Saturday 8 November 2014

A Short Guide to Finding Research About Violence Against Women & Children

While most of our BCSTH members request practical resources they can use with the women and children they serve, at times they seek research-based materials. Lots of organizations list web reports and documents, including journal articles, but sometimes you need to do more comprehensive research in academic journal articles and databases.

This short guide gives 3 sources I like to visit first for research-based materials (academic, peer-reviewed journal articles) on violence against women and children. 

But first, consider these past blog entries:


And now, here are 3 Simple Ways to Stay Up-To-Date and Find Research Literature on Violence Against Women and Children:

1. Journal Alert Services - Stay up-to-date with the latest research. Find journals of interest to you and sign up for the "Alert" to receive the current issue Table of Contentsby email (or on Facebook, or Twitter, etc.). At the very least, you'll be able to read the abstracts.


  • What Are Some Useful Journals?
  • How Can I Get Articles That are Not Available For Free? If you have searched the web and not been able to find the article you want for free, consider:
    1. In-person visit to a local university library. Most libraries allow you to use their extensive online journals for free as a community member while you are on-site.
    2. Purchase the article from the publisher (often around $30 per article), or 
    3. Subscribe to the journal if you'll be reading it regularly.
2. Search Google Scholar - If you don't have access to an academic library's databases
and journals, you can search Google Scholar for journal articles. While Google Scholar is a bit messy  - an enormous database with lots of stuff and no control - you should be able to find articles on your topic and some of them may be available for free (see above about how to get those that are not free).
  • Did you know that you can set up a search Alert in Google Scholar? New articles of interest on your topic will be emailed to you when they are published.
  • Did you know that you can save articles you'd like to keep in your "Library" within Google Scholar? This is a handy feature.
  • Did you know that Google Scholar has an Advanced Search feature? While not sophisticated, you can make your search a little more specific and find better results with the Advanced Search. 

3. Use Databases and Journals In-Person at a Local Library - If you need to do thorough and accurate research but you are not associated with an academic center, you can either outsource the research for a fee (e.g., InfoAction is a general research service), or you can visit a local university with a relevant program and spend time using their extensive databases and journals as a community member. For example:

More ideas? Let us know in the comments, or email library@bcsth.ca 

To borrow library resources, read "First Time Borrowers." Please visit the BCSTH Library to learn more about resources and information services developed especially for members of the BC Society of Transition Houses, and contact us for more information.

Deb & Tina, Co-Librarians
www.bcsth.ca
BC Society of Transition Houses
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada


BC Francophone Resources / Ressources francophones pour les femmes et les enfants victimes de violence en Colombie-Britannique

Our staff put together this list of Francophone resources relating to violence against women and children for French-speaking women in BC. 

What services exist in your community for French-speaking women and children who have experienced abuse? Let us know in the comments, or by emailing library@bcsth.ca

A. Services:
  • VictimLink - BC transition houses and victim service agencies may ask to use
    VictimLink French translators to work directly with women they are serving. Website.
  • La Boussole is a community, social aid, information and orientation centre. It offers services in French to the population of Greater Vancouver from offices in Vancouver and Surrey. Website in French and English.
  • Réseau Femmes Columbie-Brittanique brings together French-speaking women to represent, promote and defend their rights and interests in order to contribute to their social, ecomonic, and political empowerment, and to generate a sense of leadership amongst women. There are chapters across the province. Website in French and English.
  • Collège Éducacentre is the only French-language college in BC, with campuses in Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George. Student services include: academic and vocational guidance, employment counselling, immigrant services, language laboratory, health laboratory, resource centres, and a computer lab. Website in French and English.
B. Print Resources:
  • The BCSTH Library notes when our resources are available in French or relevant to Francophone people, as you can see in this image. We have created a Reading List of French resources: click on Reading Lists in the Library Catalogue, then French Resources

  •  BCSTH provides these Safety Net Canada resources in French on our website under the Safety Net Canada Project > Resources concerning how technology impacts and can enhance safety, privacy, accessibility, autonomy, justice and human rights for women, youth, and other survivors of family and domestic violence, sexual and dating violence, stalking, harassment, and abuse.



To borrow library resources, read "First Time Borrowers." Please visit the BCSTH Library to learn more about resources and information services developed especially for members of the BC Society of Transition Houses, and contact us for more information.


Deb & Tina, Co-Librarians
www.bcsth.ca
BC Society of Transition Houses
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Management & Administration Resources for EDs, Managers and Administrators

Non-profit Management  ~  Advocacy ~ Best Practices  ~  Boards  ~  Emergency Management   ~  Human Resources  ~  Intersectionality  ~  Media  ~   Policy  ~  Planning  ~ Records Management & Electronic Data  ~  Statistics  ~  Trauma-Informed Services  ~  Volunteers
Executive Directors, Mangers and other administrators (and anyone) working for a BCSTH-member agency may wish to borrow from this sampling of our management resources. 

To borrow - Simply email library@bcsth.ca
If you'd like more on one of these topics or resources on other topics of interest, email us and we'll send you suggestions, or search the BCSTH Library Catalogue. All resources are free to borrow by mail, or online.

Non-profit Management
  •  Non-profit Lifecycles: Stage Based Wisdom for Non-Profit Capcity [Book] - Presents seven not-for-profit lifecycle stages and the predictable tasks, challenges, and inevitable growing pains that not-for-profits encounter and can hope to master on the road to organizational sustainability.
  • The Abundant Not-for-Profit: How Talent Will Transform Your Organization [Book] - Theory, tips, case studies and practical tools that will equip you to attract, meaningfully engage and align an abundance of talented people towards your mission.
  • Grassroots and Non-profit Leadership: A Guide for Organizations in Changing Times [Book] - Draws on the experience of a variety of effective organisational development professionals, community organisers and leaders of non-profit organisations, teaching a proactive approach to organisational life [Borrow or access online]
  • 2013 Non-Profit Sector Salary and Benefits Study [Online Summary or borrow the report]
Advocacy
  • Implications of the Shrinking Space for Feminist Anti-Violence Advocacy [Online Document]
  • Living Beyond Shelter: Toward Coordinated Public Policies for Women's Safety and Violence Prevention [Online Document]
BCSTH has other best practice guides as well
as extensive resources
on reducing barriers
for women with substance use and mental health issues
Best Practices
  • Best Practice Approaches: Child Protection and Violence Against Women [Online Document]

Boards
  • Effective Governance [Online Guides and Toolkits] including ED Performance Review Toolkit, Board Role Descriptions Tool, Board Recruitment, Board Chair and ED Partnership Assessment, Board Assessment, and finally, Responsibility Overview.
Emergency Management
  • It Can Happen to Your Agency! Tools for Change: Emergency Management for Women's Services [Online Toolkit]
  • Emergency Preparedness in British Columbia: Mitigating Violence Against Women in Disasters [Online Report]
Human Resources
  • Leadership: Develop Unlimited Talent [Online Toolkits and eLearning] - including Performance Management System for Salaries Employees, Attracting and Recruiting the Right People, Performance Management e-Learning, Managing Performance Issues e-Learning, Window of Work for Engaging Volunteers
  • People Processes: Clarity and Consistency [Online Toolkits and Resources] - including Executive Director Position Description, Executive Director Interview Guide, Job Description Toolkit
Intersectionality
  • Everyone Belongs: A Toolkit for Applying Intersectionality [Book] - Concrete and practical suggestions and tools for organizations to apply intersectionality to their work, including policies, services, and governance. [Borrow the book or access online.]
  • Intersectional Feminist Frameworks: A Primer Written in Plain Language [Book] An accessible introduction to Intersectional Feminist Frameworks - an approach to women's social and economic justice that takes into account multiple factors that operate simultaneously to determine inequalities among individuals and groups.
  • Intersectional Feminist Frameworks: An Emerging Vision [Online Document] 
Media
  • Working with the Media: A Guide for Canadian Victim Service Providers [Online Guide]
Planning
  • Planning: Strategy and Workforce [Online Guide] - including Board and Senior Management Roles in Strategic Planning
  • Doing it Right! A Needs Assessment Workbook [Book] - practical information on needs assessment for community and social change organizations. It presents information on how to conduct a needs assessment, including worksheets.
Policy 
  • An Integrated Anti-oppression Framework for Reviewing and Developing Policy: A Toolkit for Community Service Organizations [Online Toolkit]
  • Policy Development Information: A Guide to Policy Development for Feminist Anti-Violence Programs [Online Guide]

BCSTH has extensive resources on Technology and Data
Records Management & Electronic Data
  • Records Management Guidelines : Protecting Privacy for Survivors of Violence, 3rd ed [Guide] - Guidelines for creating, updating, storing, releasing and destroying client records with privacy protection in mind.  [ Borrow report or access online ]
  • Privacy, Security and Confidentiality: Database Considerations for Violence Against Women Programs [Guide] - Designed to help violence against women programs look at the risks and benefits of various methods of electronic data collection. Refers to related important documents. [ Borrow report or access online ]
Statistics
  • I have covered statistics we can provide in this blog post on Statistics.

Social Media
  • The Non-Profit Social Media Guide [Online Guide]
  • Privacy, Security and Confidentiality: Social Media Considerations for Violence Against Women Programs [Guide] - Assists agencies to develop social media practices and policies that respect confidentiality, protect privacy, increase safety and enhance autonomy. [Borrow or access online]
Trauma-Informed Services
  • A Long Journey Home: A Guide for Creating Trauma-Informed Services for Mothers and Children Experiencing Homelessness [Online Guide]
  • Restoring Sanctuary: A New Operating System for Trauma-Informed Systems of Care [Book] - a user-friendly manual for organizational change that addresses the deep roots of toxic stress and illustrates how to transform a dysfunctional human service system into a safe, secure, trauma-informed environment.

Vantage Point provides these resources free of charge
Volunteers
  • Volunteer Handbook [Online Book]
  • Volunteers and the Law [Book] -  introduces the basic legal issues of working with volunteers and provides checklists for minimizing legal liability [Borrow book or access online]
  • People Processes: Clarify and Consistency [Online Toolkits] - including Volunteer Position Description, Volunteer Letter of Agreement, Employee and Board Handbook for Working with Volunteers: Policies and Processes
Note that the BCSTH website has other important documents. 

To borrow library resources, read "First Time Borrowers." Please visit the BCSTH Library to learn more about resources and information services developed especially for members of the BC Society of Transition Houses, and contact us for more information.

Deb & Tina, Co-Librarians
www.bcsth.ca
BC Society of Transition Houses
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada






Thursday 6 March 2014

March 8 is International Women's Day - Which Books & Films Have Influenced You?

March 8 is International Women's Day. The IWD website lists events and resources from around the world.

Who are the women in your community who have made a difference in your life?

Which resources have influenced you to think differently, or to celebrate the lives of women - novels, websites, films? What would you add to your list...
View the Reading Lists on "Women's Stories" and on "Feminism" in the BCSTH Library Catalogue and borrow these and other resources from the BCSTH Library.

To borrow library resources, read "First Time Borrowers." Please visit the BCSTH Library to learn more about resources and information services developed especially for members of the BC Society of Transition Houses, and contact us for more information.

Deb & Tina, Co-Librarians
www.bcsth.ca
BC Society of Transition Houses
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada