Core 110 (Jean Henscheid)  Sex and Culture: Sexual Orientation

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 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. 
Selected Reference Works for Sex & Culture: Sexual Orientation

Title/Description

Call #
Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies Ref HQ75.15.R43 2000
Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America Ref HQ76.3.U5E53 2004
Encyclopedia of Psychology Ref BF31.E52 2000
Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Ref PN1995.9.H55M87 1994
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

To search for books in our library, type your search terms in the box below:

Books listed may be 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).  Books from libraries not on the Moscow campus can be ordered using the "request" button.

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

Terms to browse by

  • Bisexuals
  • Coming out (sexual orientation)
  • Gay men
  • Gays
  • Homosexuality 
  • Lesbians
  • Transsexuals

Terms above with common subheadings

  • Gay men New York (State) New York History
  • Gay Youth United States
  • Homosexuality United States History
  • Lesbians biography
Selected Books on Reserve for Sex and Culture: Sexual Orientation

Because you will be looking for books specific to your topic, there are books on Reserve for your class. You can check them out from the Reserve Desk on the 1st floor of the library. These books are primarily examples of oral histories. To see them, click on the link below.

Books on Reserve at the Library for Core 110 (Henscheid)
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. 
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 or choosing one of those listed below. After selecting a database to search, type in search terms. Articles are generally more specific than books and may require a narrower search.

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: sexual orientation, gender transition, sex reassignment surgery, sex change, assigned gender, gender identity, gender studies, intersex, transsexuals, gender identity disorders

Example of an efficient search:

  • (gay or lesbian*): the parentheses and OR allow you to include more terms in one search
  • The * is a wildcard, so you will find lesbian or lesbians, history or histories
  • AND requires that the concepts of oral history and gay/lesbian sexual orientation are BOTH present in the resulting articles. 

Selected Article Indexes for Sex and Culture: Sexual Orientation Issues

Recommended Article Database Titles and Descriptions
EbscoSearch  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)".
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."
Lewiston Morning Tribune Archives Find full text of local news articles back to 1990. To access articles, enter the username "UIL" and password "1011738".
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.
Health Source: Consumer Edition Use this to get more popular articles focusing on health or medical aspects.  Some are full text.
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.
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. 
Government Information
Government publications come from state, federal, and foreign governments, as well as intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations. 
  • Government documents are 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.
  • 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 #
Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
Crime in Idaho http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/ucr/crime_idaho.html
Thomas (For searching U.S. laws and legislation) http://thomas.loc.gov/
Uniform Crime Reports (See especially hate crime section) http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm#cius
U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov
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  or Applying the CRAAP Test can help you choose reliable information.

Besides doing searches on www.google.com or other search engines, you can use subject lists that have evaluated web sites before inclusion: Librarians' Index to the Internet, lii.org and the Internet Public Library at www.ipl.org
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
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites: Oral History and Interviews http://www.cyndislist.com/oral.htm
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://www.baylor.edu/oral_history/index.php?id=23560
*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
Gay and Lesbian Oral History Sites  
ActUp Oral History Project http://www.actuporalhistory.org/
Northwest Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/lgbthistorynw/index.htm
*"Oral History" in the Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Culture http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/oral_history.html
Soundportraits: Remembering Stonewall (audio) http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/remembering_stonewall/
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 website 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