to look for the book in the UW-Madison Libraries.
Using Reference Books:
One way to identify women artists from other countries is to use reference books. Here are some recommended:
Gaze, Delia, ed. Dictionary of Women Artists (Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997). Art Lib. Reference N8354 D53 1997. In addition to entries for individual artists and themes, see the essay "Feminism and Women Artists,"by Mara R. Witzling, V. 1, pp. 152-158.
Hillstrom, Laurie Collier and Kevin Hillstrom, eds. Contemporary Women Artists (St. James P., 1999). Art Lib. Reference N8354 C66 1999. Use the "Nationality Index," pp. 739-742.
*****
Using Women's Studies International (WSI) Database:
To find feminist artists and books or articles about their art, use Women's Studies International (WSI) database (From the Libraries' homepage, http://www.library.wisc.edu, click on E-Resources/Article Databases "Find by name," and enter the name "Women's Studies International.") Once in WSI,
in the "Keywords/Phrases" box, type artist and [name of country or nationality] EX: artist AND (Mexico or Mexican) Note: this will retrieve some from New Mexico, too. You can also try painter AND [name of country or nationality], sculptor AND [name of country or nationality], etc.
*****
Other Resources to Use:
From the Libraries' homepage, http://www.library.wisc.edu, click on E-Resources/Articles Databases "Find by subject," and select "Arts/Humanities" as the main subject (on the left) and then "Art and Design" as a sub-category on the right. Click on "GO" and try to resulting databases.
Visit the website of N. Paradoxa "the only international feminist art journal exploring feminist theory and contemporary women's art practices." Use N. Paradoxa's link to "Women's Art Work on the Net'" and other links.
Use the Varo Registry of Women Artists, "an electronic registry of artwork by contemporary international women artists."
Using Reference Books:
One way to identify women authors from other countries is to use reference books. Here are some recommended:
Fister, Barbara. Third World Women's Literatures: A Dictionary and Guide to Materials in English. (Greenwood, 1995). Mem. Ref. PN849 U43 F58 1995.
Kester-Shelton, Pamela. Feminist Writers (St. James Press, 1996). Mem. Stacks PN451 F46 1996. Use the "Nationality Index" pp. 535-540.
Whitson, Kathy J. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature (Greenwood, 2004). In the Women's Studies Librarian's Office, 430 Memorial Library; open M-F, 8-5.
Kuortti, Joel. Indian Women's Writing in English: A Bibliography (Rawat Pubs., 2002). Mem. Ref. PR9489.6 K85 2002. [Women from India.] See also Discussing Indian Women Writers : Some Feminist Issues, ed. by Alessandro Monti and R.K. Dhawan (Prestige, 2002), Mem. Stacks PR9492.6 W6 D57 2002.
Marton Sartori, Eva, ed. The Feminist Encyclopedia of French Literature (Greenwood, 1999). Mem. Ref. and Mem. Stacks PQ149 F47 1999.
Mulhern, Chieko I., ed. Japanese Women Writers: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook (Greenwood, 1994). Mem. Ref. PL725 J37 1994.
Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth and Olga Torres-Seda. Caribbean Women Novelists : an Annotated Critical Bibliography (Greenwood, 1993). Mem. Ref. PN849 C32 P37 1993.
Perez, Janet and Maureen Ihrie, eds. The Feminist Encyclopedia of Spanish Literature (Greenwood, 2002). Mem. Ref. PQ6055 F46 2002.
*****
Using Women's Studies International (WSI) Database:
To find women authors of fiction available in translation, use Women's Studies International (WSI) database (From the Libraries' homepage, http://www.library.wisc.edu, click on E-Resources/Article Databases by name, and enter the name "Women's Studies International.") Once in WSI,
in the "Keywords/Phrases" box, type fiction AND Translated from [language] (ex: fiction and translated from Spanish)
and in the"Database" box, type New Books on Women & Feminism. (New Books on Women & Feminism is published on campus by the UW System Women's Studies Librarian's Office. It is also available in print in the library.) Click on to look for the book in the UW-Madison Libraries.
To find articles about the author or books, use WSI and put in the author's name in the Keyword/Phrases box, but put nothing in the Database box. Click on to see if the article is available in an online database or in print in the UW-Madison Libraries.
*****
Other Resources to Use:
MLA International Bibliography. (From the Libraries' homepage, http://www.library.wisc.edu, click on E-Resources/Article Databases by name, and enter the name MLA International Bibliography). Search for your author "as subject," and if there is a lot, then add feminist or feminism in the keywords box.Click on to look for the article online or in print in the library.
Celebration of Women Writers website can be browsed by country.
Contemporary Material:
The best source of primary materials on contemporary global feminisms is the Web. Here are some websites with links to women's organizations:
International Women's Conferences, Concerns, and Resources section of the UW System Women's Studies Librarian's site. See especially the section and links from "Communications, Networking, Political Participation, and General Sites."
Many women's organizations participate in or follow events of international meetings of the World Social Forums, the World Summit on the Information Society, etc. Examples of some organizations with material on a World Social Forum:
WHRNet (Women's Human Rights Net), including "Sexism in the World Social Forum: Is Another World Possible?"
WIDE (Network Women in Development Europe) has several reports on social forums.
ALIA (Agencia Latinoamericana de Información)'s Women's Program issued a a collection of papers Challenges for Feminism in a Globalized World. and mounted "Gendering the WSF Nairobi 2007 Process," by Onyango Oloo.
The World Summit on the Information Society has a Gender Caucus.
*****
Historical Material:
UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Society have rich collections of magazines, newsletters, pamphlets, and other material on feminist activism. If you'd like to look at periodicals from the early days of Second Wave / "Women's Liberation", for example, use Madcat as follows:
In Basic Search, click on the "Set More Limits" button to bring up the Limits screen.
On the Limits screen, set the date range 1967 to 1975 (after putting in the dates, click on the circle nearest the end of the range. Set the language "English" and set the Type "Serial/Journal." Click on "Set More Limits" to return to the regular search screen with the limits now in operation.
Search by Keyword for "women's rights" OR "women's liberation" OR feminis? OR lesbian
There are also many more lesbian periodicals in the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance Archives (microfilm set with material from 1972-1994) in the Micro/Media Center, room 443 Memorial Library, Micro Film 11226. First consult the printed index to this collection available in the Micro/Media Center.
If you would like to look at material from activist organizations, here are some to look up in Madcat:
Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action, National Organization for Women, 9 to 5, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association, Women's Transit Authority (Madison), Women Against Rape.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has many collections of papers from prominent Wisconsin women activists, such as Sarah Harder, Gene Boyer, Bettie Aldrich Eisendrath, Hania W. Ris, and Mary Lou Munts. It also has collections of records from organizations, such as the Wisconsin Women's Network, Women's National Abortion Action Coalition, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. These collections are described in Arcat, the catalog of the archival holdings in the Historical Society. To find more such collections in Arcat, do a keyword search for "women's rights" OR feminis? .
Phyllis Holman Weisbard, UW System Women's Studies Librarian 9/22/2006
Email pweisbard at (replace with "@") library.wisc.edu