Using the Library for Research on Women

Judy Hudson

Late in 1988, IROW associates were surveyed to determine how they use the library. Judith Hudson of the University Libraries and Women's Studies interviewed 39 IROW associates to find out what kinds of research materials they use, what library tools they utilize to access research materials, and what types of reference materials they would like to have that are not now available. An interesting finding of the survey is that few of the associates were aware of the "do-it-yourself" database searching that is currently available at the University Libraries. In order to inform IROW associates about new library technology, IROW sponsored a series of "Library Technology Tours", conducted by Hudson and Eleanor Gossen, to acquaint interested faculty with services that are currenlty available.

Survey respondents were asked to rate library materials according to their usefulness in conducting research. All the IROW associates indicated that bibliographies and bibliographic references in journal articles or books are useful in providing access to needed items. Gemini, the University Libraries' online catalog, was rated highly or somewhat useful by 90% of the respondents. Other useful access sources are printed indexes and abstracts and interlibrary loan. When asked which materials are the most important research resources for students, the faculty listed periodical abstracts and indexes, the library catalog, online database searching, periodicals and bibliographies, and footnotes and bibliographies in books and journal articles. Psychological Abstracts, the MLA Bibliography, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Dissertation Abstracts were the abstracts most often recommended by the faculty for student research.

The faculty indicated that materials in their personal libraries were highly useful for their research. The next most useful source of material is interlibrary loan, followed by the collection of the University Libraries. Although material from women's organizations was rated least often as useful, those who use such materials cited newsletters from the women's caucuses of professional organizations, National Women's Studies Association publications, newsletters from women's organization in other countries, and specialized newsletters.

When asked how often they used the Libraries, 61% indicated that they use them weekly, and 81% indicated that they use them at least monthly. However, library use varies according to the stage of research at which the faculty member is involved.

Although 42% of the faculty agree that women's studies materials are hard to find in the library, 47% feel that they are no harder to find than other materials. Approximately 1/3 of the group use strategies for finding women's studies materials that differ from those for other materials. Among the special strategies cited are:

• Read more broadly and look in more places.

• Start with books and articles or biographical and review sources and work from there.

• Depend more on colleagues and conferences to identify new material.

• Use online services for women's studies and minority studies materials.

• Look at more individual sources since relatively few women's studies journals are cited in indexes and abstracts.

• Search unindexed sources and collections affiliated with women's centers and government agencies.

When asked what kinds of reference books or bibliographies they would like that are not now available, some of the faculty expressed a need for an index to all research on women - a bibliography like the MLA Bibliography. Some of the other needs are: updates to women's bibliographies like Haber's Women in America or Williamson's New Feminist Scholarship and other standard reference sources like the handbooks on women workers, women's studies bibliographies that are international in coverage and thematic in nature, listings of women and public policy, plays by American women, translations of women's works, women's avant-garde and performance works, women and management, directories of notable American women in science, and bibliographies of women playwrights.

A number of faculty indicated a need for a general women's studies database and an online database of research in progress on women. RLIN, the libraries' bibliographic utility, has recently made available the Research in Progress Database (RIPD) which will include records for research on women gathered by the National Council for Research on Women. Other faculty feel a need for the reinstatement of the Catalyst online database, an online index of women and employment, and a database of the interface between women's history and general history.

A few faculty have experienced informational problems of importance or special difficulty in their research. Among the problems they expressed are:

• "The materials I need are very hard to obtain - collections are far away and/or in other countries."

• "There is virtually no material in my area - I had to break ground or shift my focus."

• "Women's studies materials are very scattered."

• "The patriarchal system says that knowledge exists in books in a library and we get the knowledge by reading the books. The kind of knowledge I want isn't there, or is there only accidentally."

• "Women's studies material owned by the library is less available than other material because it is very heavily used and less likely to be on the shelves.

• "I can't trust the absence of women or minorities in indexing services of books because they are often ignored or overlooked. I use creative inference to find relevant materials.

Finally the faculty were asked about their attitudes toward the libraries. A large majority of the group (87%) agreed that the library staff are helpful, but only 11% believe that library staff are knowledgeable about women's studies.