The Women in American History Web site is produced by the editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; but it doesn’t reach the level of quality one might expect from a prominent producer of encyclopedias. However, the site does have some merit and, with some improvements, can overcome its weaknesses and specter of commercialism. The site is divided into several parts.
An opening “introduction,” written by Linda Gordon who is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and adviser for this site, provides an 1,100 word illustrated overview of women in American history. Other consultants to this project are Sandra Gilbert, Sally Gregory Kohlstedt and Monica Maria Tetzlaff, all scholars in women’s history.
A major portion of the site, entitled “articles,” includes 531 encyclopedia type entries on important individuals in women’s history. Whenever the woman is an author, her works are listed; and, when in print, there is a link to a specific page for the work at amazon.com from which the books can be purchased.
The history of women is also presented in a series of time lines: Early America, 1600‐1820; The Nineteenth Century, 1820‐1880; At the Crossroads, 1880‐1920; Modern America, 1920‐the present. There is a significant event for each year in the sequence. From the time line, there are links to relevant “articles”. This feature allows a reader to move quickly from the time line to an article and more detailed information about the person. Unfortunately there is no link from the articles to the appropriate place on the time line.
The “study guide” is a series of lesson plans which middle and high school teachers might find useful for classroom study. The study guide is accompanied by a teacher’s guide which provides background on the lesson plans. The “study guide” emphasizes the use of the resources on the site to study specific issues in women’s history. In addition, there is a “weekly quiz” of ten multiple choice questions.
Another section, “media gallery”, includes 35 audio and video clips which provide excerpts of speeches by political figures, sportswomen and actresses. The small number of clips makes this part of the site far less effective than the “articles” and time lines. A related section, “In her own words”, includes the text of 18 primary documents from women’s history. Like the audiovisual clips, the small selection is a weakness. Nevertheless, the most important documents are represented.
As the following comments indicate, the real usefulness and value of the site is in the section already discussed. The additional parts that follow here are weak and add little substance to the site.
“Recommended reading” is a series of brief paragraphs that list books and reference works on American women’s history. No information about the items except author, title, and date is provided. For each book, there is a link to amazon.com, the Internet bookseller, where more information and presumably the ability to purchase the item is provided. The sources are the standard items to be found in most good academic libraries and, no doubt, many larger public libraries and some high schools. The list would be useful only for those looking for broad coverage on women’s history;and there is not sufficient description to provide advice on good sources for a specific topic.
The connection to amazon.com smacks of commercialism. A section entitled “Britannica classics by women” includes six articles written by women for the 11th, 13th and 14th editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. This historical curiosity hardly seems significant enough to include in a Web site on women in US history. This reviewer wonders why they were included.
“Ask the experts” is a set of brief essays written in response to questions. This is not an interactive facility. The origin of the questions is unknown; and the questions themselves are limited in number and scope.
“Women’s history on the Web” is an annotated list of 41 Web sites useful in the study of the history of women in the USA. These include important women’s organizations, archives of women’s history, and other sites that focus on women in US history. The expected sources are represented here: for example, the National Women’s History Project, Radcliffe and Smith Colleges’ Archives homepages, White House pages on First Ladies, the YWCA, and the National Organization of Women.
Finally, there is a link to the full electronic version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Of course one has to purchase access to EB in order to use it. A seven‐day free trial is available.
All in all, this is a good site for basic information on women in USA history but not an outstanding Web site. It provides enough content in a well‐organized manner that it can be useful in activities on women’s history in junior and senior high school classes. It is worth bookmarking in public and school libraries. Libraries which already have access to Britannica Online may find Women in American History largely a duplication. The site could be enhanced by removing sections like “Britannica classics;” enhancing the quality of other sections such as “Ask the experts” and “Recommended reading”; and providing additional services such as a capacity to search the “articles” and time lines sections and by linking individual articles to the time line.
