https://www.gale.com/c/womens-studies-archive-female-forerunners-worldwide 

CONTENT

Gale’s latest addition to the Women’s Studies Archive adds to the growing collection of resources related to the history of women around the world and told from their lens, with a variety of perspectives on identity and culture. The collection emphasizes women trailblazers in areas such as pop culture, health care, social work, activism, and more. Organizations are represented along with individuals, while exploring the impact of women, primarily in the United States, Britain, and Australia, but it also documents the impact of women in countries such as New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, the Philippines, Jamaica, Germany, India, Norway, Canada, and China.

Materials in the archive are sourced from collections such as the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Senate House Library, University of London; the Royal Collection of Nursing, the National Archives at Kew (UK), the State Library of New South Wales, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the London Metropolitan Archives, and the Amistad Research Center.

Collections in the archive include the Caroline R. Jones Collection; Women’s Joint Congressional Committee; Ida Holden Papers; Edinburgh seances; Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids Papers; Suffragettes, 1886–1935; National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses Records, 1908–1951; Katz/Prince Collection, 1967–1973; Earl Conrad/Harriet Tubman Collection; Gwendolyn Bennett Papers, 1916–1981; Yale Divinity School Periodicals; and much more.

USABILITY

Users can locate materials in the collection via basic and advanced search options that include the ability to search multiple terms and/or fields, allow variations, and limit by content type, publication date, and more, with handy dropdowns for several facets, such as collection and subcollection limiters. A publication search is available, or users can browse a complete list of them. Users who prefer a visual tool can use the Topic Finder to identify patterns and find related terms.

Beyond the standard search tools, the archive is presented in a browsable format with collections listed on the homepage and in a dedicated Collections page. Individual collections note manuscript numbers for the items listed, as well as document titles and dates, and users can search within a chosen collection. The documents themselves are presented as high-quality scans and plain text (OCR), which are text searchable, and feature content notes. Sharing, printing, and citation tools are provided.

PRICING

Women’s Studies Archive: Female Forerunners Worldwide is available for a one-time purchase by academic and public libraries, but individuals cannot purchase it. Academic library pricing is based on a number of factors including institution size, library materials budget, Carnegie Classification and Humanities program levels. Pricing for smaller academic libraries starts at $6,900 with a small annual hosting fee. Subscriptions are available on request. Institutions holding two or more Gale Primary Source collections receive complimentary access to its cross-search platform, which allows users to discover connections between other archival collections published by Gale. Potential customers should contact their Gale representative for the most current pricing and for consortial purchase information. A free trial for the product can be requested at https://www.gale.com/c/womens-studies-archive-female-forerunners-worldwide.

VERDICT

A niche primary source collection with unique documents highlighting significant and lesser-known women trailblazers that pays particular attention to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Several of the collections bring attention to marginalized voices, including those who were enslaved or imprisoned. It is a solid selection for institutions that support advanced research in the humanities, history, gender studies, and other scholarly areas with a focus on women’s lived experiences.