This part of the Guide to Sources highlights the most useful union catalogues and portals for research in the heritage sector. There are now a number of collaborative projects for museums, libraries and archive offices, to support research and promote the use of the collections. By using these resources your search will be more focused than a general web search, more accurate and should save you time. Where women-specific searches are available this is indicated below.
24 Hour Museum, National Virtual Museum
The site promotes promotes publicly funded UK museums, galleries, archive offices and heritage attractions. It includes a searchable information relating to over 3,800 institutions, searching basic collection descriptions (note - these are not full catalogues), articles, details of online resources and events. Searches can be refined.
A2A (Access to Archives)
This online union catalogue allows you to search full archive catalogues from over 390 UK archive offices. (Please note: the 'Advanced Search' option offers the ability to search for subjects such as 'women' or 'womens liberation movement' as specific subject terms).
AIM25
AIM25 is a seachable online database holding collection level descriptions from over 90 archive offices. The archives are held in higher education institutions and learned societies within the Greater London area. The browse option for subjects includes subjects such as women, women'e work, wives and feminism.
Archives Hub
This database holds collection level descriptions from archives held by over 150 UK universities and colleges. As of 2007 the database also included full catalogues. (Please note: by searching for 'women' in the 'Subject Finder' option, you can identify specific subject index terms such as 'married women'). Please note from 2011 the Archives Hub was used as the source material for the searchable dataset in Genesis.
Archon
The ARCHON Directory provides contact details for record offices, libraries and other record collecting institutions throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This Directory was established in 1964.
Artists' Papers Register
A location register of the papers of artists, designers and craftspeople held in publicly accessible collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Copac
Copac is a union catalogue, giving free access to the merged online catalogues of many major UK and Irish academic and National libraries (members of Research Libraries UK (RLUK)) as well as increasing numbers of specialist libraries. As at 2010there were c.36 million records. Searches are by keyword (women, feminism etc). There is no subject index for advanced searching or browsing.
Cornucopia
Cornucopia is an online database of information about more than 6,000 collections in the UK's museums, galleries, archives and libraries.
DANGO
A Database of Archives of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from 1945. This database holds collection descriptions of archives across the UK including archives that have yet to be deposited with record offices. It includes activist groups, charities and voluntary organisations. An advanced search includes an option to search for 'keyword = gender'. A number of the entries are for contemporary women's groups.
InforM25
This is a union catalogue of library holdings within the M25 region and more widely across the East and Southeast. It brings together the library catalogues of 55 institutions. (Please Note: to search The Women's Library choose London Metropolitan University - their parent body. To identify other instutions with strongs women's collections go to Find a Library and choose 'women' from the subject list).
Intute
Intute is a free online service providing access to web resources for education and research. Resources for the study of women’s history can be found across all subject areas.
MICHAEL-UK
This online catalogue describes digital collections and associated services or multimedia productions (such as websites, electronic learning resources and CDs). It is the UK portion of a wider European network.
Moving History
Moving History is a research guide to the United Kingdom’s twelve public sector moving image archives. It presents detailed information and clips from these fascinating and valuable film and television collections. The selection of over 100 film and television clips which can be viewed on the site represent a small sample of the vast collections held. The clips can be browsed by archive or by theme. Themes include 'Gender and cultural diversity' and 'Family life'.
National Register of Archives (NRA)
The NRA provides an online database that indexes manuscripts and archives, predominately within the UK. Details of newly acquired archives are sent on an annual basis, which makes this the most complete tool for locating archives in the UK. The Register is searchable by person, family and organisation indices as well as a place-name index. Accessions to Repositories: Every year The National Archives (UK) collates an 'Accessions to Repositories' survey. It collects information from over two hundred archive offices across the United Kingdom about archives acquired in the previous twelve months. This information is added to the indices at the National Register of Archives. It is also edited and used to produce themed guides available online. 'Women's History' has been available as a theme each year since 1994; the data being taken from the Women's History Network Journal.
Oral History Society
The Oral History Society is a national and international organisation dedicated to the collection and preservation of oral history. As well as providing advice and training the society has an active regional network. Their website includes a useful resources section that includes links to useful oral history collections - many of which are available online.
Royal Historical Society Bibliography
The Royal Historical Society bibliography is an authoritative guide to what has been written about British and Irish history from the Roman period to the present day. The Bibliography is hosted by the Institute of Historical Research, which is part of the University of London. This search includes almost 500,000 articles and books. There is a browsable subject index which includes terms such as women and feminism (However as at 2008 the broad term "women" was not working).
SUNCAT
The Serials Union Catalogue is a free tool to help researchers and librarians locate serials held in the UK. It provides information on the serials data of over 70 libraries, and is the single most comprehensive source of UK serials holdings information. (Please note: using the 'Browse' option, search for 'women' in the 'Subject Heading' index for a list of useful, specific subject terms)
UK Web Archiving Consortium
This is a pilot project to archive websites within the UK domain. The Women's Library selects websites about women for The Women's Collection section of the site. This now contains links to over 130 women's archived websites. It includes sites of women's organisations and campaigns, research reports, government publications and statistics pertaining to women, personal sites of women, such as blogs, and women focused e-zines. To nominate a women-related website for archiving please contact Beverley Kemp, Head of Library Services.
WINE (Women Information Network Europe)
WINE was established in 1996 and currently represents over 50 women's libraries, archives, documentation and information centres across Europe. Their website includes a directory of partners with contact details.