Gender Studies in the University Library: Introduction

Welcome to the Gender Studies Library Guide. Here you can find information on how to use the Utrecht University Library efficiently, where you can find what, and how to use databases to their full benefit.

This LibGuide was created thanks to the collaboration with and contributions of Charlotte Knoors, as an intern of the Research Master Gender Studies, Kathrin Thiele (GS) and Arja Firet (UUL) in 2018.

drs Arja Firet
subject specialist Gender Studies
a.firet@uu.nl

The UUL can only acquire a selection of all books and articles published worldwide on Gender Studies. As the library is far from complete, you may be confronted with titles that are missing or paywalls. What to do?

• Check Google (Scholar).
• Request material from another library in the Netherlands (through WorldCat).
• Send us a purchase suggestion.  

Nowadays you can do online research, with lots of online journals and books made available by the library. But not everything is online! The library as a physical space remains important. Some material is only available in hardcopy. For that and more, please visit the University Library City Center, with:

• study facilities (study spots, study spaces for groups)
• print/scan
• printed collection for Gender Studies (code: ALG 02.60)
  More details, see hereabove the tab Printed collections. 

Do you need help?

• Ask at the service desk (Monday-Friday, 9 AM- 5 PM).
• Ask by mail to library@uu.nl

• Starting a new subject? Use an encyclopedia or Wikipedia  to find basic information and collect keywords.
• The tab hereabove Subject orientation offers a few digital and printed reference works to start with. 
• The tab hereabove Gender Studies at UU offers a selection of publications by UU staff. 
• Scholarly publications 100% accessible for UU students and researchers can be found using WorldCat and the list of UU subscriptions to electronic journals. 
• Scholarly publications on the specific subject of Gender Studies can be found in bibliographical databases as the Gender Studies Database or the Women's studies international database. See more hereabove under the tab Search engines.
• You may need material from other research institutes in the Netherlands. Look at the library catalogues or archives of ATRIA, IHLIA LGBT Heritage or the International Institute of Social History (IISH). A part of their collections is available online (archive), a part can be explored online (library catalogue) but consulted at their address. 

Google Scholar: do a quick search for publications you can get hold of easily. Beware that you may miss important publications and that you will find a lot of titles that are not closely related to your subject.