Women's Studies Section

Association of College & Research Libraries / American Library Association

Antiquity to the present

Description

EuroDocs: Primary Historical Documents From Western Europe is an umbrella site which gathers together dozens of web sites, many of them full- text, from 24 European countries. In addition, there is a large group of sites under two other headings: Medieval and Renaissance Europe, and Europe as a Supranational Region.

These links connect to Western European historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. Focus is on political, economic, social history, and cultural history in the broadest sense. Arrangement is chronological. Some links are popular, but some lead to scholarly resources. For example, under the heading Europe as a Supranational Region, the Internet Modern History SourceBook provides a foundation for many of the individual entries.

Women's Studies Content

Patience and persistence are required to find materials here, but given that necessity, Euro Docs is a treasure trove for women's studies materials, exactly because its nets are so widely cast. For example, beginning with United Kingdom, then 1919 to the Present, then The Home Front, 1939-1945, there is a section called Women at War. Here are found facsimile pamphlets along with careful and scholarly analysis to explain their significance and put these resources in context.

Another example is found under the section heading History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Primary Documents. The category Women's Roles includes numerous links to materials dealing with religion, women's writings, family life, gender roles, sexuality, politics, marriage, and social class.

In all, Euro Docs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe, is a collection of sites which should be included in the examination of women's issues from the European perspective.

Searching

Searching begins not at the Euro Docs level, but down at least one and sometimes two levels. For example, under Europe as a Supranational Region, the entry "Europe Since 1945" leads back out to the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. This is the common search platform for a number of the individual entries.

Archive Review:
Susan White
Princeton University