Interdisciplinary 100WS:
(Topics in Advanced Library Research)
Library Research for Women's, Feminist, and Gender Studies
Winter Quarters, Davidson Library Room 1414C

Course Description:

In this section of INT 100 students will learn about information resources and library services for researching women's, feminist, and gender issues. The course is designed to teach students how to use research tools critically and effectively. Emphasis will be placed on how to locate women's studies materials in specialized reference books, library catalogs, multidisciplinary article databases, women's studies databases, and on the Internet. Central to the course will be the critical assessment of the challenges in identification, evaluation, and application of information resources in women's studies.

Success in the course will require a commitment to thinking critically about women's studies scholarship, and the organization of information. Success will also require developing the skills necessary to retrieve information from a variety of print and electronic resources.

The course will be taught in a lecture-workshop format, using in-class exercises, group activities, discussions, and hands-on use of print and electronic library resources. The course will be most beneficial to students concurrently enrolled in a course that requires a significant research project related to women, feminism, or gender. Previous library research experience is not required. Knowledge of women's, feminist, or gender issues is assumed.

Students will have to complete weekly assignments based on lectures, course materials and in-class activities. When no group activity is planned, every effort will be made to give students time during class to start on assignments and apply new skills as they're learned. The course is structured so that students build on skills and research strategies introduced in previous sessions. Attendance is required at every class. Poor attendance will seriously jeopardize one's ability to learn and retain concepts, develop research skills, and pass the class.

Learning Objectives:

• To become familiar with bibliographic resources in women's feminist and gender studies.
• To identify, analyze and critically evaluate information resources in women's, feminist and gender studies
• To be able to navigate the library comfortably and locate assistance when necessary

Texts:

Handouts to be distributed in class.

Readings to be distributed in class:

Pritchard, Sarah. "Women's Studies Scholarship: Its Impact on the Information World." In Women, Information and the Future, ed. Eva Steiner Moseley. Fort Atknison, WI: Highsmith Press, 1995. 15-23.

Rich, Adrienne. "Claiming an Education." In On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose, 1966-1978. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979. 231-235.

Smith Barbara. "A Press of Our Own: Kitchen Table Women of Color Press." In Communications at the Crossroads: The Gender Gap Connection, eds. Ramona R. Rush and Donna Allen. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1989. 203-207.

Surowiecki, James. "Search and Destroy." New Yorker, 31 May 2004, 31.

Requirements: Thinking, Discussing, Writing

• 8 assignments based on lectures, handouts and in-class activities. 40 points (5 points each; subtract 1 point for each day late)
• Attendance. Since there is no text and assignments are based on lectures and handouts distributed in class, attendance is crucial. 20 points (2 points each class)
• Midterm 20 points
• Final project (annotated bibliography) 20 points

The following schedule of activities and assignments should be considered a general outline and subject to change. The order and content of some sessions may change depending on the nature of students' research projects, their experience with library research, and how students progress in the class.