Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Studies Research Guide

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries etc. | Find Books | Find Articles | Web Sites |
Citing Sources | Help

Subject Encyclopedias

These can be helpful for obtaining an overview of a subject and related topics.  Often an entry in an encyclopedia will contain a list of references which can lead you to more sources on that topic.  Here are some that we have:

Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Lore.   Reference BL 795 .H6 C65 1997

Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia.  Reference HQ 9 H846 1994

The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States.  General Collection and Reference HQ18.U5 S59 1994

Gay Histories and Cultures: an Encyclopedia.   Reference  HQ 75.15 .E63 2000

Lesbian Histories and Cultures: an Encyclopedia.   Reference HQ 75.15 .E63 2000

Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia   General Collection HQ 76.2 .U5 H65 1999 

Encyclopedia of Homosexuality.   Reference HQ 76.25 E53 1990

Sexuality and the Law: An Encyclopedia of Major Legal Cases.  Reference  KF 9325 .A7L46 1993

Historical Dictionary of the Gay Liberation Movement.   Reference HQ 76.5 .H86 1999
 

FIND BOOKS

There are several types of searches you can do in the library catalog to locate books.  Since GLBT studies is interdisciplinary, you will find books under many different subject headings.  Begin with some basic keyword searches, combining a few terms that relate to your topic, for example:

    sexual orientation AND psychology
    homosexuality AND literature
    homosexuality AND marriage and (polic* or law*)

Results from your keyword searches will help you identify appropriate subject headings that you can search under.  These can help you get even more relevant books on your specific topic.  Listed below are a few subject  headings designated by the Library of Congress that you can search under in our catalog:

bisexuality
gay and lesbian studies United States
gender identity
homosexuality
sexual orientation
transsexualism
lesbianism

To find other formats:

After doing a keyword search, you can further limit your results by choosing the Modify Search button at the top of the screen display.  In the "Material Format" menu you will find several formats to search, for example Video/Films, Spoken Audio, etc.  When searching by subject, you can choose the Limit/Sort option to locate these different formats.

FIND ARTICLES

If you are looking for articles from either popular magazines or scholarly journals, you will need to use a periodical index.  Once you have a list of citations to articles that you are interested in, you need to check the catalog to see if we have the periodical and to obtain its call number.  In most of our online databases (indexes), however, you can seamlessly link to our catalog and retrieve the call number & location information, without exiting the database you are searching in.   And even more conveniently, there will be cases where you can link to the full text of a journal article directly from the database (index) in which you locate citations.  Several databases are listed below.

Social Sciences Abstracts 1983+
In print under various titles 1907-1996: Reference AI 3 S6

Covers about 550 journals in the areas of anthropology, area studies, community health and medical care, criminal justice, economics, geography, international relations, law, political science, psychology, social work and public welfare, sociology, and related topics. 

SocIndex with Full Text.  A comprehensive sociology research database with more than 1.9 million records and the full text for over 400 journals dating back to 1908.  Also contains full text for more than 700 books and monographs and more than 6000 conference papers.
 
Contains summaries of the periodical literature in sociology and related disciplines. It is compiled from the material published in Sociological Abstracts. This database covers over 1900 journals in 28 different languages.          

PsycInfo 1887+
Produced by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO contains summaries of the world's literature in psychology and related disciplines.  Over 9,000 sources indexed including scholarly journal articles, books and book chapters, dissertations and reports. 

Full-text Databases for Magazine, Journal & Newspaper
Articles

EbscoHost  Various dates. Includes Advocate, the national gay & lesbian news magazine, full text  from 1996+

LexisNexis Academic
 Newspaper articles from many regional, national and international papers

Laws, Court Cases, Law Reviews and Government
Publications

LexisNexis Academic  
US Code, Federal regulations, state laws, federal and state cases, and law reviews.

LexisNexis Congressional
Use for finding public laws (1988+), Congressional bills, and legislative histories.
Pickler Library has complete collection of United States Statutes at Large in print and microform. Check the catalog for location, call number and format.

Thomas  US Congress legislative information Web site, including public laws (1973+) and bills.

GPO Access Gateway to US government publication on the Internet.

State and Local Government on the Net  Collection of state government Web sites. Could be useful for finding state laws.
 

WEB SITES

Gay and Lesbian Associations, Organizations

Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies
Family Pride Coalition
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Gay and Lesbian Review
Lesbian Resource Center
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

 For a more comprehensive list of organizations/associations, check the Encyclopedia of Associations  in Reference, HS 17 G334.

College Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Offices/Resource Centers

Marshall University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Outreach
NYU Office of LGBT Student Services

Research Centers and Other Web Sites

ACTUP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) Oral History Project--"ACT-UP revolutionized gay politics, giving new and forceful meaning to the slogan 'out of the closets and into the streets.' . .Filmmaker Jim Hubbard and novelist and essayist Sarah Schulman have created a Web site of oral histories of individuals who participated in this significant political movement. . .ACT-UP was among the first organization to reflect the tremendous diversity of the GLBT community, and the oral histories available on this Web site reflect that diversity. . .Highly recommended."  E. Broidy, University of California, Los Angeles.  CHOICE Reviews, October, 2004.
Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality-- From the American Psychological Association.
Gay/Lesbian Politics and Law---Comprehensive collection of Internet resources at Indiana University
GenderNet--Part of the World Bank's extensive Web site. . .The site not only offers a variety of reports and documents on women across the world, it provides access to unique and comprehensive data sets--an instructional treasure hous--compiled from national statistics, United Nations information, and surveys only the Bank has been in a position to undertake. . .Recommended."  N.B. Rosenthal, SUNY at Stoney Brook.  CHOICE Special Issue, v. 41 (2004).
Gerber Hart Library Archives -Chicago (with many links to other gay/lesbian/bisexual collections)
Lesbian Herstory Archives--
"The Lesbian Herstory Archives of New York City, the largest and oldest Lesbian archive in the world, began in 1973 as an outgrowth of a Lesbian consciousness-raising  group at the Gay Academic Union. The founders were concerned about the failure of mainstream publishers, libraries, archives, and research institutions to value Lesbian culture. It became obvious that the only way to insure the preservation of Lesbian culture and history was to establish an independent archives governed by Lesbians." From the "History of the LHA" page: http://www.lesbianherstoryarchives.org/about.htm#HISTORY

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives
The Other Queer Page.  Comprehensive list of of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender resources.
People With a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* History--Dr. Paul Halsall, editor, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University.

For further assistance, visit or call the Reference Desk (660) 785-4051 or contact the Reference Librarian for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Studies:

Lisa M. Glaubitz, Reference Librarian
(660) 785-7412
glaubitz@truman.edu

lmg