Information Needs and Experiences of Scholars in Women’s Studies: Problems and Solutions

Abstract

Women’s studies faculty often engage in complex information-seeking patterns as they examine social issues from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Academic librarians constructing an understanding of those patterns in order to provide effective reference service can incorporate the results of this national, qualitative study on the information needs, information uses, successful strategies, productive tactics, and problem issues reported by a wide range of these interdisciplinary scholars. Finally, advice and guidance from forty-two women’s studies librarians in a wide variety of academic settings provide an array of practical tools for serving this complex population.