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Image credits: The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University - see image references below
See our collections on display in our free exhibitions "All work and low pay: the story of women and work" and "Cycling to Suffrage: The Bicycle and Women's Rights, 1890-1914" and related events
Key class numbers and search terms
Key references, latest academic works and acquisitions
Periodicals
Press cuttings and ephemera
Zines and artist books
Electronic resources
Archives (personal and organisations' papers and oral histories)
Museum (objects, textiles and visual materials)
Identifying images
Web archive
Further information
The Women's Library, founded in 1926 as the Library of the London Society for Women's Service, exists to document and explore women's lives in Britain in the past, now and in the future. Printed material, ephemera, archives, oral histories and museum objects together form The Women's Library collections. The Library holds a range of material on women, science and technology which includes women's contribution to scientific and technical advances as well as the impact of science and technology upon women's lives at home, at work and at leisure. The collections also cover teaching science to girls and encouraging women to pursue careers in science and technology. The Library has numerous biographical works relating to women scientists whilst the periodicals collection is particularly useful for tracing developments in technology designed for women, and the marketing of technology to women.
Key class numbers and search terms
The printed collections of The Women's Library are arranged in the Dewey Decimal Classification and listed on the online catalogue, available in the Reading Room and via the website. Key class numbers and search terms for science and technology include:
Key references, latest academic works and acquisitions
The Library holds the following guides and bibliographies, useful for identifying further information and material on the subject:
Creese, Mary R.S. Ladies in the laboratory:American and British women in science 1800-1900 Lanham, Md; London: Scarecrow Press, 1998. Reading Room 500.820941
Haines, Catharine M. C. International women in science : a biographical dictionary to 1950 Santa Barbara, Calif. Oxford : ABC-CLIO, c2001. Reading Room 509.22
Notable women in mathematics: a biographical dictionary Westport, Conn; London: Greenwood Press, 1998.Reading Room 510.922
Ogilvie, Marilyn Women in science : antiquity through the nineteenth century : a biographical dictionary with annotated bibliography. Cambridge, Mass. London : MIT Press, 1986. Reading Room Quick Ref & Oversize 500.82
Ogilvie, Marilyn and Harvey, Joy. (eds)The biographical dictionary of women in science : pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century.New York London : Routledge, 2000. Reading Room Quick Ref 509.22
Watts, Ruth. Women in science: a social and cultural history. London: Routledge, 2007. Reading Room 305.435
Wosk, Julie Women and the machine : representations from the spinning wheel to the electronic age Baltimore: London: John Hopkins University, 2001. Reading Room 306.46082
The Women's Library's recently published and newly available acquisitions
Periodicals
The Library holds a wide range of periodicals on women, including academic titles, popular magazines and campaigning newsletters. Some relevant periodical titles on science and technology are The woman engineer, Science for people, Women chemists newsletter and Forum: journal of the Association for Women in Science and Engineering. Further periodical titles on the subject can be identified through the online catalogue.
For further guidance on identifying periodicals click here.
Press cuttings and ephemera
The presscuttings collections cover the whole of the 20th century and are particularly valuable for identifying contemporary comment where retrospective online newspaper coverage is unavailable. The Library holds microfilmed cuttings, up to 1979 at 5:396.5. Biographical press cuttings supplement the printed biographies collection for information on twentieth century women scientists and are drawn largely from obituaries.
The Library's ephemera collection contains information relating to women's organisations, including leaflets, flyers, minutes of meetings, agendas and all kinds of campaign literature. organisations such as the British Federation of Women Graduates, the National Council of Women and Women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
Zines and artist books
The Library's collections currently include more than 350 zines and 27 artist books.
Electronic resources
Electronic resources (online journals and databases) are currently only available to London Metropolitan University staff and students, and can be accessed via the online catalogue with their institutional identification and password. London Metropolitan Academic Liaison Librarians have provided a list of relevant e-resources
Archives (personal and organisations' papers and oral histories)
A brief guide to the archives is available on The Women's Library's website. Further details of archives available for research can be found in the archive and museum catalogue or in the hard copy catalogues available in the Reading Room on the shelves adjacent to the Information Desk. The following archives, including records of organisations and personal correspondence, contain references to women and science and technology:
5FWI National Federation of Women's Institutes
6CFW Records of Careers for Women
6WES Records of the Women in Engineering Society
9/22 Autograph letters Scholars and learned ladies
Museum (objects, textiles and visual materials)
The museum collection comprises postcards, photographs, posters, banners and badges. Further details of museum objects available for research can be found in the archive and museum catalogue or in the hard copy catalogues available in the Reading Room on the shelves adjacent to the Information Desk. A selection of images from the collection can be viewed at the Mary Evans Picture Library Specifically the Library holds objects re teaching science to girls and equal opportunities posters encouraging women to pursue non-traditional careers.
Identifying images
Images can be found throughout The Women's Library's collections. Many digital images are available on Flickr, Vads, the archives catalogue (click on the number in the left hand side) and Mary Evans Picture Library. Use Mary Evans Picture Library's fast service for a non-watermarked high resolution images suitable for publication. If you require an image which has not been digitised you are welcome to use our reprographic service. Normal copyright conditions will apply.
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Web Archive
Women's Issues is maintained by the British Library in collaboration with the Women's Library, London Metropolitan University. The collection was established in 2005 and has regularly collected web sites since then. 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. Specifically relevant to science and technology are Women's Environmental Network
Further information
The staff of The Women's Library can help you find material relating to your subject area; please don't hesitate to ask. You can contact the Information Desk staff prior to your visit via email twlinfodesk@londonmet.ac.uk, telephone 020 7320 3515, or by asking at the Information Desk in the Reading Room on the day of your visit.
Image Reference
United States. Women's Bureau. Employment opportunities for women mathematicians and statisticians. Washington U.S.G.P.O, 1956 Vault pamphlet 510.23 UNI ; Technical education for women and girls at home and abroad. London: Women's Industrial Council, [1905] Vault pamphlet 607 TEC ; Bernard, H. M. Woman and evolution. London : Palmer, 1909 Vault pamphlet 599.938 BER ;
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