Women’s Studies Archives: International Women’s Periodicals

Citation

Orsborn, J.D. (2000), "Women’s Studies Archives: International Women’s Periodicals", Online Information Review, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 401-411. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2000.24.5.401.12

In historical research nothing is more valuable than a tool providing access to documentation reflecting the attitudes, ideas and behaviours of a section of society. The Women’s Studies Archives: International Women’s Periodicals database is such a tool. The database is “a selection of women’s journals, newspapers and magazines, from Primary Source Media’s History of Women microfilm collection”. The actual collection comprises 31 full‐run journals covering the mid‐eighteenth century to the 1920s. The database is provided through the Web, and allows for IP address recognition or password‐protected access. The main page is constructed with three frames. The top right frame includes links to: women’s studies main; PSM home; about women’s studies archives; related collection; about international women’s periodicals; periodical list; related PSM microfilm guides. The left section has the introduction, subscribe, search and help links. When users click on search, the site will request their password and username. Once those are input, users can continue to use the service as long as their Web browser is active. The links at the top are very limited and somewhat cryptic. The options are main, TOC (table of contents), search, help, and PSM (primary source media homepage). The microfilm guides text screen has three options for searching: history of women; women, fashion and society; and women’s periodicals: eighteenth century to the Great Depression, units 1, 2, and 3. Users can use the link to go directly to the entire text of the Microfilm guide or check any number of boxes and conduct a search using the search bar. If using this option, users can either page through or select a specific page.

Once a search is done a results list is formulated. This page indicates the search terms, the number of results, brief bibliographic information for the results, and a link to the relevant page. When conducting a search, there are two options. The standard search consists of a search bar, the thesaurus option, and four buttons: submit standard search; clear; tips; go to advanced search. The tips button at the bottom of the screen leads the user to an explanation of a standard search and a link to, “Searching tips: table of contents”. Within this table of contents there are links to types of searches which include standard search, advanced search, stemming, results. Listed under tools and techniques are Boolean operators, concept searching, proximity operators, exact match operators, wildcard operators, and stop words. The explanations for these tools are fairly good, with examples provided.

The standard search allows a full text search of the entire database. Going to the advanced search allows for specific titles to be searched even to the point of specific issues of titles selected. Because this is an entirely full‐text database, neither the standard search nor advanced search allows for searching various fields within bibliographic records. This presents a problem when searches are done on broader topics, as well as not allowing for more logical searches. The other problem with not being able to search parts of the record is that relevancy becomes an issue. By selecting a title or titles in the advanced search, then clicking on a continue button, users are then able to search within the various parts of the journal. These areas are advertisements articles, correspondence, fashion, literature, recipes, and reviews. While these fields might suggest an easier search, even allowing a narrowing of the search, within these areas general terms must still be used, and the results can be somewhat vague in their relevance. Frequent use of the database might lead users to an understanding of how to search, but finding relevant material is still somewhat problematic. Once a search is completed, the results are listed. Only the search conducted is listed on the results page. There is no summary of results found nor options to go back and narrow a search. The records themselves give detailed bibliographic information regarding the journal in which the term is found, including the microfilm reel number.

Under the bibliographic information there are two areas, the number of hits, and the relevant pages. The relevant pages is an actual link. To get to the page, readers should click on the link. Now comes the hard part. The actual pages are graphics, with very small print, where readability depends on how it was scanned. Some pages can be read at the normal setting, while others must be magnified. Terms are not highlighted, and by having to magnify the text, reading the material and printing the material can be difficult. In fact, when magnified, only the top two‐thirds to one‐half of a page was printed along with a second page listing the bibliographic information. Printing or viewing, the image screen help page recommends “that you download the images and use your viewing software”. Although appearing fairly straightforward, the directions for downloading the images leave out some crucial steps.

In comparison with Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, there were no journals held in common. While the information within this database is quite valuable, the results retrieved can be questionable due to how the information is organised and retrieved. The best use of this database is in the material. Just being able to read many of the articles and advertisements within the various periodicals can give historians, sociologists, anthropologists and other academic fields a look into how women were perceived, how they behaved, and the issues dealt with in early women’s literature. With more time and more input this database can overcome many of the problems outlined here and become even more valuable.