Gender and Women’s Studies

Contemporary Women’s Issues.

Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 1992–. A full-text database of journal articles, newsletters, alternative press publications, and reports produced by nongovernmental organizations on women’s issues. It includes material from 190 countries.

GenderWatch.

Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1998–. A database of full-text articles from 175 publications, some dating to the 1970s, on women’s issues, including scholarly journals, magazines, and newsletters as well as conference proceedings and reports.

Women’s Studies: Core Books

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/ACRLWSS. A searchable database of the most important books in print on issues ranging from girlhood to aging, covering women’s studies approaches to religion, sports, the arts, law, media, politics, and more. Books are chosen for inclusion by specialists in the Women’s Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Women’s Studies International.

Baltimore: NISC, 1972–. Indexes scholarly materials including books and journals, with some popular magazines as well. Some libraries may offer Gender Studies, an expanded version of this database.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research

http://www.iwpr.org. Links to information on violence, employment and economic change, democracy and society, poverty and welfare, the family and work, and health care policy. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research is a nonprofit organization that conducts scientific research for use by women’s organizations.

Women’s Studies/Women’s Issues Resource Sites

http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links.html. A substantial, selective directory of hundreds of sites on topics such as women and activism, cyberculture, health, higher education, sports and recreation, and women of color. All entries are annotated. The site also offers an international directory of women’s studies programs and research centers. Maintained by Joan Korenman of the Center for Women and Information Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

WSSLinks: Women and Gender Studies

http://libr.org/wss/WSSLinks/index.html. Annotated links for women’s studies covering art, education, film, health, history, sexuality, music, philosophy, politics, science and technology, and theology. Links are chosen by an editorial team from the Women’s Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

WWW Virtual Library: Women’s History

http://www.iisg.nl/w3vlwomenshistory. A directory of annotated links to women’s history resources, arranged by period, location, and topic, with additional links to discussion lists, conferences, associations, and more. Maintained by Jenneke Quast for the International Institute of Social History.

The Dictionary of Feminist Theory.

By Maggie Humm. 2nd ed. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1995. Covers theoretical issues in feminism and is particularly useful for placing these issues in historical context. The work is also helpful for pinpointing primary documents related to feminist theory.

Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America.

Ed. Marc Stein. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 2004. Offers over 500 articles on individuals, professions, legal issues, events, and communities that are significant in GLBT history.

Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender.

Ed. Judith Worell. 2 vols. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001. Provides lengthy technical articles on the psychology of women and gender, covering such topics as gender and achievement, aging, child care, and body image concerns.

Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women’s Issues and Knowledge.

Ed. Cheris Kramarae and Dale Spender. 4 vols. New York: Routledge, 2000. A record of women’s knowledge and experience, offering essays on international approaches to the arts, economic development, education, health and reproduction, sexuality, households, families, politics, and peace and violence.

Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues.

Ed. Edith H. Altbach and Nelly P. Stromquist. New York: Garland, 1998. Offers substantial overviews of topics related to women in the developing world, including theoretical issues, political and legal contexts, sex-role ideologies, demographics, economics, and the environment. It also provides regional surveys.

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia.

Ed. Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer. 17 vols. Waterford: Yorkin, 1999–2002. The largest compilation of biographical material on the world’s women. This work contains biographies of historically significant women from all walks of life and from all countries.

The Women’s Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism.

Ed. Leslie L. Heywood. 2 vols. Westport: Greenwood, 2006. Covers developments since the early 1990s. The first volume surveys important figures and issues ranging from riot grrrls to zines, and the second contains 77 documents showcasing third-wave feminist articles and essays.