because you will be looking for books specific to your topic, only a few  titles are suggested below. Consider browsing some of these sections: HQ1420 - 1421 (3rd floor), HD6095 (3rd floor), LB2332.3 (3rd), BF724 (4th floor)

Many books have also been put on Reserve.  Go to this link to see them:

http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/ereserve/show_course.php3?pointer=574

Also on RESERVE are many years of the UI yearbook , Gem of the Mountains.

Title/Description

Call #
America's Working Women: A Documentary History On Reserve
Beyond the Typewriter: Gender, Class and the Origins of Modern American Office Work, 1900-1930 HF5547.5.S816 1992
Doing Oral History On Reserve
Doing What the Day Brought: an Oral History of Arizona Women HQ1438.A6R67
Oral History Reader D16.14.O76
Working by Studs Terkel On Reserve
Articles
Articles are found in periodicals.  Examples of periodicals are magazines, journals, and newspapers. Scholarly (also called peer-reviewed or refereed) journals are one of the primary means of disseminating ideas in academic scholarship. 

If you are unsure how to differentiate between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine, two helpful websites are:
How To Find Articles
Articles are located by searching for your topic in an article database (sometimes called an article index). First, select an appropriate database from the Library Find Articles page. The next to the database title gives information about the coverage of the database. 

After selecting a database to search, type in search terms. Articles are generally more specific than books and may require a narrower search. For more help see the How to Find Periodical (Magazine) Articles.

IMPORTANT SEARCH TIP:  If you are not getting the results you want from your search:

  • Try different search terms or different combinations of terms
  • Try a different database

Some terms or phrases you may find useful: women higher education history, employment, workplace, universities, academia, sex differences, gender inequality, professional, faculty, occupations, family, parenthood, retirees, elderly, sex roles, college teachers

Example of a more complex search:

  • (employ* or work): the parentheses and OR allow you to include more terms in one search
  • The * is a wildcard, so you will find employment, employees, etc.
  • AND requires that the concepts of gender issues, work issues, professionals or higher education and historical treatment are all present in the resulting articles. 

Selected Article Indexes for Sex and Culture: Sexual Orientation Issues

Title/Description
Ebsco Search  A good general database of both scholarly and popular articles in almost all subject areas, many full text or with links to full text.  An excellent starting place. You can limit your search to scholarly journals by checking a box under "Limit your results" called "Peer Reviewed (Scholarly Journals)".  This is a combination of databases: Academic Premier, Masterfile Premier and Communication and Mass Media.
Lexis Nexis A full text database with many newspaper articles and radio transcripts included (as well as legal and business information).  You can also search campus newspapers by choosing the tab "Guided News Search" then the pulldown "University News."
Reader's Guide Retrospective 1980-1982. Covers popular magazines.  The UI Library will own the old issues for some of the major magazines listed.
CQ Researcher  An excellent and reliable source for overviews of many social and ethical topics.  Each week the publication explores a topic in depth.  Broaden your topic to see what is available.  Full text.
JSTOR A full text database of older journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
ERIC (Ebsco) Database covering the field of education.  Search for "higher education history" with additional terms relating to your topic.
Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective 1907-1984 Lists older scholarly articles.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition Articles focusing on medical and health issues. Use this to explore medical aspects of your topic.  Some are full text.
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection  For mostly scholarly sources that deal with the psychology of gender issues.  Many full text articles.
Polling the Nations Gives questions and results of polls on various topics.  You may want to browse the list of topics and choose a broader aspect of your topic. 
Searching the Argonaut Newspaper
The Argonaut can be very useful for researching UI history.

The student newspaper can be searched online from 2002 - present using this link:
http://www.argonaut.uidaho.edu/current/news2.html

Choose the Google search or click on the Archives for selected dates.

Another option for very old issues (approximately 1899 - 1992) is to search the "Argonaut Index" -- a card catalog file (in drawers) in the library.  It is found on the 1st floor behind the atlases.  Ask at the Reference Desk.  The cards provide dates for the topic you are looking for in the newspaper.  To see the articles, use the microfilm version on the 2nd floor of the library (found in the Idaho newspapers drawers, under Moscow). You may have to try looking up different terms to describe your topic to find anything.

Government Information
Government publications come from state, federal, and foreign governments, as well as intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations. Many government publications are primary source documents. 

Keep in Mind:

  • A great place to look for statistical information
  • Government publications are often organized differently than the other collections in a library. Ask a reference librarian for help.
  • The University of Idaho Library is both an Idaho state and federal depository library. This means we have most government publications from these two jurisdictions.
How To Find Government Resources
Government documents can be difficult to find. How to Find Government Information is a good place to start. Once you have a call number for an item, you need to go to Government Documents on the 1st floor of the library.

 
Selected Government Resources for Sex and Culture

Title/Description

Call #
National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/
National Center for Health Statistics: Aging http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/agingact.htm
Thomas (For searching U.S. laws and legislation) http://thomas.loc.gov/
Uniform Crime Reports  http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm#cius
U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/
U.S. Government Statistics sites http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/govdocs/subject.php3?sp=3
Other U.S. Government information web sites http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/govdocs/index.php3
Internet Resources
Information on the Internet ranges from the free web to electronic books, journals, etc. that the library pays for. The Internet is a wonderful source for many different types of information. It is important to remember that anyone can publish something on the web and it is critical to evaluate your source carefully. The library's Website Evaluation Criteria can help you choose reliable information.
How To Find Internet Resources
For some tips on the difference between search engines, subject directories, and the invisible web see this UC Berkeley tutorial Types of Search Tools.
Selected Internet Resources for Sex and Culture Oral History Project

* First choice sites

Title/Description

URL
General Oral History Sites  
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1940 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html
Center for Oral History (U of Connecticut) http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~cohadm01/links.html
Doing Oral History http://www.tntech.edu/history/oral.html
Guidelines for Oral History Interviews (Library of Congress)  http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/lessons/oralhist/ohguide.html
*Oral History Workshop on the Web
Look especially at these sections:
Ethical and Legal Considerations
Interviewing Tips
Interview Do's and Don'ts
 http://www3.baylor.edu/Oral_History/Introduction.htm
Oral History: Techniques and Procedures http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/oral.htm
*Using Oral History (Library of Congress) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/lessons/oralhist/ohstart.html
Voices from the Days of Slavery (American Memory Collection) (audio) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vfshtml/vfshome.html
What Did You Do in the War Grandma? This interesting collection of oral histories includes some insights into the lives of professional and educated women during WWII. http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/

http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/WarSparks.html
UI History Sites (Special Collections and Archives, UI Library)  
Manuscript Resources (see UI section) http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/
Campus Buildings http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/uibldngs.html
UI History: A Bibliography http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/History.Bibliography.html
Historical Timeline of the UI http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/timeline.htm
Digital Memories Back Issues  http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/dm/dgtlmem.htm
Women: A Guide to Materials in Special Collections http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/women.htm
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Sometimes, you will be required to use primary and/or secondary sources in your research. It can be difficult to know the difference. The same source might be a primary resource for one topic and a secondary resource for another. The two websites below will help you to locate and understand the difference between the two types of sources.
Citing Sources

You will need to properly cite your sources in  APA style.  Here are some links that may be helpful:

APA Style.org

UI Library's page of Electronic Style Guides

 

Updated February 2005