Gender and Sexuality Studies

Most of the books in the Pollak Library collection are scholarly, and they are excellent resources when you want an overview of the topic. 

• Chapters within the book will focus on more specific aspects of the topic, and these can be helpful for narrowing your own research. 

FAQ: Are books considered "scholarly sources"?

Answer: Sometimes, in cases where the books are written by academic authors and published with a university press. These scholarly books often written with other scholars and students as their intended audience. However, this is not the same thing as a "peer reviewed resource." Peer review is a specific publishing process in which the resource is reviewed by other experts in the field before publishing, not all books go through that process. If you are unclear what resource you need to use, ask your professor! 

Research Tip: Start with a simple search with one or two important terms in your search phrase. Keep adding terms if your results are too broad. For example: 

• heteronormativity AND American literature
• transnational motherhood

There are three ways to find books: 

1. To find books available in our library use the OneSearch bar on the library's homepage and select "Books & Media (CSUF)"

2. If you cannot find what you need in our collection, try expanding your search to all the CSU libraries by selecting "Books & Media (All CSU)" in the OneSearch bar. 

• If you see an item you want, just click on the "Request from other CSU Libraries" and fill out the request form.
• Materials from other libraries will be delivered to the Pollak Library for you to pick up, and you can return the items here and we will send them back to their owning library.