Women's archive in Dortmund
The women's archive of the University of Dortmund was set up in 1977 as the first archive of its kind in the Federal Republic of Germany as part of the New Women's Movement , which also reached the Dortmund University in the late 1970s.
The establishment of this special library for women's studies was initiated by Sigrid Metz-Göckel from the former Ruhr University of Education . Conceived as an “archive for the new women's movement”, initially the provision of literature (books, magazines, documentations) on the women's movement , feminist philosophy of science and women's history was planned. From the very beginning, however, books, theses , dissertations , documentation, brochures, newspaper clippings, reviews, posters, sound carriers and magazines were collected in an interdisciplinary manner on all women-relevant issues .
The archive, which was supposed to be library, work and communication room at the same time, was managed by the women involved in the women's collective (women's council) for 27 years and was largely on a voluntary basis. Any activities that arise, such as handling correspondence, public relations, advising users, guaranteeing regular opening times, preparing annual work reports, etc. were performed by the collective women on an equal footing. The women decided together on which book to order. The collections of books and journals bought for the women's archive and made available as gifts or free review copies as well as the literature not available in bookstores (“ gray literature ”) were recorded in various files and in a keyword register. The books were listed according to a system developed by the archive women themselves.
Not least because of the great popularity due to the national level of awareness of the women's archive, the library, which was previously designed as a reference collection, increasingly became a lending library. At the weekly public collective meetings, the employees discussed, among other things, the goals, organization and planning of the women's archive. Although the diverse activities in the women's archive were spread over several shoulders from the beginning, the voluntary work meant a considerable amount of time for each collective member - in addition to studying and other obligations.
For private, family and professional reasons, the women's archive was officially closed in spring 2004 after 27 years. The holdings of the women's archive at that time comprised around 6,000 books, an archived poster collection with 240 posters as well as magazines, doctoral theses and theses on women's issues.
Since the women's archive was closed in spring 2004, the holdings have been in the Dortmund University Library and are a member of the ida umbrella organization
literature
Martina Schuler: Women's Archives and Women's Libraries , In: Library. Research and practice. 20 / No. 3, 1996
Web links
Women's archive of the University of Dortmund