Women's & Gender Studies

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How to use MSVU Library databases

Primary sources are the raw materials of historical research - they are the documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art) but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories). Please check with your professor about the use of primary sources in your research assignments.

More primary sources collections are available in the Primary Sources section of the guide.

1. Check the journal name. Sometimes these explicitly include "Feminist" or “Women” or "Gender” especially in the subtitle (e.g. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice), however, there are journals that don’t have explicit terminology in their name. Women's studies and gender studies research is published in related or interdisciplinary fields, such as sociology; in this case, you can look at the journal’s website to see the scope of the journal's coverage.
2. Check the subject terms assigned to the article by the database (to ensure the use of terms relevant to women and gender studies. You can find these in the record for the article.
3. Check the author’s institutional affiliation (whether they are working in women's studies, gender studies or a related department).
4. Look for the presence and use of feminist perspectives as well as for the use of feminist theories and methodologies.
5. Look at the subject area of the author for terms like feminist, women studies, gender studies, queer studies etc.

Based on a checklist for recognizing sociological work by Dr. Sandra Colavecchia, Greg Neapen, and Jennifer Easter -

Search effectively!

• When searching databases, use the advanced search window so that you can combine concepts effectively.
• Take a moment to ensure that you have good search terms, by checking the thesaurus or subjects listed with each item.
• Make sure that you are doing the 'type' of search you want, i.e., author, subject, keyword, etc.
• Don't forget to try new strategies: if your search isn't working, try new terms, new combinations of terms, and new types of searches.
• When in doubt, ask a librarian.

Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice/Études critiques sur le genre, la culture, et la justice sociale,formerly Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal / Revue d'etudes sur les femmes is a scholarly research journal devoted to critical work in a variety of formats that reflects current scholarship and approaches to the discipline of Women's and Gender Studies. It incorporates a diversity of feminist, anti-racist and critical identity, intersectional, transnational, and cultural studies approaches to a wide range of contemporary issues, topics, and knowledges. Atlantis is dedicated to the ongoing growth of knowledge in the field of Women's and Gender Studies, as well as to critical reflections on the field itself.