LGBTQ Research Guide - UNL Libraries
Compiled by Debbie Krahmer, Queer Studies Liaison and Learning Commons Librarian at Colgate University
email: dkrahmer@mail.colgate.edu | AIM: DKrahmerUNL
Updated August 18, 2008
NOTE: I am no longer affiliated with UNL, but I will keep this guide up until a new UNL guide appears. Links may be outdated. You can contact me at the above address or at dkrahmer2@gmail.com.
Table of Contents
keyword="gay" or "lesbian" or "bisexual" or "transgender*" or "transsexual*" or "homosexual*" AND "[type of reference resource]"
Encyclopedias
Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: GLBT Lore. Love BL795 H6 C65 1997
Completely queer : the Gay and Lesbian encyclopedia Love Ref HQ75 .H63 1998
Encyclopedia of homosexuality Love Ref HQ76.25 .E53 1990 (2 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America (print and online) Love Ref HQ76.3 U5E53 2004 (3 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures Love Ref HQ16 E53 2003 (2 volumes)
Gay Histories and Cultures Love Ref HQ75.13 G37 2000
Lesbian Histories And Cultures Love Ref HQ75.5 L4395 2000
Routledge international encyclopedia of queer culture Love Ref HQ76.96 .R68 2006
Youth, education, and sexualities : an international encyclopedia Love LC192.6 .Y68 2005 (2 volumes)
Almanacs
The Gay Almanac Love Ref HQ76.25 G39 1996
Gay/lesbian almanac : a new documentary in which is contained, in chronological order, evidence of the true and fantastical history of those persons now called lesbians and gay men Love HQ76.8.U5 K37 1983
The lesbian almanac Love Ref HQ75.6.U5 L35 1996
Out in all directions : the almanac of gay and lesbian America Love Ref HQ75.6.U5 W57 1995
Dictionaries/biographical dictionaries
Cassell's Queer Companion: a Dictionary of Lesbian and Gay Life and Culture Love Ref HQ76.25 .S74 1995
Fantabulosa : a dictionary of Polari and gay slang Love PE3727.G39 B34 2002
The gay & lesbian theatrical legacy : a biographical dictionary of major figures in American stage history in the pre-Stonewall era Love PN2286.5 .G38 2005
Historical dictionary of lesbian literature Love PN491.3 .M55 2006
Historical dictionary of the lesbian liberation movement : still the rage Love HQ76.5 .M94 2003
Who's who in lesbian and gay writing Love Ref HQ75.13 .G75 2002
Bibliographies/Indexes
Alternative Press Index Love Ref AI3 .A5
Contemporary gay American novelists : a bio-bibliographical critical sourcebook Love PS374.N63 C66 1993
Contemporary lesbian writers of the United States : a bio-bibliographical critical sourcebook Love PS153.L46 C65 1993
Gay and lesbian American plays : an annotated bibliography Love PS153.G38 F8 1993
Gay & lesbian biography Love Ref HQ75.2 .G39 1996
Gay & lesbian literature Love Ref PN56.H57 G36 1994
The gay and lesbian movement : references and resources Love HQ76.5 .R53 1996
A gay bibliography Love HQ76 .A437 1980x
The gay male sleuth in print and film : a history and annotated bibliography Love PS374.D4 G96 2005
Lesbian and gay voices : an annotated bibliography and guide to literature for children and young adults Love PS169.H65 D3 2000
The lesbian in literature Love PN56.L45 G738 1981
The lesbian in literature, a bibliography LDRF Z5866.L4 G75x (You must request item through ILL in order to get it from the LDRF)
Lesbian sources : a bibliography of periodical articles, 1970-1990 Love Ref Z5866.L4 G37 1993
Handbooks
Gay and lesbian Americans and political participation : a reference handbook Love Ref HQ76.3.U5 S59 2002
Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Reference Handbook Love Ref HQ76.3.U5 N48 1994
Lost gay novels : a reference guide to fifty works from the first half of the twentieth century Love PS374.H63 S65 2003
Other
The Book of Gay and Lesbian Quotations Love Ref PN6084.G35 B66 1999
Gay & lesbian stats : a pocket guide of facts and figures Love Ref HQ76.3.U5 S59 1994
Gay Hollywood film & video guide : 75 years of gay & lesbian images in the movies Love Ref PN1995.9.H55 S74 1994
Gayellow pages Love Ref HQ75 .G393x (older copies in regular Love stacks)
Putting out : the essential publishing resource for lesbian and gay writers Love Ref PN161 .D68 1994
Law Library
Sexual orientation and the law : a research bibliography selectively annotating legal literature through 2005 LAW KF4754.5.A1 S49 2006
DVD/VHS
keyword="gay" or "lesbian" or "bisexual" or "transgender*" or "transsexual*" or "homosexual*" and limit Material Type to "Visual Media"
Love South, Media Services, room 201
Boy I Am HQ77.9 .B69 2006
Boys Don't Cry PN1997 .B69 2000
But I'm a Cheerleader HQ76.2.U5 B8 2003
Brother Outsider E185.97.R93 B76 2002
El Callejón de los Milagros PN1997.M43 C3 2004
The Celluloid Closet PN1995.9.H55 C45 2001
Coming Out in Rural America HQ76.25 .C665 1999
Faustrecht der Freiheit PN1997.A23 F692 2002
French Twist PN1997 .G396 2003
If These Walls Could Talk 2 HQ75.6.U6 I3 2000
Inside Out HQ77.95.I73 I57 2006
Mark Doty PS3554.O798 Z47 1999
Southern Comfort HQ1075 .S68 2003
The Times of Harvey Milk HQ76.8.U5 T56 2004
Tying the Knot HQ1034.U5 T95 2005
Other DVD/VHS resources
Women's and Gender Studies library DVD/VHS Catalog, LGBTQ section
LGBTQ Resource Center - Nebraska Union, Room 342
UNL Video Services' Instructional Video Catalog - keyword search for gay or lesbian
Queer Authors, online archives at UNL
-
Search the proquest "Dissertations, UNL --full text" database.
-
Search Dissertation Abstracts/Disserations and Theses database, limit your search under institutions to "university of nebraska lincoln"
-
Do a keyword search in the UNL Libraries catalog for "Nebraska Thesis [your subject]"
Finding Theses from other Universities
Theses from other accredited US universities can be found through the Dissertation Abstracts/Disserations and Theses database. You can use the same search hints for this database as the Article Hints. Dissertations and theses can sometimes be interlibrary loaned from other universities, though some of them are not available. There is often a charge for such loans. Contact the Interlibrary Loan department for more information (472-2522, room 221 Love Library South). Some theses may have been turned into books, so search WorldCat for the author and/or the title of the theses to see if there is a book version available (which might be cheaper and more up to date).
Finding Books
Catalog search - http://iris.unl.edu, click on Catalog or use the Quick Catalog Search box.
To find only books: click on "more search options" then click on "advanced keyword search". Limit to "print material" or "ebooks".
Keyword search
Click the radio button next to keyword, then enter your terms. It will search for that word in the title, subject headings, and any notes (such as a table of contents) that might be included in the record.
Suggested keyword search terms: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender*, transsexual*, homosexual*, queer.
In general, searching for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender*, transsexual* or homosexual will get the most hits. The * at the end of transgender* and transsexual* is a truncation symbol; using it will expand your search to include "transgender", "transgenders", "transgendered", "transgenderism", "transsexual", "transsexuals", "transsexualism", "transsexuality," etc. This will ensure that you've cast your net wide enough to get as many books on transgenderism or transsexuality. Newer items (10-15 years old) may use queer in their titles or table of contents, which will come up in a keyword search. GLBT, LGBT, TBLG, and other acronyms might come up with uncertain results, depending on what acronyms were used in the title or notes.
Subject search
Click the radio button next to subject, then enter a Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH).
Select Transgender-specific Subject Headings
African American transsexuals
Berdaches
Children of transsexual parents
Christian transsexuals
Drag balls
Female impersonators
Female-to-male transsexuals
Gender identity
Gender identity disorders
Gender identity disorders in adolescence
Gender identity disorders in children
Gender Identity in art
Gender identity in motion pictures
Hermaphroditism
Male impersonators
Sex change
Stonewall Riot, New York, N.Y., 1969
Transsexual librarians
Transsexualism - Religious aspects (can sub-categorize further by denomination)
Transsexuals
Transsexuals - Identity
Transsexuals in motion pictures
Transsexuals - Legal status, laws
Transsexuals' writings
Transsexualism
Transvestism
Transvestism in art
Transvestism - Religious aspects (can sub-categorize further by denomination)
Transvestites
Transvestites in literature
Title Search
If you already know the title of a book, click on the radio button beside Title, then type in the title. You do not need to capitalize or use punctuation in your search. If it is a very long title, use as much of the title that will identify the book. For example, if you were searching for the title "Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary in Which is Contained, in Chronological Order, Evidence of the True and Fantastical History of Those Persons Now Called Lesbians and Gay Men", you could type in just "gay lesbian almanac" or "gay lesbian almanac a new documentary" to locate this specific book in a title search.
If UNL Libraries do not own the book, you will see this screen:
Finding books not owned by UNL
If you are looking for books on queer topics that may or may not be owned by UNL, you have several options. These are just a few.
WorldCat - "world catalog", contains the library records of thousands of libraries. You can use the above hints to search other libraries around the world. Items listed in WorldCat not owned by UNL can be easily ILL'd by clicking the "request via ILL (ILLiad)" link in the book's record.
Google Book Search - This is best used when you can't find any materials at all on your topic through other means. Google Books will search through the full text of the books it has in its system, which can increase your chances of finding a book on your topic. It can also increase your chances of getting a great deal of hits that have little or nothing to do with your topic. Be very selective of your keywords, or you can waste a lot of time clicking through pages of bad results. Once you find a book, you can then search the UNL Libraries catalog to see if we have it, or ILL the book if we don't own it.
Amazon.com Books, Browse by Subject - Amazon.com has a "Gay And Lesbian" section of their books. If you click on the browse by subject section of their books, you can select Gay and Lesbian, then you can search for specific topics in Gay and Lesbian. You can also do a regular keyword search, using the keyword tips mentioned above. Amazon.com also allows you to search through the full text of many of their books, which increases the chances of finding a book on your topic. Once you find a book, you can then search the UNL Libraries catalog to see if we have it, or ILL the book if we don't own it.
TransBibilio: A Bibliography of Print, AV, and Online Resources Pertaining to Transgendered Persons and Transgender Issues - An immense online bibliography of resources relating to transgender issues. Once you find a book, you can then search the UNL Libraries catalog to see if we have it, or ILL the book if we don't own it.
Find where these call numbers are located in Love Library
Find where these call numbers are located in CY Thompson Library
BF692-692.5 - Psychology of sex. Sexual behavior
E98.R3 & E98.S48 - Sexuality in Native American Cultures (two-spirit or "berdaches")
HQ73 - General works on sexual minorities
HQ74 - Bisexuality
HQ75-76.965 - Homosexuality. Lesbianism
HQ75.15-75.12 - Gay and lesbian studies
HQ75.3 - Lesbians
HQ75.7-76.2 - Gay men
HQ76.25 - General works
HQ76.34-76.35 - Same-sex relationships
HQ76.5-76.8 - Gay rights movement. Gay liberation movement. Homophile movement
HQ76.85 -Gay conservatives
HQ76.96-76.965 - Gay and lesbian culture
HQ77 - Transvestism
HQ77.7-77.95 - Transsexualism
HQ1033-1034 Same-sex marriage
HV6250.4.H66 - Victims of Crime/Victimology: Homosexuals
HV6250.4.W65 - Victims of Crime/Victimology: Women
K670-709 - Domestic relations. Family law
KFN1-599 - Nebraska state law
PN2071 I47 - Female Impersonators, drag performance
PN3401 - Women writers. Feminism in fiction
PN3403 - Men writers. Masculinity in fiction
RC558-558.5 - Homosexuality and psychopathology
RC560.C4 - Transsexuality and psychopathology
RC881-RC883 - Intersexuality
UB418.G38 - Gays in the Military
Finding Articles on LGBTQ Topics - Select Databases
*Best resources for Transgender topics
Interdisciplinary
LGBT Life with Full Text is an Ebsco database that provides indexing and abstracts for more than 400 magazines, journals, books and news sources, and also provides coverage for gray literature such as case studies and important speeches. Additionally, it includes full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text books.
Gender Studies Database combines Women's Studies International, Men's Studies and Sexual Diversity Studies databases with relevant contributions from the Child Development & Adolescent Studies as well as Family & Society Studies Worldwide databases. It also links to freely available and indexed full-text articles and documents on the web. You can also limit your results to the Sexual Diversity Studies database only.
Academic Search Premier is a very general database that indexes over 7,800 journals, many of which are full text, including peer-reviewed publications.
Contemporary Women's Issues is an interdisciplinary database that indexes global information on women in over 150 countries in over 1,500 journals, newsletters, research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies, along with fact sheets. It covers areas such as sociology, psychology, health, education and human rights. Records indicate when the UNL Libraries own a print copy of the text.
Family and Society Studies Worldwide
Family and Society Studies Worldwide indexes research, policy and practice literature in the fields of family science, human ecology and human development.
OmniFile is another general database, similar to Academic Search Premier, that contains over a thousand select full text periodicals. Publications include leading popular and general-interest magazines; professional, research and scholarly journals; and trade and industry magazines. Subject coverage includes current events, business, the humanities, science, and the social sciences.
The Web of Science provides access to current and retrospective multidisciplinary information from approximately 8,500 of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world.
Select Subject-Specific (search other subject databases as appropriate, this is just a short list)
America: History and Life indexes 2,000 journals published worldwide, dealing with American and Canadian history.
Art Abstracts cites articles from more than 300 periodicals published throughout the world. Coverage includes periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. In addition to articles, reproductions of works of art that appear in cited periodicals are indexed. For example, if a painting appears in an advertisement, Art Index provides the artist's name, the title of the work, and a full bibliographic citation.
ERIC is an education database containing journal articles and education reports. "EJ" (Eric Journal) titles can be retrieved through our journal collection or through ILL. Many "ED" (Eric Document) titles can be found on Microfiche in the Media Services room, Love South, Room 201.
Historical Abstracts is a world history database. It indexes over 2,000 journals covering the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
This database offers full-text and full-image articles for newspapers dating back to the 19th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files.
LegalTrac is a legal resource database that provides indexing for approximately 875 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals.
PsycInfo is a psychology database that contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports in the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law.
Sociological Abstracts indexes over 2000 journals, conference papers, relevant dissertation listings, book reviews, and selected books in sociology, social work and related disciplines.
-
Be mindful of Terminology. If you're looking for information prior to the 1990s on transgenderism, you will find more hits if you use "transsexual*" as well as "transgender*" as your keywords, as "transgender" didn't come into mainstream use until the late 1980s and 1990s. If you're doing historical research of primary resources, you will want to search "homosexual*", as "gay" had a different meaning in the 1900s. GLBT as a term didn't come into wide-spread use until the 1990s, so using it may not find older items.
-
Full text searching is fabulous, and a problem. Full text searching of articles casts a wide net, but you also catch articles that aren't relevant to your search. For example, searching "transgender" can retrieve many full text articles that contain the phrase "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender," even though the article only deals with just gay men or lesbian women. If you're receiving too many hits, try to narrow it down by adding more terms, such as "bisexual men" as a phrase or "transgender* and HBIGDA" to make it more specific to your search.
-
Subject searching isn't always your friend. If you check out the Library of Congress Queer Subject Headings lists linked above, you'll see that sometimes the subjects that you think you should be using, aren't necessarily the ones being used. Many databases offer an "index," "thesaurus" or "subject" list that you can browse through to find terms related to your subject--but be careful! Sometimes articles that are on your subject aren't listed under the correct subject term. For example, an article titled "Transgender Health Care" may have subject headings like "Gay men" or "GLBT people". Even though the database has a "transgender health care" subject heading, doesn't mean that all articles on transgender health care are included in it.
-
Encyclopedias have great reference lists and citations. If you can find information about your subject in a queer encyclopedia, but you can't find articles by searching our databases, then try using the reference lists at the end of that encyclopedia article. Many of them contain great references, sometimes THE article on the subject. You can then not only search for those articles, but you can also search for articles that cite it doing a "cited reference search" in databases such as Academic Search Premier or Web of Science.
-
Use wildcard and truncation symbols when available (* or ?). Most databases have a Help link that will tell you hints on how to use the database, including using wildcards and truncation symbols. Wildcard symbols tell the database to substitute either one or zero letters in the place of the symbol (so, searching "wom?n" will find articles containing the words: women, woman, womon, womyn, etc.). A truncation symbol at the end of a word will search for words that begin with that stem word. For example, searching "transgender" finds words like "transgenderist", "transgendism", etc. But don't truncate your words too far--searching "trans*" will get you "transmission", "transaction", "trans-Atlantic", etc.
Except where noted, all titles are full text Electronic/Online. Search the Electronic Journal Finder to see current library holdings.
Advocate
Canadian Online Journal of Queer Studies in Education
Gay Community News
Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review
Gay & Lesbian Law Journal
Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide
Gay and Lesbian Times
Gay Parent
Girlfriends: the Magazine of Lesbian Enjoyment
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
Human Sexuality (print only)
International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies
Journal of Lesbian Studies (some print volumes in Love)
Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Law & Sexuality: A Review of Lesbian and Gay Legal Issues
Lesbian Herstory Archives Newsletter
Lesbian News
Lesbian Review of Books
Studies in Gender and Sexuality
Transgender Tapestry
Debbie Krahmer: dkrahmer2@unl.edu