Women's Studies Section

Association of College & Research Libraries / American Library Association

Description

HEARTH is a core collection of books and journals in home economics and related disciplines. Titles published between 1850 and 1950 were selected and ranked by teams of scholars for their great historical importance. The first phase of this project focused on books published between 1850 and 1925 and a small number of journals. Future phases of the project will include books published between 1926 and 1950, as well as additional journals. The full text of these materials, as well as bibliographies and essays on the wide array of subjects relating to home economics, is freely accessible on this site.

Related disciplines include applied arts and design; child care, human development and family studies; clothing and textiles; food and nutrition; home management; housekeeping and etiquette; housing, furnishing and home equipment; hygiene; institutional management; retail and consumer studies; teaching and communication.

Women's Studies Content

Since both the home and home economics have historically been women’s sphere, one could argue that HEARTH is a women’s studies archive. This would place it outside the parameters of the Women’s Studies in Digital Archives project. On the other hand, after examining the collection, one can’t help conclude that, yes, women's experiences are the subject and the analytical perspective from which many of the texts are contructed, but the collection's scope is much more. Researchers outside women’s history working in the areas of history of education, design, family studies, American economics, public policy and social policy will find many valuable and inspiring sources. Women's studies researchers interested in historical source material on women and family, labor, economics, social conditions, gender roles, organizations and more will also discover many wonderful resources.

Searching

No subject searching is available. One can keyword search the author or title fields or the full text. The results screen displays a brief bibliographic record (author, title, publication date) and links to where one’s keywords appear in the document (“results details”), the document's table of contents and first page. One can mark/save documents for later view/display by clicking on the “add to bookbag” link.

Substantial background information on the discipline and related subjects are provided via a page outlining subjects covered in the collection. Under the various subjects, an essay and extensive bibliography of core texts are available. For a complete bibliography of books and journal in HEARTH, organized by author, title, and publication year, use the "Browse" link from the home page.

Archive Review:
Sherri Barnes
University of California, Santa Barbara