COLLECTIONS:

Special Collections

University Archives

Collection Preservation

Research Collections:
Women's Studies Collection

Collection Overview
The women's studies collection supports teaching and research needs for students and faculty in the Women's Studies Program. The primary focus of the collection is the study of women in the United States. The collection areas are the history of women in the United States, and current research and discourse carried out in the social sciences and women's studies.  Other areas include women in theology, feminist philosophy, nursing, education and women in the sciences.  A secondary focus is women and women's studies outside the United States, such as French feminism.  The history and political science collections are strong in documenting and analyzing the experience of women in the United States by covering early women's rights, suffrage, social causes, reform and the women's movement. The collection includes diaries, biographies and autobiographies of their life and work. With the women's movement and the struggle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1960's and 1970's, the social sciences collections have grown to reflect social movement, social activism, gender, and role research.  The strong monograph coverage of women's studies mirrors the publication explosion of feminist discourse and the unprecedented expansion of interdisciplinary scholarship. Moreover, during the last twenty years the scope of the collection has expanded to include such topics as women's issues, feminist theory and methodology, violence against women, academic feminism, the women's health movement.  Holdings include First Wave, Second Wave and Third Wave feminist materials.  The goal is to keep abreast of current trends and scholarship in women's studies by collecting broadly and in various formats to support instructional and research needs.

The Women's Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary minor to undergraduates and places emphasis on the study of women's past and present position in society, analyzing the differences among women as a result of such factors as race, class, religion, and sexuality; the concept of gender relations is also an important emphasis.  The range of issues that intersect with gender such as nationalism and post colonialism, health, labor, sexuality, race, family work and welfare are are additional aspects that are studied.  The collection mirrors and supports these concerns by providing current teaching and research materials in many formats, including electronic access.  

Shari Taylor Grove
Women's Studies Bibliographer
1-617-552-4481
E-Mail: grove@bc.edu

Selected Resources

In the O'Neill Library

• Collected works and critical editions of major writers: Karen Horney, Simone DeBeauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Helene Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

• Important microform sets: Library of American Civilization, American Women's Diaries: Southern Women, FBI File on the American Churchwomen Killed in El Salvador, Dec. 2, 1980 and Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College. Series 3: Sexuality, Sex Education, and Reproductive Rights, and The Bronte Manuscripts.

• Extensive holdings in womens studies journal literature in relevant formats.

• Reference works: Women: A Bibliography of Bibliographies, Women's Studies Encyclopedia, Women's Studies: A Recommended Core Bibliography 1980-1985, Women Studies Abstracts, Women's Studies Index, Women in LC's terms: A Thesaurus of Library of Congress Subject Headings Relating to Women.

In the Burns Library:

• The Janet James Collection, The Jane Jacobs Papers and Nursing and Medical Ethics are in the John J. Burns Library, Rare Books and Special Collections.

 On the Web (Restricted to the BC Community):

• Subject index to the literature: Gender Watch

• General indexes: America History & Life, Historical Abstracts, Arts & Humanities / Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science), Expanded Academic Index ASAP, FRANCIS Bulletin Signalétique, Hispanic American Periodicals Index, MLA, PCI Periodicals Contents Index, Psychological Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Sport Discus, ATLA Religion Database.

• Full text databases: Women Writers Online, Major Authors Online (Virginia Woolf and the Brontës), Biography Resource Center, CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online, Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Lexis Nexis Academic Universe, Ethnic NewsWatch, LION: Literature Online.

• Full text electronic journals: NWSA Journal, an official publication of the National Women's Studies Association. Other electronic journals in women's studies may be found at the following e-journal gateways: JSTOR and Project Muse.

• Other databases in the Subject Indexes to Online Databases: Social Sciences, Humanities and Science, Medicine and Nursing.

Research Guides
More information about available resources can be found in the following resource guides: Research Guide: Women's Studies and Research Guide: Women's Studies Journals.

Interdisciplinary Elements of Subject Area
The women's studies bibliographer coordinates collection development with other bibliographers in overlapping areas of study. Frequently the subject areas of this collection relate to history (social history, popular culture), literature, theology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, business management, nursing and health sciences, education, gender and women's studies, international and cross cultural studies.  Below under Other Areas is an extensive list of subject areas.

Formats and Types of Materials
The bulk of the collection is print material. However, with the emerging digital library, electronic formats will receive increasing emphasis. Requests for audiovisual materials are considered and added as needed. Major reference sources and major serial titles are collected. The serials collection has most of the scholarly journals published in the United States. The women's studies collection continues to develop and strives to maintain a strong collection which expresses interest in intra- and interdisciplinary research on women. Since Boston College is a member of ICPSR (Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research), it has numerous datafiles available. Scholarly, major trade publications, "movement" monographs, reference works, and periodicals are acquired. Theses and dissertations, symposia and conference proceedings of women's conferences are considered. In general., textbooks are not purchased unless they are selected as reference and research works.

Formats collected include print, electronic, microform, and audiovisual. Types of materials include monographs, serials, and reference works including major indexes, abstracts, catalogs, bibliographies, yearbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, research guides, and directories.

Languages
English is the primary language of the collection. Foreign language materials are purchased.

Geographic Areas (Subject Approach)
The emphasis is primarily on materials dealing with women in North America; published work on women in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa are collected but to a lesser extent.

Time Periods (Subject Approach)
Primary emphasis is placed on scholarly works covering the present. The selection of materials reflects an interest in women in contemporary American society. Earlier historical periods are considered in conjunction with the bibliographers for history.

Date of Publication
Emphasis is on collecting current materials. Retrospective buying, an integral part of the acquisition program, is limited to titles which appear on definitive bibliographies for college collections and are purchased upon faculty request.

Subject Areas Collected by Library of Congress Classification Number
BCAT, the online catalog, can be searched by LC classification number to get a better idea of what specific titles the women's studies collection contains.  For example, the command c=HQ1101 will produce the beginning of a list of works on women's studies.  This list can be browsed by pressing the F8 key or typing f and pressing the Enter/Return key.
 

Other Areas for Coordinating Acquisitions: