Information Literacy

Study of Women and Gender

The Program for the Study of Women and Gender examines gender, race, class and sexuality as important and simultaneous aspects of social worlds and human lives. As an interdisciplinary endeavor, the study of women and gender shows students how different academic disciplines view the operation of gender in the labor market, the family, political systems and cultural production. Research and theory emerge from these everyday realities and feminist theory, in turn, informs our analysis of political choices. All majors in the Study of Women and Gender are expected to be capable of doing research across disciplines, and of bringing different disciplinary methodologies together in interdisciplinary efforts.  By the time they graduate, all majors should understand how scholars in the field conduct research and how they communicate the results of their work to colleagues. One way of describing this understanding is “information literacy” – i.e. the ability to conceptualize what information is needed combined with the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and effectively and ethically use this information.

Writing Intensive Classes

Before entering upon work in their major, students should take at least one writing intensive class. Students who have taken writing intensive classes should have learned the following skills:

• To define and articulate the need for information and identify a variety of types and formats of potential sources for information beyond the web search engine [AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to identify and locate the two most appropriate types of information needed to complete their assignment.]
• To articulate and apply initial criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources [AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to distinguish between popular and scholarly materials in a variety of formats such as books, periodical literature, and websites.]
• To acknowledge and cite the sources used in conducting research for an assignment using an acceptable style guide [AT THE VERY LEAST – students will be able to locate the appropriate style guide and emergency online help.]

These skills may be regarded by all students as a base for further study. Help is available through the Neilson Library Reference Department's Ask a Librarian options.

Any student contemplating SWG as a major is encouraged to take one of the writing intensive courses cross-listed with SWG, including a number of First Year Seminars. Recent offerings have included FYS 108: Curry: Gender, Race, Sexuality and Empire; FYS 114 Turning Points; FYS 175 Love Stories; FYS 179 Rebellious Women; and FYS 180 Cleopatra: Histories, Fictions, Fantasies.

Beginning SWG Majors

There is one common required course, SWG 150 , which provides a chance to learn particular research skills. In SWG 150: Introduction to the Study of Women and Gender, students will

• Focus on major debates in women’s and gender studies
• Learn to recognize interdisciplinary approaches to scholarship
• Begin to acquire the skill of textual close reading (of written, visual and sound texts)
• Examine a variety of historical sources including written documents (primary and secondary sources), audio, visual and archival materials
• Distinguish among popular, scholarly, and primary sources

Basic Sources for SWG majors

Intermediate-Level Study in the Major

Because SWG is an interdisciplinary major, students become familiar with the research practices of multiple disciplines. At the intermediate level, students learn to hone specific research skills in disciplines such as history, literature and social science disciplines, while extending the introduction they had to interdisciplinary work in SWG 150.  Three additional courses are taken with the SWG prefix, including at least one at the 300 level.

Skills acquired at this level that are common across disciplines include the ability to:

• Identify and address an information need using a variety of sources.
• Evaluate a source for appropriateness using predefined criteria, and justify why a source is appropriate
• Construct an annotated bibliography
• Recognize the limitations of web search engines for academic research
• Use the Five College Library Catalog to locate known items, perform basic subject searches, and access print reserves
• Access basic article databases to locate scholarly articles (see list above)
• Apply questions to a specific text
• Understand what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it
• Appropriately acknowledge print and non-print sources using a standard citation format (e.g. MLA, Chicago or APA)

Literature

• Engage in critical analysis, with an emphasis on writing interpretive essays on literature
• Use literary critical terms and various methodologies of interpretation and argumentation
• Become more perceptive readers and persuasive writers
• Use critical essays and historical sources to contextualize the literary texts

History

• Locate primary sources available in the Five Colleges or beyond from references in secondary sources
• Become familiar with digitized primary sources such as Women and Social Movements, Women Working and others ( http://libguides.smith.edu/swagprimarysources).
• Assess primary sources, determining what constitutes evidence, opinion, or contradiction; and recognize the varying perspectives of participants in the same event
• Explore the methods relevant to historical documents
• Conduct oral histories

Social Science

• Engage in qualitative and quantitative research material to interpret and analyze human behavior
• Read and interpret social scientific explanations of gender, culture and identity
• Use data sources such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), census and survey data, economic data, semi-structured interviews, life history interviews
• Learn ethical practices for conducting social science research
• Conduct legal research and learn to read primary sources of law and secondary authorities

Interdisciplinary Research and Intersectional Analysis

Some of our intermediate courses are grounded firmly in interdisciplinary methods that emphasize intersectional analysis; in these courses, students will:

• Perform close reading of various kinds of texts (visual, written and sound)
• Conduct research using a variety of methods such as historical, literary, social science, and community based research methods
• Examine race, gender, sexuality, class, region and other sites of identification as interdependent and fundamental aspects of the social world
• Use library databases
• Create original arguments applying philosophical/theoretical concepts introduced in class
• Recognize and execute both descriptive scholarly writing and analysis organized through the provision of a thesis or argument

Intermediate/Advanced Sources for SWG Majors

Seminars/300 Level Electives

At the advanced level, SWG majors are expected to be expert in doing research in at least one discipline, familiar with the other areas, and able to engage interdisciplinary projects. Students are expected to be strong writers, to be familiar with using library databases to find scholarly and popular references, and to be able to critique and cross-reference sources. For example, in a 300 level course in the SWG major a student might be asked to trace a writer’s research (that is, to look at some of the sources he/she used for the work), or to chronicle the intellectual reception of a work. The expectation at this level is a finer and deeper exploration of ideas based on strong research skills.

At this level, students will:

• Show a range of critical thinking across various genres of expression (scholarly essays and monographs, plays, poems, essays, novels)
• Integrate varying bodies of knowledge (historical, sociological, literary, and philosophical)
• Exhibit and practice writing and oral presentation skills
• Engage in a research project that involves work with primary and secondary sources

Assessment

SWG courses assess students’ attainment of information literacy in various ways, appropriate to the level of the course. Class discussions and papers call upon students to demonstrate interpretive and analytic skills appropriate to the course topic and level. Their performance in these areas may directly or indirectly determine their grades. Through formal grading and informal feedback during office hours, instructors and librarians help students develop critical awareness of their own abilities.

Assignments requiring students to demonstrate and take advantage of information literacy vary depending on the skills involved. In general, SWG 150 devotes more explicit attention to acquiring, developing and testing basic skills; while more advanced courses assume students have reached a basic level of competency and can deploy information literacy skills independently. As students develop, they will be expected to recognize and execute both descriptive scholarly writing and analysis organized through the provision of a thesis or argument. In all cases, library staff is available to assist students and faculty members in devising, completing, and assessing such work.

Ethical Issues

Plagiarism is a serious violation of the College’s Honor Code. When using someone else’s words, ideas, or arguments, students must acknowledge their sources. It is important to identify and attribute all sources of new ideas, except for commonly shared knowledge, such as dates and facts found in encyclopedias and dictionaries. For more information on the College Honor Code, look here:

http://www.smith.edu/sao/handbook/socialconduct/honorcode.php

Students should be familiar with ethical issues, standards and process for gathering information with human subjects.