Psychology 310: Psychology of Gender
Essential Sources for Your Project
PsycINFO
The most important index to the literature of psychology. PsycINFO contains bibliographic references and summaries of the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines. Produced by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO provides access to books, book chapters, journal articles, dissertations, and technical reports.
PsycINFO uses search terms defined in the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.
Currently, we provide access to PsycINFO via CSA which searches all PsycINFO journal, book and chapter records from 1840 to present. Links are included for the full text of APA journals covered by PsycArticles.
You will want to consult the guide to fields in PsycINFO records in order to take advantage of the advanced features. You should also consult the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (RRef. [q.] Z695.1.P7 T48 2001) or use the online Thesaurus Search. See the "Searching PsycInfo on CSA" guide for more information.
PsycArticles
Full-text articles dating from 1985 to the present from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe & Huber. PsycArticles is searchable in a number of different ways, including by authors' names, by words from the titles of articles, by words from the titles of journals, and by keywords (words from the article title, abstract, or the full-text). Thesaurus searching is not available. Click on the Browse button to scan the titles available.
Don't stop with these sources--you may also need to consult the databases listed below under Finding Articles.
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Additional Sources for Your Research over the Term
Encyclopedias and DictionariesAPA Dictionary of Psychology.
A good source for brief definitions of unfamiliar terms.
Ref. BF31 .A63 2007
Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. 1994. 4 vols.
Intended for use by both students and research professionals. Articles on "all aspects of human behavior... " Bibliographies follow articles. Volume 4 includes an index.
Ref. [q.] BF31 .E5 1994
Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2000. 8 vols.
Entries are alphabetically arranged and cover both subject and biographical information. Many entries include a short list of references, although you need to turn to the bibliography in Volume 4 for a complete citation. This is a good place to begin research on a topic. It provides definitions, historical background, general information, and, usually, references to other sources of information.
Ref. [q.] BF31 .E52 2000
Encyclopedia of Women and Gender. 2 vols.
Subtitled Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender, this work has a strong psychological component. Includes longer articles with bibliographies. The index at the end of volume 2 may be helpful.
Ref. [q.] HQ1115 .E43 2001
The Dictionary of Feminist Theory.
What do genderlect, female ethic and sex-gender system have in common? Check here for interesting definitions.
Ref. HQ1115 .H86 1995
Women's Issues. 3 vols.
Contains articles on a wide variety of topics, terms, people, historical
events, and more. Includes cross-references; longer entries include
brief bibliographies.
Ref. HQ1115 .W6425 1997
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Finding BooksTo find items owned by the library, search LUCIA. Try a Subject begins with search, for example, sex role. LUCIA will suggest related terms which can also be searched. You may want to consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or LCSH, a guide to the terms commonly used in catalogs like ours. Known informally (to the librarians here at least) as "the big red books" the LCSH can be found on the Ready Reference shelves behind the Reference desk on the first floor of the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
To combine terms for a different kind of search, try a Keyword Anywhere search. LUCIA will look for the terms you specify anywhere in the important areas of the cataloging records, and display a list of those records. You can search for phrases like "same sex" by using quotation marks, or for individual terms connected by logical operators like and or or, for example, gender and discriminat*. First, LUCIA searches the catalog for all records that contain the word gender. The asterisk tells LUCIA to search for all the records in the catalog that contain all possible variations on words starting with discriminat: discriminate, discriminated, discrimination, and so forth. Finally LUCIA looks for those records that contain both the word gender and the variations of discriminat in the same record; both must be present. You can use the or search to look for synonyms, for example, transgender* or intersex*. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH, or target your keyword search by using the Subject Keyword option. This tells LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records only.
Books are arranged on the library's shelves by Library of Congress Classification. This is a system which organizes materials by general subjects. Once you have a call number from searching LUCIA, see this guide to call number locations at Mudd and the library floor maps to find out where a book might be on the shelves.
Search LUCIA for materials in our library; try WorldCat to find materials beyond the Mudd. Make sure you've thoroughly searched our library before going to WorldCat. See a reference librarian if you need help.
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Finding ArticlesThe best index to use will depend on your topic. Be sure to check the Electronic Resources page for other options. A number of our resources provide complete full text. Some of our indexes include:
Academic OneFile.
Includes broad coverage of academic periodicals. Full text is provided for some articles.
Alternative Press Index
Indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change.
Contemporary Women's Issues
Access to information on health and human rights covering over 150 countries.
EBSCOhost.
A single Web source for multiple databases. Contains broad and specialized
coverage of academic and general periodicals. Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Academic Search Elite may be particularly useful.
Many other indexes from related disciplines might be appropriate to your research, for example, indexes from the fields of education, sociology, or government. See a reference librarian for other suggestions.
You may also want to browse some of the library's psychology journals. The titles of these can be found by searching for subjects like psychology--periodicals or social psychology--periodicals or by a Subject Keyword search for psycholog* and periodicals.
Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, try the 
button to see if that particular article is available. For some sources, you might also want to try looking in LUCIA and in BESS, an
automated search of the library's full text databases.
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Web ResourcesAmerican Psychological Association (APA)
Lots of good information -- even more if you're a member. The APA Monitor is worth reading.
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
Adopted by the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives in 2002.
Internet Resources for Psychology
Links to a number of useful resources, from the librarians.
Society for the Psychology of Women
The APA division "devoted to providing an organizational base for all feminists, women and men of all national origins who are interested in teaching, research, or practice in the psychology of women."
There may be web other Web resources available that apply to your research. Try looking at sources that select the best of the Web, like these:
While Google is often a first choice for many people when they search the web, you may also want to look at Google U.S. Government, which searches local, state, military, and national government Web pages. In any case, it's important to think carefully about information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources. The library's Web Wise Guide to Searching give some helpful inside tips. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL.Top
Style ManualsAcademic Citation and Writing
Style manuals of the humanities, physical sciences, and the social sciences in the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
APAStyle.org
Explains the APA official style on citing many kinds of electronic information and communications, including e-mail.
Citing Electronic Documents
This page provides guidance on citing electronic documents and links to other guides, some on specific styles of documentation.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. 2001
The last word on how to cite the psychological literature. Also included are specifications and procedures to follow in submitting manuscripts for publication in various journals.
RRef. BF76.7 .P83 2001
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About Research in PsychologyRemember that in any written work you produce your sources must be fully documented. It may help to look at the information on style before you start your research, so that you will have all the details required for documentation at hand when you need them. Then as you write, go back to the resources on style for details on the exact format of your citations.
The sources listed in this guide were chosen for the broad coverage they provide. Direct links are provided to Internet resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new databases and indexes; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.
Evaluating the resources you find is an essential part of the research process. See this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles and this guide to evaluating Internet resources.
As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
[q.] = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and M class scores; at end of classes in other collections
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