Feminist Collections A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources Volume 18, No.3, Spring 1997 CONTENTS From the Editors Letters Book Reviews Carrots vs. Sticks: After "Welfare Reform," What Then? by Deborah Reilly Real Models: Self-Determination Among Girls and Women in Books for Children and Young Adults by Megan Schliesman Feminist Art as Critical Voice: New Books on Art and Aesthetics by Helen Klebesadel Women and Leadenhip Archives for Women's Studies Research by Valerie Browne Library Instruction in a Women's Studies Course by Barbara Weeg World Wide Web Reviews: Breast Cancer Websites by Anne Boyer Walking the Web: A Review of Websites on Women and Computer Technology by Julie M. Albright Computer Talk Compiled by Linda Shult Archives Wisconsin Bibliographies in Women's Studies Feminist Publishing New Reference Works in Women's Studies Reviewed by Phyllis Holrnan Weisbard and others Periodical Notes Compiled by Linda Shult Items of Note Compiled by Beth Harper Books Recently Received FROMTHE EDITORS: Not to be alarmist, but all is not well in the world of libraries these days. Budgets continue to shrink, and even as libraries are expected to stay on top of the galloping array of new electronic gadgets and resources, there are decreasing dollars for buying those old-style print items (books and journals) that form the heart of our knowledge base. Full-text databases (such as Women 'R' and Contemporary Women's Issues, in both of which Feminist CoZZections is pleased to be included) are intriguing because they offer the ability to search through the text of articles, not just titles and subject headings; and, of course, the articles are right there, not three floors away or in another building. But few libraries have decided to jettison print subscriptions just because there are online versions. Why? For one thing, "full-text" doesn't actually mean "full" yet. Note our newest column Delivering graphics, advertisements, integrity of page layout, even color - all bp.14-16) featuring reviews of part of the print culture often studied by researchers - is not routine for these websites on particular topics of products. Whether back issues will be available and readable into the future is interest. For this second column, also far from certain, once technology has taken another giant leap and those older issues are stored in the archaic electronic media of the 1990s (remember reviewers look at web pages on the early NASA tapes that are now inaccessible?). breast cancer and on women and This means that for the time being libraries are trying to purchase both computer technology. print and online versions of periodicals, out of budgets that do not even keep up with the increases in subscription prices to print versions alone. This is truly an More reviews of groups of information revolution, and no one yet knows how libraries will fare. websites on women-focused topics Libraries have more experience with indexes, a centuries-old tradition will be mounted soon on Feminist in print and approaching twenty years online. While women's studies entered Collections'website (http:fl this arena only recently, here, too, there are two products to choose from: www.library.wisc.ednflibraried Women's Studies Ondisc and Women's Resources International. They ease the WomensStudies/fcmain.htm). way for researchers seeking citations to the periodical literature of the field (and more) sweyed by Women Studies Abstrac& Women's Studies Inder, and our own Feminist Periodicah. But how long will each of these new indexes last, given the intense competition in the electronic world? Where will future researchers find references to ecofeminism, to the problems of women in the former Soviet Union, to what welfare reform really means to single mothers' lives? Given the popular imagination's conclusion that the women's movement is pretty much over and done with, will anyone be able to accurately reconstruct NEXT ISSUE: A special focus what feminism was up to in the world of academia during the last part of the twentieth century? Reviews on: We do our own bit for keeping the flow of print information alive by Women in the US. West and tackling such subjects as welfare reform in one of this issue's reviews (and note Midwest. the optimism in another review of books for young women about strong female Videos on ecofeminism. protagonists). At the same time, we want you to know about all the interesting websites and ernail lists out there and we mount a good bit of information on our plus all the regular columns: own website (http://www.library.wisc.edu/librarieslWomensStudies/). So we're New Reference Works, Com- clearly excited by the possibilities of the Internet, CD-ROMs, and the like for puter Talk, Periodical Notes, enhancing our knowledge about the world and each other, but being library- Items of Note, and more. based, we also feel the tension between our role as guides to the knowledge available in both print and electronic worlds and our sense of wanting that knowledge to be more than transient, ephemeral, and accessible only by the well- connected. You'll probably want to stay at your terminal as you scan through "Computer Tak," but feel free to take the review on feminist art to read in the bathtub. ** P. H.W. and L.S. We are writing in response to Megan Scanlon's review EDITORS' REPLY: We regret that more recent issues of of Teen Voices in the Winter 1997 edition of Feminist Teen Voices were not part of Ms. Scanlon's review, as we Collections. have noted significant changes in a 1997 issue that recently We are pleased and gratified that Ms. Scanlon includes came to our office. Apparently a 1996 issue that we us in her list of six publications for teenage girls that carry a received never made it to the reviewer; we apologize for the "female-positive" message. However, in making her oversight and appreciate the publisher's comments. comparisons, she read recent issues of the other magazines, and chose to read four and five-year-old issues of ours. Ms. Scanlon criticizes Teen Voices for having writing that was "in no way impressive, with basic grammatical and struc- (via email) tural problems." We have heard this criticism before, and Good morning! must respond that ow mission is to provide a voice for all teenage girls, not just to publish only polished voices. Some I just looked at the review ["World Wide Web Review: of the submissions we receive come hmgirls who have not Funding Sources for Women" by Elizabeth Breed, v. 18, experienced quality educations, and who are often intimi- 110.2, Winter 1992, pp.14-151 and really liked it very much. dated by the printed word. Throughout the years we have As a student adviser for the Austrian Fulbright Commis- developed mentoring programs to help high-risk girls learn sion, the grant information is quite useful for me, even publishing skills. Our more recent issues reflect an increase though most of the grants aren't available for international in those skills, as we train girls working on the magazine to students. do some of the writing and to edit some of the submissions. There's only one little mistake I caught: SFU is not San Ms. Scanlon goes on to include us when she refers to Francisco University but Simon Fraser University. magazines that "do not treat a non-white female's accom- Thanks again for providing such terrific resources. plishments any different than they would a white female's. They rarely deal directly with the issue of multiculturalism, Elisabeth Binder that is not their mission or purpose. Lesbianism is generally Austrian American Educational passed over." Commission (Fulbright Commission) We are quite surprised by this blanket indictment. Not Wien, Austria only has multiculturalism always been a part of our mission, but in six years of publishing, all ow covers have been multicultural. Racial Harmony is a specific section in every issue of our magazine. In the issues Ms. Scanlon cites, we (via email) ran articles on interracial dating, ways to stop racism, and growing up as a lesbian. We challenge Ms. Scanlon to find Hi, my name is Lauren and I am the Internet Editor any other publication that has carried as much coverage of here at the American Association of University Women lesbian and gay issues as we have. (AAUW). I just read yow Winter issue and noticed both Again, we appreciate being acknowledged as one of the yow "Computer Talk" section and the article on Funding first magazines to provide teenage girls with a positive Resources for Women. AAUW has a website worth check- image. We hope your readers will not react too strongly to ing out: www.aauw.org. There you will see a button to our Ms. Scanlon's comments, and will read some of ow more Educational Foundation Fellowships and Grants program recent issues to see what we have to offer. which would have been an appropriate piece for your article. In any case, do check it out and let me know what you think Sincerely yours, and if you think it would be appropriate for a mention in Feminist Collections. [See "Computer Talk" in this issue.] Alison Amoroso, Publisher Thanks so much! Lauren Crowley Internet Editor Carrots VS.Sticks: After "welfare services, home industries such as jewelry making, as well as drug Reform," What Then? dealing - flourish by necessity to supplement benefits. No one but the by Deborah Reilly I serious drug dealers gets rich. Congress has created an impos- sible situation, not only for Cora, but for all welfare recipients. Simulta- Mimi Abramovitz, UNDER ATTACK, FIGHTING BACK: WOMEN AND neous cutbacks in AFDC, Supplernen- WELFARE IN THE UNITED STATES.