GB 106 PC/01 - The Women's Library Printed Collections

Identity area

Reference code

GB 106 PC/01

Title

The Women's Library Printed Collections

Date(s)

  • 1592-[2008] (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

60,000 + items

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Repository

Archival history

GB 106 PC/01 1592-[2008] Collection (fonds) 60,000 + items The Women's Library

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.

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.

Open

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

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Welsh

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.

Updated Collection Description by Teresa Doherty, based on web resources Jan 2009. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.
General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.
Feb 2009. Communications media Publications Organizations Associations Womens organizations Sex distribution Sex Women Internal politics Electoral systems Womens suffrage Information sciences Womens liberation movement Liberation movements Political movements Women's Library

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

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.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

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.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

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.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Welsh

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

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.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Women's Library

Rules and/or conventions used

General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area