GENERAL PURPOSE

The library collection supports the curricular and research needs of students and faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies program. The purpose of the collection is to help students explore cultural constructions of sex, gender, class, age, and race. The collection holds resources that examine historical and contemporary experiences of women, men, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons. These resources include treatments of sexuality, gender, linguistics, and health care. The Women’s and Gender Studies program is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary; it employs a wide range of primary and secondary materials as points of inquiry into feminine/masculine constructs within the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES

This collection emphasizes (though it is not limited to) critical theory and the experiences of women, gays, and lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons of the United States and Europe. Specialized resources collected by other departments (English, History, Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, Asian Studies, Classics, Art History, Religion, and Psychology) enhance and diversify the core collection of Women’s and Gender Studies materials. Local artifacts in Special Collections, and research collections of international scope (e.g. Gerritsen Collection of Women’s History 1543-1945) support feminist historiography.

TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

LBIS’s Women’s and Gender Studies’ budget funds acquisition of monographs, audio-visual materials, and serials. Any resource designated for the Reference Collection may be purchased from the general reference fund. Though all material formats may be considered, most resources purchased are monographs. Full-text databases (e.g. Women Writers Online), government documents, videos, serials, and on-line indexes are also purchased. There is no restriction on publishing dates.

FORMAT

Currently, materials most often appear in print format, but microform, electronic, vhs, dvd, and archived objects enhance research opportunities for students.

LANGUAGES

The collection comprises predominantly English works, but also includes works in translation and some works not in English (e.g. the Gerritsen Collection).

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

The collection includes material encompassing but not limited to North America,Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, East Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDELINES

The collection poses no restrictions on chronology because Women’s and Gender Studies courses cover all periods from antiquity to the present (e.g. Men and Women in Antiquity).

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

Integral to research is the Special Collections division where students practice historical methodology in a hands-on environment. Relevant items include Kenyon yearbooks, matriculation books, photographs, and local historical artifacts.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Interlibrary loan is vital for access to all Women’s and Gender studies core serials (as compiled by ALA-WGSS). At the same time, the department’s interdisciplinary nature and use of primary resources offset potential limits of Kenyon's serials collection.

Technology resources/services include access to technology teaching areas (Ascension or Chalmers classrooms for HTML instruction), access to scanning stations, image editing software, printers, storage on the local area network for producing students projects (e.g. oral histories), and networked software for authoring web sites.

Bibliographic and technological instruction services are also available for students and faculty through the LBIS departmental liaison.

CREATION DATE

July 25, 2000

LC CLASS

HQ, and other LC classes depending on the academic discipline.