WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY: LIBRARY RESOURCESJennifer Thiessen, Liaison Librarian for Women’s and Gender StudiesJuly 11, 2012

Our agenda• Finding journal articles

• Choosing a database/tool• Search tips• Evaluating

• Primary vs. secondary sources• Popular vs. academic

• Other tools• Writing/citing

• Questions? Help?Jobs for Girls and Women by Vintaga Posters

Getting started• Find a research topic (Need help? Look at course

readings, browse an encyclopedia, see what’s in the news)

• Find keywords in your topic• What are the effects of childbearing on labor supply?

• Generate search terms• Look for subject headings/descriptors, use synonyms, read

abstracts, use your own knowledge of the topic, etc.

• Choose database/s• Search• Evaluate

Why use databases?

Getting to the databases

Library website > Databases > Women’s Studies

Limit to peer-review…

Or not.

Look for subject headings to focus your search

More Search Tips• Use quotation marks for phrases

• “unpaid work”; “educational leadership”

• Use * to search for alternate endings• Canad* = Canada, Canadian, etc.; work* = work, works, working, etc.

• Use synonyms• work, labor, labour, job, employment, etc.

• childbearing, pregnancy, fertility, etc.

• Too many results?• Use limits (peer-reviewed, date, language, etc.)

• Add additional keywords; get more specific

• Too few results?• Remove one or more keywords

• Go broader (e.g. search Canada instead of Ontario)

Other tools• Primary sources?

Sarah Cowper's Diary, Volume 1, 1700-1702, Defining Gender, 1450-1910

• Use from the Library website • Why use Google Scholar?

o Another “database”o Find works that cite a particular

article/booko Watch:

Get Better Results with Google Scholar

CRAAP Test

http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf

• For evaluating books, journals, websites, etc.

(i.e. Can I use this in my paper/assignment?)

Writing and Citing• Many databases offer citation tools

More citation help:• APA Style Quick Guide 

(Dalhousie University)

• APA Style Guide (Purdue Online Writing Lab)

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Catalogue record for print copy in our library.

Need help? Visit http://bit.ly/WGST2P86

For more help…

•See the Library Help pages

•Contact the Library Help Desk•905-688-5550 x. 3233 or use email form

•Contact your liaison librarian:•Jennifer Thiessen (phone, chat, email)