Workshop co-ordinator: Buhle Mbambo
University of Botswana Library, Gaborone, Botswana

This workshop on accessing information will deal with the theoretical and practical issues around women's access to information technology. The presenters will talk about theoretical issues around the provision of women's information, as well as give specific case studies on practical applications in the various locations on the globe. The practical applications will specifically explore barriers to access as well as possible adaptation of technologies to local needs. The workshop process will suggest solutions.

Presenters include:
Gillian Marcelle - Institute for New Technologies (Jamaica and the Netherlands);
Christine Kanyengo - University of Cape Town (South Africa);
Anriette Esterhuysen - SANGOnet (South Africa);
Eugenia Galateri - Lilith Italian Women's Network (Italy);
Irene Léon - Agencia Latinoamericana de Informacion - Area Mujeres (ALAI) (Ecuador);
Buhle Mbambo - University of Botswana Library (Botswana);
and Lynda Forrest - Women's Information Service (WIS) (Australia).

Workshop co-ordinator: Jennifer Radloff
African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa

This workshop is about (regional) networking between women's information services, for co-operation and the exchange of skills, knowledge, and strategies. The workshop's goal is to share the experiences of regional networks in using information and communication technology as a tool for improving the accessibility and visibility of women's information.

The workshop aims are:

Presentations will be between 10-20 minutes each and there will be ample time for discussion and drawing up of workshop resolutions.

Presenters include:
Anna Cabó - Biblioteca Popular Francesca Bonnemaison (Spain);
Ursula Nienhaus - Lesbians' and Women's Archive Network of Berlin (Germany);
Cordula Albrecht - Women's Research, Education and Information Centre (FFBIZ) (Germany);
Barbara Terenzi Calamai - AIDOS (Italy);
Shahrzad Mojab and Necla Acik - Kurdish Women's Studies Network (Canada);
Sarah Cummings, Minke Valk, and Henk van Dam - Koninklijk Institut voor de Tropen (KIT) (the Netherlands);
Chat Garcia Ramilo - ISIS International-Manila (Philippines);
Alejandra Scampini - REPEM (Uruguay); and Marijke van Kester - VENA (the Netherlands).

Workshop co-ordinator: Marieke Kramer
Know How Conference, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Toplink Professional Women's Recruitment Bureau, The Hague, the Netherlands

This workshop aims to provide guidelines for those who want to start a women's information service. Participants will share their experiences and discuss specific methods of setting up women's libraries and resource centres and building collections on women. Presenters will also discuss training workers in women's information services as to these specific methods. The workshop will address the need for the development of a special manual for women's information services (or is there already a useful one?), which elements should be included, and who might produce such a manual. The workshop will include presentation of papers, and discussion by presenters and participants.

Presenters include:
Natalia Babich - Women's Innovation Fund East-West (Russia);
Asli Mardin - Women's Library and Information Centre (Turkey);
Valdet Sala - Women's Information and Documentation Center (Albania);
Annamaria Tagliavini - Centro di Documentazione delle Donne (Italy);
Harsha Parekh - SNDT Women's University Library (India);
Anju Vyas - Centre for Women's Development Studies (India);
and Rukshana Ismail, Women Research & Studies Unit, Aden University (Yemen).

Workshop co-ordinator: Del Hornbuckle
Ford Foundation Library, New York, USA

This workshop will deal with the crucial subject of funding women's information services, building on the global discussion that was started at the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. The workshop's starting point will be the actual experiences of women's information centers with concrete funding and fundraising problems. Participants will discuss challenges and successes experienced by information centers in both the North and the South, as well as strategies for raising funds from both women's funding agencies and mainstream foundations.

Presenters include:
Trish Mbanga - Zimbabwe Book Fair (Zimbabwe);
Christine Wise - Fawcett Library (UK);
Will Jansen and Hanneke Hazeveld - Mama Cash (the Netherlands);
and Del Hornbuckle - Ford Foundation (USA).

Workshop co-ordinator:
Jacquelyn Marie
McHenry Library, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA

Presenters in this workshop will discuss issues in the philosophy of women's information. Some of the issues to be raised include: the impact of information conglomerates on the production and availability of women's information, how sex discrimination in the information technology industry has widened the high-tech gender gap, and how women are empowered or disempowered in the development of information infrastructures in developing countries. Issues of access, outreach, oral versus written materials, Indigenous knowledge, and world awareness will be included.

Presenters include:
A. Thanikodi - Library Officer and Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Annamalai University (India);
Jennifer Radloff - African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town (South Africa);
Cathy Mae Karelse - School of Librarianship, University of Cape Town (South Africa);
and Suzanne Hildenbrand - School of Information & Library Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo (USA).

Workshop co-ordinator: Wendy Thomas
Public Service Librarian, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Please join representatives from women's libraries for a discussion on how we document women in our respective countries. We will begin with a short description of the history of each participating library (see below), and will focus on how each library started with small, focused collections, and grew to become major sources of documentation on women in their respective countries.

We will discuss philosophical issues, such as: Whose history are we collecting? How do we define women's history? How do we determine what future historians of women will need to document women's lives now? We will also consider the ways in which what we collect has changed over time -- how do we select from documentation that is now broad and vast? We will describe the obstacles we face and the things that impede our progress, and will conclude with the opportunities we have for the future: Can we build and strengthen national and international ties between libraries that document women's history, allowing us to support each other and help newer libraries become more established? Will we be able to collect materials co-operatively, and to use technology to increase access to our collections?

The session will include brief presentations from the panelists, with significant time for questions and discussion with the audience.

Presenters include:
Christine Wise - Fawcett Library (UK);
Mary Maples Dunn (moderator), Barbara Haber, and Wendy Thomas - Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College (USA);
Annette Mevis and Marjet Douze - IIAV (the Netherlands);
and Leopoldina Rendon Pineda - CIDHAL (Mexico).

Workshop co-ordinator: Beth Stafford
Women's Studies and Women in International Development Library, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA

The aim of this workshop is to find ways to make women's information more visible and accessible in mainstream libraries. What are the responsibilities of regular libraries in regards to collecting and disseminating women's information - particularly in countries where there are no special women's information services?

The presenters will address the following questions:

This workshop is being co-ordinated in cooperation with the Women's Issues Round Table of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).

Presenters include:
Sheridan Harvey - Library of Congress (USA);
IFLA Women's Issues Round Table representative;
and Beth Stafford - Women's Studies and Women in International Development Library, University of Illinois (USA).

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