The Women’s Studies Encyclopedia is meant to serve as a comprehensive, multidisciplinary reference source on the collective experiences of women. The first edition of this work was named a “Best Reference Book” by Library Journal. This latest version includes expanded and new coverage of such topics as violence against women, women in public life, and contemporary conditions for women in specific countries and regions. It also contains many new, revised, or updated articles, and some omissions have been corrected. Available as a three‐volume print reference, as a Web reference tool, or as a CD‐ROM, this product is geared toward an educated audience without expertise in the subject under discussion.
The Encyclopedia is written using non‐specialist language and in a style accessible to all readers. It lists 700 entries, prepared by 425 scholars from all disciplines, in all. References at the ends of articles are meant primarily to direct readers to works from which they may obtain a fuller explanation, more detailed information, or different perspectives on a subject.
The CD‐ROM version of this product uses Folio Views for Windows 4.2 as its standard text retrieval engine. Full Boolean searching, synonym searching, natural language queries, and an easy‐to‐use table of contents are some of the features that highlight the CD version. There is a 20‐page user’s guide available to assist in the use of the retrieval engine. Two interesting features are available in the CD‐ROM: a Search Guide query template for targeted topical searching and table of contents searching, and a PeopleSearch query template used to find the women and men who have played significant roles in women’s history.
The Web version of this product is available through Greenwood Electronic Media Online (http://www.gem.greenwood.com/). The Folio Views text retrieval engine is not used in the Web version of this product. Instead, there is a search mechanism that uses Boolean searching and also provides tips of simple and advanced searching. Users can navigate through the product by using the Forward and Back buttons provided in the lower left side of the page. Compared to the Folio Views software on the CD‐ROM, the page‐by‐page viewing on the Web product is rather clunky and far less efficient.
On the home page of the Web version, there are three links which the user can access: Selected bibliography, Selected Web links, and a Getting started section. The Selected Web links was very simple, containing only four links. The Getting started section is a tutorial for using the GEMOnline system; it was very helpful in the navigation of the product.
Personally, while most libraries are moving towards the acquisitions of Web products rather than their CD‐ROM equivalents, I found the CD version of this product much more efficient and user‐friendly than the Web version. It should be remembered, also, that this product is geared towards the general public, not meant for in‐depth research, and that the articles are very short and informative with only minimal references. I would recommend this product as a reference tool in public libraries, but it has limited usefulness at the academic level except for first‐ or second‐year undergraduates.
