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Sociology 226: The LGBTQ Movement: Identity, Politics and Social Change

Professor: Kimberly Simmons
Librarian: Leanne Pander
Fall 2004

THE LIBRARY CATALOG

The Library Catalog section of the Library Gateway is the primary instrument for accessing the collections of the Bowdoin College Libraries. Included are bibliographic records for books, periodical titles, Archives materials, videorecordings, and sound recordings. Also listed are some of the government documents and Special Collections materials.

In the Library Catalog, you may search for an item by its Author (including editors, illustrators, translators, and corporate authors); Title (including series titles and alternate titles); or one of several other access points, such as call number or words in title. For best results in Subject searching, use the standardized subject headings found in the large red Library of Congress Subject Headings books. Sometimes, searching by WORD will turn up references you would not have found easily by subject, especially with "jargon" words or new terms.

The general call number range for resources on Sexuality and Gay and Lesbian Studies is HQ 12-472; the area for Women's Studies and Sex Role is HQ 1101-2030. Many other areas of the collection contain sources that relate to Sociology and related topics, so it's important to use the Library Catalog, in conjunction with browsing the shelves.

Some relevant subject headings for Sociology 226 are listed below; there are many others!

GENDER IDENTITY
GAYS
HOMOSEXUALITY
BISEXUALITY
LESBIANS
TRANSSEXUALS
TRANSSEXUALISM
SEX ROLE
SEX CHANGE
HOMOSEXUALS
HOMOPHOBIA
HETEROSEXISM

ENCYCLOPEDIAS: General

Encyclopedia of American social history/ Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, Peter W. Williams, editors. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993
Main Ref. HN57 E58 1993
Arranged thematically, with entries on broad topics such as The Construction of Social Identity, which includes essays on Gender and Sexual Orientation. Use the subject index at the end of volume 3 to target specific topics.

Encyclopedia of European social history from 1350 to 2000 / Peter N. Stearns, editor-in-chief. 5 vols. New York : Scribner, c2001
Main Ref. HN373 .E63 2001
This important scholarly work covers more than six centuries of social history. Articles are arranged thematically (not alphabetically); volume 3 is of special interest, including lengthy sections on Gender, Sexuality, Body and Mind.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS: Sexuality and Gay Studies

The following encyclopedias provide scholarly information on cultural, social, literary, historical and contemporary aspects of gay and lesbian culture and sexual topics in the U.S. and worldwide. Use these encyclopedias to find an overview of a topic, a place, an event, or biographical information relating to sexuality, lesbian and gay studies. Encyclopedia entries also contain bibliographies with recommendations for further reading. These books are representative of a large selection of research materials in this subject area available in the reference collection, as well as the circulating collections of the Bowdoin Library; see call numbers around HQ 12-472.

Cassell's encyclopedia of queer myth, symbol, and spirit: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender lore / Randy P. Conner, David Hatfield Sparks, Mariya Sparks. London: Cassell, 1997.
Main Ref. HQ 75.15 C66 1997

Completely queer : the Gay and Lesbian encyclopedia / Steve Hogan and Lee Hudson. New York : Henry Holt, 1998.
Main Ref. HQ75 .H63 1998

Encyclopedia of homosexuality / edited by Wayne R. Dynes. 2 vols. New York: Garland, 1990.
Main Ref. HQ 76.25 E53 1989

Gay & lesbian biography / Michael J. Tyrkus, editor. Detroit, St. James Press, 1997.
Main Ref. HQ 75.2 G39 1997

The gay and lesbian movement: references and resources / Robert B. Marks Ridinger. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1996.
Main Ref. HQ76.5 .R53 1996

Gay histories and cultures : an encyclopedia / George E. Haggerty, editor. New York : Garland, 2000.
Main Ref. HQ75.13 .G37 2000

Human sexuality: an encyclopedia / edited by Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough. New York: Garland, 1994.
Main Ref. HQ 9 H846

The International encyclopedia of sexuality / edited by Robert T. Francoeur. 3 vols. New York : Continuum, 1998.
Main Ref. HQ21 .I68 1998

Lesbian histories and cultures: an encyclopedia / Bonnie Zimmerman, editor. New York: Garland, 2000.
Main Ref. HQ 75.5 L4395 2000

Reader's guide to lesbian and gay studies / editor, Timothy F. Murphy. Chicago ; London : Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000.
Main Ref. HQ75.15 .R43 2000

St. James Press gay & lesbian almanac / editor, Neil Schlager. Detroit, St. James Press, 1998.
Main Ref. HQ 76.3 U5 S75 1998

Who's who in contemporary gay & lesbian history: from World War II to the present day / edited by Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon. New York: Routledge, 2001
Main Ref. HQ 75.2 W47 2001

Who's who in gay & lesbian history: from antiquity to World War II / edited by Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon. New York: Routledge, 2001
Main Ref. HQ 75.2 W46 2001

PERIODICALS, PRINT AND ELECTRONIC

Periodical titles are listed in the Library Catalog. Periodicals (which may also be called journals, magazines, or serials) are shelved alphabetically by title. Unbound issues (generally, just the current year) are located on the first floor. Back issues are bound and shelved in the basement. Science titles are in Hatch Science Library.

Individual articles are not listed in the Library Catalog, but you may use the Library Gateway to connect to a variety of periodical indexes, described below. These are searchable by subject, author, keyword, etc., and contain citations, abstracts, and sometimes the full text of articles.
Use the " Find Journals" link on the Library Gateway to determine whether Bowdoin owns a journal in print or electronic format.
For journals not available at Bowdoin, use Interlibrary Loan.

Electronic Access to Periodicals

A number of Sociology journals are available online, as well as in print form. The JSTOR system is an electronic collection of important scholarly journals starting with the first volume, with a "moving window" of five years (i.e., the current five years are NOT in the database). Many Sociology journals are included.

Other full-text journal articles are found in Academic Search Premier and some of the other Indexes and Databases listed below.

Indexes & Databases

These sources provide subject and author access to articles in periodicals and other current publications. They differ in the selection of journals covered and in the way they present their information. Although some duplication will be found among the various indexes, it is worthwhile to try several for a thorough literature search on any topic.

The indexes listed below are accessed electronically through the Library Gateway Indexes & Databases section.

Academic Search Premier. 1980's+
An excellent "all-purpose" database containing citations and selected full-text for popular magazines and scholarly journals in social sciences, humanities, and sciences, as well as general interest. You may limit searches to scholarly sources. Contains full-text for over 3,000 journals, and indexing for over 4,000.

Alternative Press Index. 1969+
Indexes nearly 300 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines, with selected abstracts from research journals. Coverage is international and interdisciplinary. Provides in-depth coverage in the humanities and social sciences in areas such as women's studies, political issues, gay/lesbian studies, environmental topics, labor, cultural and social issues.

Contemporary Women's Issues. 1992+
A full-text database with articles from journals, newsletters and research reports containing information on women in over 190 countries. Strong in the subject areas of sociology, psychology, the arts, health education, business administration, and political sciences. Includes many "alternative" types of publications related to women's issues.

Lexis/Nexis Academic. 1980+
Contains the full text of articles from worldwide newspapers, magazines, news wires and trade journals. Starting dates vary for different publications; current information is updated daily.

Sociological Abstracts. 1963+
Indexes the literature of sociology from 1,800 journals published worldwide; also includes abstracts of papers presented at sociological conferences and citations for relevant dissertations since 1984.

Women's Resources International. 1972+
Contains citations to references in journals and other publications in the areas of feminist theory & history, art, literary criticism, language & culture, lesbianism, political/social activism, law, prejudice & sex discrimination, employment, reproductive rights, family, mental & physical health, psychology, family planning, domestic violence, child abuse, racial/ethnic studies, sports & physical activities, developing countries, immigrant experience, international feminism, women in development.

WONDERFUL WORLD WIDE WEB SITES

Not all websites are created equal! The Web is an electronic repository for books, data collections, encyclopedias, libraries, and any disparate piece of text, graphic, or sound byte that someone chose to put online. And some of it is inaccurate, biased, out-of-date, shallow, and inappropriate for academic use.

For help in appraising web sources, see Evaluating WWW Sources,
http://www.cbbnet.org/teaching/evaluation.html

The following sites were chosen for their solid credentials and wealth of information.

Women's and Gender Studies Websites:

ASA Sex and Gender Section
http://www.asanet.org/sectionsexgend/index.html
A section of the American Sociological Association web site. This contains a selection of links to high-quality web sites related to Sex and Gender issues.

Equality Maine
http://www.mlgpa.org/
Equality Maine (formerly the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance) is our state's oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political advocacy organization.

Femina
http://www.femina.cybergrrl.com/
Femina was created in September of 1995 and debuted online to provide women with a comprehensive, searchable directory of links to female friendly sites and information on the World Wide Web.

Glbtq
http://www.glbtq.com/
An online encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture. Especially strong in themes relating to arts, literature, and social sciences.

Maine GayNet
http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/usa/maine/gaynet.html
Links to information about gay organizations and events in Maine.

Maine SpeakOut
http://www.mainespeakout.org/
The mission of the Maine Speakout Project is to create a society that is inclusive and respectful of people of differing sexual orientations by providing opportunities for non-divisive dialogue.

Queer by Choice dot com
http://www.queerbychoice.com/
"A radical gathering place for people who have chosen to be queer."

Trans-Academics.org
http://trans-academics.org/
Trans-Academics.org is a place where people of all genders can discuss gender theory, the trans community and its various identities, both as a part of the academic world and day-to-day life.

USM Libraries Special Collections: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Collection
http://library.usm.maine.edu/specialcollections/glarchives.html
Information about this collection, part of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine.

Women's Studies/Women's Issues Resources Sites
http://www-unix.umbc.edu/%7Ekorenman/wmst/links.html
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.

WSSLINKS
http://libr.org/wss/WSSLinks/index.html
Arranged in sixteen categories, with links to bibliographies, papers, professional
organizations and listservs. An immense, well-organized resource.

WWWomen
http://www.wwwomen.com/
Another well categorized list of links. An internal search engine simplifies access.