This document provides guidance on researching topics related to women, gender, and violence. It outlines strategies for finding relevant books, articles, and additional sources through database searches and evaluating bibliographies. Tips are provided for developing effective search strategies, choosing appropriate databases and search tools, evaluating sources, and citing sources properly in writing.

1. Women, Gender, and Violence: Library 
Skills and Sources
Jennifer Thiessen, Librarian, Women’s and Gender Studies, January 2013
• Finding books, including background
info
• Finding articles
• choosing a database, searching
effectively, Google Scholar
• Finding more (bibliographies)
• Evaluating/writing/citing

2. 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
 Generate search terms
 Look for subject headings/descriptors, use
synonyms, read abstracts, use your own knowledge of
the topic, etc.
 Choose database/s and other search tools
 Search
 Evaluate

3. Why books?
 Broader in scope
 Great for getting an overview; finding
background info (i.e. what research has been
done on sports and domestic violence?)
 Can lead you to more detailed resources
 Use reference lists/bibliographies at the end
of chapters/book to find more

4. Getting to the databases
Library website>
research> databases>
Women’s Studies

5. Search tips
 Use quotation marks for phrase searching
 “female circumcision” “sex worker”
 Think of synonyms
 Violence, abuse, assault
 Use truncation
 Prostit* will find prostitute, prostitutes, prostitution
 Limit search to peer-reviewed articles

6. Search example

7. Search tips…
 Look for subject headings to focus your search
 E.g. in search for domestic violence:

8. What about Google?
 Why use Google
Scholar?
 Another
“database”
 Find works that
cite a particular
article/book
 Watch: Get Better
Results with
Google Scholar

9. Set up Library Links in Scholar Settings
 Why?

11. Finding more from bibliographies…

12. Anderson, M.A., Gillig, P.M., Sitaker, M., McCloskey, K., Malloy, K., Grigsby, N., 2003.
‘‘Why Doesn’t She Just Leave?’’ A descriptive study of victim reported
impediments to her safety. Journal of family violence 18 (3), 151–155.
 Search for JOURNAL TITLE in Library Catalogue (best way)
 Or try part of the citation in SuperSearch or Google Scholar

13. Is what you find any good?
 Evaluating what you find:
 Is it current? (does that matter?)
 Is it accurate?
 Is the methodology clear?
 Is it peer-reviewed?
 For websites: who authored it? when? Is it credible?
 Can you use some of it anyway? I.e. Wikipedia: use
it to find other sources
 More at http://bit.ly/Brock3v99

14. Writing and Citing
 Many databases offer quick citation tools
 More citation help: http://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/styleguides

15. Help? Visit the research guide:
http://bit.ly/brock3v99
Contact Jennifer at
jthiessen@brocku.ca