Workshop co-ordinator: Jacquelyn Marie,
Women's Studies Librarian, McHenry Library, University of California, USA
E-mail: jamarie@cats.ucsc.edu

What is the philosophy of women's information?
Five speakers presented their views on the topic; we discussed their ideas and tried to come up with both an understanding of the concept, and a view on how we can use information to benefit women. General topics we covered include; issues of technology, empowerment and disempowerment, information conglomerates, different modes of communication, indigenous people's right to their own information, the difference between the public and the private, and the differences that can occur between activism and collection in the field of women's information.

Dr A. Thanikodi, Lecturer and Library Officer, Annamalai University, India
She discussed gender development in information technology in Third World countries. There is a large gender gap in high technology industries which is becoming wider, there are few women in design or management, only in lower ranking, badly paid jobs. These industries are growing and will become the largest employer in the 21st century. Women will pay a high price for their exclusion from the decision making processes, so we have to encourage women to move to the top of the IT industry. We need studies to show women's problems in IT. Policy makers and planners need to know current trends in the 3rd world in relation to women and IT. We need to identify problems in the IT industry relating to gender issues. Women are discriminated against in IT as in other fields because they have to juggle their workload with family commitments, as well as having to deal with psychological barriers caused by technophobia. She said that this is a universal problem, because not many women study computer science. We need to change this and push women to the top.

Question Are there studies comparing computer access for boys and girls in primary schools?
Studies of infrastructure are still in progress, sponsored by the government.

Cathy-Mae Karelse, INFOLIT, University of Cape Town, South Africa
She discussed how to advance the position of women, using appropriate information for holistic development, exploring issues of power and the difference between developed and developing worlds. How do we develop a theory and philosophy of women's information, and then move in to the reality of information dissemination? Specific to Africa, there are problems with access to technology. But it is expected that in a few years the infrastructure will have developed to allow many women access to information via the internet. We need to train women to use the information, and create content that is useful for women. We need to see how traditional information can be incorporated into technology without disempowering women. The challenge is to get women into the decision making process, so gender will be taken into account. Policy makers need to consider women, to stop them from being further marginalised. We need to get women and girls to study science and technology and overcome gender stereotypes. It is especially difficult to reconcile the politics of ITCs (information communication technologies) and traditional industries. Working with specific initiatives they have set up information networks promoting women's information in Africa. They aim to promote the access of women to online sources, support women's ITCs and advance women as a matter of policy and practice, and aim to use new technology in conjunction with radio and other established means of information dissemination. It is essential to use ITCs to promote women, otherwise old inequalities will grow and rural, poor and marginalised women will be further marginalised. We need to celebrate diversity and recognise the different needs of different users.

Questions
What is the relationship between technology and critiques of gender inequalities? Male designers don't take women's needs into account, if women had power would they act in the best interests of women?
It is not enough to have role models of women in power, we need real lobbying and real changes to work towards an integrated strategy.

Angeles Garcia, Librarian, Mexico
Talking on selected information about sexual and reproductive health, with specific reference to legalising abortion in Mexico, Angela discussed the role of her newsletter in disseminating women's information. Since 1995 she has worked on a weekly newsletter which combines bibliographic references and extracts from books on women's sexual health. She distributes the newsletter to individuals, NGOs and governments, mainly in Mexico, and mainly to women. The publication is free, so it can reach as many users as possible, especially the users who need it the most. The difficulties include the question of what information to include to reach the users that need it most. This is a matter of politics as well as desire, they try to influence decision makers by giving them comprehensive, up-to-date information, even on topics they specifically request. She would like to get the newsletter to a wider audience, and although current issues are available via the internet, she hopes to include a complete backlist on the net. As yet they haven't had time to research distribution, but hope to reach universities, clinics, libraries and more. The philosophy is to disseminate information through writing to decision makers, and then on to individuals.

Question Are there more networks like this in Latin America?
No, different groups work on different specializations, but there are resources for women.

Suzanne Hildebrand, Associate Professor, School of Information and Library Studies, State University of Buffalo, USA
She talked about the politics of women's information in the USA today. Historically, revolutions have had different impacts on men and women's lives, this must also be true of the information revolution. The status of libraries is being challenged by information technology, this endangers archives and libraries. The information age comprises of an assault on government, adoption of market values across the board, and a misuse of automation. Privatisation sounds attractive because it reduces the role of the government, but the reality has been a loss of public funding. The money cannot be got from other sources because libraries are not marketable, money making projects. The adoption of business ethics in the public sector prioritises projects that are commercially viable. But market values do not necessarily mean efficiency. Libraries were started to provide information for people who couldn't afford to buy books, but now, in the name of cost effectiveness, libraries are being closed in poor areas, where they are most needed. Poor and marginalised women have the greatest information needs, but they are not a profitable group. In the past state funding could be used to buy women's information, but now it is hard to get private sources to continue funding. Now cataloguing systems are out of date, and automation is leading to mediocrity in libraries. In the past low level library work was done by women, but the bosses were male. The introduction of IT has led to a technical but not social revolution, and the old disparities are becoming even greater. We must educate librarians, generate investment in libraries and put public good before private good. We need more data, more statistics, more, more, more...

Question Some libraries use the term 'information broker', do we have to charge for some information?
Then the information only reaches those who can afford to pay. We need to raise concern for this issue, and librarians must build alliances with private donors to encourage investment, so we can continue to give information for free.

Nandita Shah, Director of Akshara, a Women's Resource Centre, India She talked about the Theory and Praxis of her Women's Information Centre. When gathering and disseminating information, everything is value loaded. Women's position is not just unequal; women are subordinated by patriarchal society. We need more information on women's suppression, and then we can push for more change. Her centre is alternative because of its focus on ideology. They say there is more to information than writing. They have created a women's space and collected published and unpublished material documenting the women's movement. They have a simple, user friendly classification system and aim to create a good browsing atmosphere. Their main users are activists, students, teachers and journalists, but they have a deliberate policy of reaching out to as many people as possible, in order to give women to tools to become more powerful. They work with poor children, slum dwellers, colleges and reading centres. They discuss issues known as women's issues, but also work on 'gendering the general'; finding a women's perspective in every issue. They review books to get free material, distribute cheap photocopies, and communicate with the women's community in many different ways, raising consciousness and working to change the lives of girls and women. It is not enough to collect and catalogue information, reach out!

Discussion
Thanks for problem solving, especially on work with young girls. It is a horrible scenario, market forces dominating our work. As activism has moved into the academy have we relinquished our power? Do we need direct action to reclaim power? It seems we need both grass roots libraries that don't receive public funding, so they can research whatever they want, as well as larger institutional libraries. This has been argued since the 1970s, but remember, different users have different needs, and if we have both we can serve women better. We looked at women in positions of power; if they are not acting in the interest of the common group what can we do? There are problems of corruption, and turning backs on activist roots. There are differences between developing countries and developed countries. In South Africa there are mechanisms in place to make people accountable for their decisions, in policy and practice. We need to be aware of political global issues, while fighting on a local level. We must continue to fight for equality in race, class and gender. We are working within the paradigm of the sex wars. Poverty is not profitable, but we need a shift in emphasis, get information on poverty out to the people. There are big questions about the relationship between information and power. We should make a distinction between power and knowledge, and realise that having knowledge does not always give the power to use it. We must take control, evaluate information, and get it to the right people.