Graphical version

Women's Library

The Women's Library Printed Collections

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 106 PC/01

Held at: Women's Library

Title: The Women's Library Printed Collections

Date(s): 1592-[2008]

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 60,000 + items

Name of creator(s): The Women's Library

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

The Women's Library Printed Collections comprise:

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS

The Library has over 60,000 books and pamphlets. In addition to scholarly works on women's history, there are biographies, popular works, government publications, and some works of literature. It also contains several special collections of published materials: The Cavendish-Bentinck Collection contains primarily pre-1850 items, such as conduct books from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and first editions of works by Wollstonecraft, Woolf, and the Brontes. The Josephine Butler Society Library features works on subjects including prostitution, slavery, trafficking of women, and attitudes to sexuality. The Sadd Brown Library comprises books and periodicals by and about women in the various Commonwealth countries.

PERIODICALS AND ZINES

Over 2,500 titles are held, some in single issues, but many in complete or representative runs. Titles range from popular magazines (Vogue, Cosmopolitan), to academic quarterlies (Gender and History, Feminist Review), special interest publications (One Parent Families, Executive Black Woman, National Association of Women Pharmacists), and older titles such as the English Woman's Journal and Votes for Women. The zine collection, dating from 2002, includes zines which reflect women's lives in the UK today.

EPHEMERA/PRESS CUTTINGS

The ephemera collection consists of thousands of mostly contemporary leaflets, flyers, handbills, etc. on topics of interest to women. A primarily retrospective collection of press cuttings is available; it is particularly useful for biographical material and obituaries on women.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

A range of electronic resources are available for consultation at The Women's Library to complement the printed, archive and museum collections. These cover all aspects of women's lives and include periodical indexes and statistical data, as well as full text databases.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Welsh

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open

Conditions governing reproduction:

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

The Printed Collections can be consulted via an online catalogue available at www.thewomenslibrary.ac.uk/catalogue. Additional guides in the form of Source Notes are available online.

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The Library has traditionally had a small acquisitions budget for Printed Collections - significant parts of the collections have been donated by members and friends of the Library. Donations have included single items or entire libraries that relate to women.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Updated Collection Description by Teresa Doherty, based on web resources Jan 2009. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.