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Start your research with encyclopaedias to get a broad overview of an subject area, concept or field as they have article length entries, suggestions for further reading and other helpful background information.

Other encyclopaedias can be found by using 'encyclopedia' and 'gender' with terms such as 'sexuality', 'media' etc. in Library Search.

Edited books are also good sources of information for undergraduate subjects as they have essays / chapters written by different experts on a topic, and can help you find more recent and in depth material than encyclopaedias.

Dig deeper in databases to find more types of information you will need in Gender, Sexuality and Diversity Studies research - including media, policy, literature, and histories.

Featured encyclopedias, edited books, and illustrated guides

Democracy in difference: Debating the terms of gender, sexuality, race and identity

This ebook explores the analytical frames of feminism, Marxism, queer theory and decolonial methodologies. Readers can familiarise themselves with the jargon needed to perform textual analysis or read an archive and find the terms needed to understand relationships between power, knowledge, and justice.

Key terms are illustrated through written text, La Trobe Art Institute artworks, poetry, comedy and song, and customised animations which make difficult terms accessible.

The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies

This far-reaching and contemporary Encyclopedia examines and explores the lives and experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals, focusing on the contexts and forces that shape their lives. The work focuses on LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development and sociology, emphasizing queer, feminist and ecological perspectives on the topic.

Encyclopedia of Gender and Society

Covers the major theories, research, people, and issues in contemporary gender studies. Offers a cross-national/cross-cultural perspective that provides comparative analyses of the life experiences of men and women around the world.

Gender, Sexuality and Museums

Gender, Sexuality and Museums provides the only repository of key articles, new essays and case studies for the important area of gender and sexuality in museums. It is the first reader to focus on LGBT issues and museums, and the first reader in nearly 15 years to collect articles which focus on women and museums. At last, students of museum studies, women's studies, LGBT studies and museum professionals have a single resource. The book is organised into three thematic parts, each with its own introduction. Sections focus on women in museum work, applications of feminist and LGBT theories to museum exhibitions, exhibitions and collections pertaining to women and individuals who are LGBT. The Case studies in a fourth part provide different perspectives to key topics, such as memorials and memorializing; modernism and museums; and natural history collections. The collection concludes with a bibliographic essay evaluating scholarship to date on gender and sexuality in museums. Amy K. Levin brings together outstanding articles published in the past as well as new essays. The collection's scope is international, with articles about US, Canadian, and European institutions. Gender, Sexuality and Museums: A Routledge Reader is an essential resource for those studying gender and sexuality in the museum.

Queer: a Graphic History

Barker and Scheele invite you to question the status quo and to start seeing things more queerly.

Gender: A Graphic Guide

Is masculinity ‘toxic’? Why are public toilets such a political issue? How has feminism changed the available gender roles – and for whom? Why might we all benefit from challenging binary thinking about sex/gender? In this unique illustrated guide, Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele travel through our shifting understandings of gender across time and space – from ideas about masculinity and femininity, to non-binary and trans genders, to intersecting experiences of gender, race, sexuality, class, disability and more. Tackling current debates and tensions, which can divide communities and even cost lives, Barker and Scheele look to the past and the future to explore how we might all approach gender in more caring and celebratory ways.