Social Movements and Social Change
SOCIOLOGY 290

Instructor: Prof. Bender Fromson
Librarian: Janice Mathews

Contents:

Research Strategy

Subject: History of Feminism in the U. S.

2. Brainstorm a list of keywords relevant to your topic so that that your search is not too broad or too narrow. List leaders, events, and any keywords that are related to your topic. Knowing terminology, subject headings, and the basics of Boolean logic will to give you greater flexibility when you search for books and articles on your topic. To learn more about keywords, subject headings and Boolean logic click here.

Useful LC SUBJECT HEADINGS may include:
Feminism
Feminism--United States--History
Feminists
Radical therapy
Sex discrimination against women
Women History
Women Legal status, laws, etc.
Women Social conditions
Women's rights--United States--History
Psychoanalysis and feminism
Feminist theory
Ecofeminism
Lesbian feminism
Feminist geography

• HOMER to find books and journal titles held by the libraries.
• Databases to find resources that will direct you to articles.
• eJournals to track down journals that are available online.
• Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan (DD/ILL) to request books and articles that are not available to you on your campus library

4. Keep track of your sources so that you may cite them accurately in your bibliography and works cited pages.
Refer to the ASA style guide / American Sociological Association, 2nd edition.

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HOMER provides access to the University of Connecticut Libraries' collections on the Storrs and regional campuses, through the UCAT catalog. The Simple Search is your quickest way to search HOMER. Type in your search terms in the box labeled "Search Terms" and choose the type of search you wish to perform using the "Type of Search" option box. Use limit to Greater Hartford in HOMER (UCAT) to locate books in your own campus library. Limits will not apply to Author, Subject Heading, Call Number, or Prolific Author/Composer search types.

Click here to learn more about How to Use HOMER UCAT.

Keyword--Relevance Searching allows you to:

• truncate, by using the ? : femin? finds feminist, feminism, feminine
• mark essential terms, use +: +feminism and United States
• mark important terms, use *: feminism and *theory
• search phrases, by using quotes: "feminist theory"
  

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Searching for Articles

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers are all generally referred to as PERIODICALS (or serials) because they are issued at regular periods. To located specific articles on your topic, access Online Resources from the library home page. UConn subscribes to over 240 Web-Based databases. Full text databases include: InfoTrac, WilsonWeb OmniFile, ABI/Inform Global, LexisNexis, Factiva, and Issues & Controversies.

From the Online Resources page click on Research Database Locator to access databases by subject.

WilsonWeb is comprised of four databases covering many fields of science, social science, and the humanities.

Sample searches:

For information on the difference between journals and magazines try:
Journals & Magazines: How to Tell the Difference.

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Tracking Down Full Text Materials

If only an abstract or extended citation is available, locate the full text of the article by clicking these options and then searching for the title of the publication:

1. eJournals to check if a magazine or journal is available online
2. HOMER to see what is available in the library; search by journal title
   
3. DD/ILL to request an article or book that is not available in the library
   Be sure to submit requests well in advance. The standard time for material to arrive is about seven to fourteen days after it is submitted.
   Remember, use DD/ILL after you've checked eJournals and HOMER (use Journal Title Search) to confirm that the article is not available online or in print at your campus library.

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Web Resources

The Internet offers a wide range of information --from primary documents that have been digitized and are available online to an abundance of sources whose accuracy, currency, or accountability may be questionable. Keep in mind that full text articles from peer-reviewed journals are not readily available on the web and can only be accessed through UConn databases.

When using Internet web pages as resources for research papers, evaluate whether the information is reliable, if a reputable organization or expert is behind it. Question the URL domain (.edu, .com, .org, .gov, etc). Many web pages are biased or wholly lacking credibility. Scrutinize the design and purpose of the page, noting whether the information seems valuable enough to cite in your research. Learn more about evaluating web sources.

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Using the Library From Home
All students are eligible for a "Proxy Account." The procedure to configure your computer to access databases remotely is actually very simple. Just go to the Proxy Configuration Web Page and follow the step-by-step instructions for either Automatic of Manual setup. Contact the UConn ITS Help Desk 860.486-HELP if you have problems setting up your proxy configuration.