Before beginning your research project, it is recommended that you think about how comprehensive your research must be, how current your sources of information need to be, and your intended audience's level of expertise. Then define your research topic as specifically as possible and don't be afraid to refine your topic as you learn more about it. Suggested guidelines for doing library research follow and may be adapted to fit your needs.

Table of Contents

How do I find background information on my topic?

• A Century of Women (ref HQ1410 F44 1999)
• Encyclopedia Britannica (includes Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) [restricted to the HSU community]
• Encyclopedia of Family Life (ref HQ 534 E53 1999)
• Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories (ref HQ 1190 E63 2000)
• Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender (ref HQ 1115 E53 2001b)
• Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion (ref BL 458 E53 1999)
• Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers (ref HQ 1236 R29 2001)
• Feminism: A Reference Handbook (HQ 1410 H365 1998)
• Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures (ref HM253 B43 1990)
• Glossary of Feminist Theory (ref HQ 1190 A53 1997)
• Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women's Issues Worldwide (ref HQ 1115 G74 2003)
• Handbook of American Women's History (ref HQ 1410 H36 2000)
• Historical Dictionary of Feminism (ref HQ 115 B65 2004)
• International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (ref HQ 9 E52 2003)
• International Encyclopedia of Women (ref HQ 1115 R69 2000)
• Marriage, Family, and Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia (ref GV 480 B76 1994)
• Reader's Guide to Women's Studies (ref HQ 1180 R43 1998)
• Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women (ref HQ 1115 R69 2000)
• Statistical Handbook on Women in America (ref HQ 1420 T34 1996)
• Statistical Record of Women Worldwide (ref HQ 1150 S73 1991)
• WAC Stats: the Facts About Women (ref HQ 1421 W33 1993)
• Women and Women's Issues: a handbook of tests and measures (ref HQ 1180 B43)
• Women in Psychology: A Bio-bibliographic Source (ref BF 109 A1 W65 1990)
• Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues (ref HQ 1870.9 W6548 1998)
• Women's Issues: An Annotated Bibliography (ref HQ 1206 M85 1989
• Women's Studies Encyclopedia (ref HQ 1115 W645 1999)

How do I find out if the Library has books on my topic?

• If you are not looking for a particular book or if you do not know the author or title, you must look by subject. The best way to search for a subject is by Keyword or Subject. However, if you use the Library of Congress Subject Heading for your topic, you may use the Advanced Search. Some of the Library of Congress Subject Headings relevant to the psychology of women are:
  • African American women--Psychology
  • Asian American women--Psychology
  • Body image in women.
  • Childlessness - Psychological aspects
  • Depression in women--Social aspects
  • Emotions - Sex differences
  • Feminist psychology
  • Feminist Theory
  • Feminist Therapy
  • Gender Identity
  • Girls--Psychology
  • Middle aged women--Psychology
  • Minority women--United States--Psychology.
  • Oppression (Psychology)
  • Self-esteem in women--United States.
  • Sex Differences (Psychology)
  • Sex discrimination against women--Psychological aspects.
  • Sex role--Psychological aspects.
  • Sexism
  • Teenage girls--Psychology
  • Women in advertising
  • Women in advertising
  • Women--Crimes against
  • Women--Health and hygiene--Psychological aspects.
  • Women - Mental Health - Sociological aspects
  • Women - Psychologists
  • Women - Psychology
  • Women - Psychotherapists
  • Women--Social conditions--Psychological aspects.
  • Women - United States - Social conditions

• Books tend to treat a subject in depth but are generally not the most current source of information, especially in the rapidly changing areas of science and medicine.
• Periodicals are usually the most current sources of research information in printed form. However, individual periodical articles are not indexed in the Library Catalog. You must use indexes/abstracts to find articles on your topic.

How do I find articles in periodicals on my topic?

Listed below are the indexes and abstracts most appropriate for research in the psychology of women. In addition to periodical articles, indexes and abstracts may also index articles/reports published in conference proceedings, government documents, technical reports, dissertations, and other sources.  Indexes and abstracts vary in scope, depth and breadth of subject coverage. The HSU Library - Search Strategy Worksheet gives a step-by-step description of how to develop a search strategy for electronic indexes. There are also guides to Vocabulary for Searching and Techniques for Searching.

Unless otherwise noted, electronic indexes and abstracts are available only to HSU faculty, students and staff. If you are trying to connect from off-campus, you will need to "authenticate" yourself in order to connect to the indexes and abstracts. See Off Campus Access to Databases for more information on how to do this.

Major Indexes/Abstracts

• PsycINFO - Covers all fields of psychology as well as relevant materials from related disciplines such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science, and organizational behavior.  Published by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO covers 1887-date.
  • Using PsycINFO for Psychological Research (http://library.humboldt.edu/infoservices/PsycInfo.pdf)
• PsycARTICLES - The fulltext and an electronic index to over 56 journals published by the American Psychological Association and affiliated organizations.  Coverage usually starts in 1985.
• Family Studies Database - Index to research, policy and practice on family science and human development drawn from over 1,000 journals as well as books, conference papers and government reports from 1970 to the present.
• Sociological Abstracts  - Comprehensive index to theoretical and applied literature in sociology, social science and policy science from 2,300 journals and other literature from 1963 to the present.
• Social Services Abstracts - Index to theoretical and practical literature on social work and social welfare drawn from 1,300 serials from 1979 to the present.
• Social Work Abstracts (abstr HV 1 A2) - 1965 to 1998
• Women Studies Abstracts (abstr HQ 1101 W65) - 1973 to date
• Women's Studies Index (abstr HQ 1101 W774) - 1990 to 1993

Other Indexes/Abstracts you might wish to consider are listed below. These are in broader and/or related subject disciplines and may be useful depending on the nature of your topic.

• Academic Search Elite - This comprehensive database features fulltext for over 1,000 journals with many dating back to 1990, abstracts and indexing for over 3,200 scholarly journals, and coverage of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. It also includes coverage of over 1,700 peer-reviewed journals.
• America: History and Life - Indexes scholarly historical literature on the U.S. and Canada from 1964 to present. Covers over 2,000 journals, plus book chapters, dissertations, and media.
• Anthropology Plus - Articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly.  Covers late 1800's to date.
• Child Abuse, Child Welfare & Adoption - Indexes child maltreatment literature from journals, books, government documents, and other sources from 1965 to the present.
• Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) - Provides information on measurement instruments, reviews and references to the fulltext of the instrument. Coverage is 1985 to present, but earlier instruments are covered.
• Historical Abstracts - Covers world history from 1450 to the present (history of the U.S. and Canada are covered in America: History and Life). Covers over 2,000 journals, plus dissertations and books.
• LexisNexis Academic - Fulltext database containing news, business, medical and legal information from 6,000 sources including newspapers, magazines, radio and television transcripts, newswires, newsletters, medical research journals, and legal materials. Coverage varies but some items go back to the 1970s.
• Medline - Comprehensive index to medical research, including nursing and public health, in 3,500 journals from 1985 to the present.
• OmniFile Full Text Mega - Indexing and some fulltext for over 270 popular and 2,500 scholarly journals in many disciplines from 1994 to date.
• ScienceDirect - Indexing and fulltext of over 1,200 journals in the sciences from 1995 to the present. There is some coverage for psychology and the social sciences.

Another way to do research -- Citation Searching!!!

How do I find out if the Library has the item I need?

Indexes and abstracts often use abbreviations in their citations which you will need to decipher. Many indexes and abstracts publish separate lists of the abbreviations used. Try  HSU Library - Finding Periodical Title Abbreviations,  or consult a reference librarian at the Library's Information Desk (hours) to locate an appropriate list of abbreviations, or use the reference book, Periodical Title Abbreviations: By Abbreviation (ref Z 6945 A2 P47), located behind the Reference Desk on the first floor. Do not guess at what abbreviations mean!

Remember that most government documents are not listed in the Library Catalog. If you wish to find a government document, consult Government Information. For US documents, you may check MarciveWeb DOCS Catalog of U.S. Government Publications to see if the Library has the document. You may also ask a reference librarian for assistance at the Reference Desk on the first floor (hours) or in the Humboldt Room, room 308 (hours).

How Do I Format my References?

There are also some informative online guides to formatting references and the proper style for papers in psychology. Here's a list of a few of them:

• APA Style
• Citation Styles for Research Papers
• UC Berkeley APA Style Guide
• University of Minnesota Crookston
• University of Washington Psychology Writing Guide

What if the Library doesn't have the item I need?

What about resources available on the Internet or World Wide Web?

These sites might be of interest:

• Gender Issues: Women's Studies Database, University of Maryland, College Park
• Narrative Psychology: Psychology of Women
• Womenlist: Psychology
• Women's Studies/Women's Issues Resource Sites

A Final Caveat: Evaluate What You Find!

• Is the author an authority? What are his or her credentials?
• Is the journal or source document (online or print) reputable? Is it peer-reviewed?
• Was valid methodology used?
• Were valid conclusions drawn?

More detailed information on how to evaluate resources may be found in the following:

• OWL 5: Evaluating Information - from Humboldt State University
• Critically Analyzing Information Sources - from Cornell University

• Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Evaluating Web Resources - by HSU Librarian Sharon Chadwick
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet - from Johns Hopkins University.
• Ten Cs for Evaluating Internet Sources - from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.
• Why We Need to Evaluate What We Find on the Internet - from Purdue University.