The Canadian Women's Periodical Index

Background

The Canadian Women's Periodicals Index (CWPI) was a publication aimed at increasing people's access to feminist writing and research.  Its intended audience was "researchers, community workers, lecturers, students, [and] people involved in Women's Studies (Canadian Women's Periodicals Index, Volume 8 No 2, 1992, p. 3). The CWPI was published by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), but was almost entirely produced, edited, and managed by members of the Women's Research Centre (WRC) and the Women's Program and Resource Centre (WPRC) at the University of Alberta. Marilyn Assheton-Smith served as the publication's Editor-in-Charge.

The CWPI published three issues annually, each of which indexed a four-month period of new feminist writing and research. Until 1991, it also released a yearly cumulative issue. CWPI subscribers included individuals and academic institutions across Canada and the United States.

 

In addition to serving as a tool for researchers, the index also served as a way for feminist publications to "spread the word" and find a wider audience; the CWPI worked to continually expand its index. Because limited funding meant that it could not maintain subscriptions to all of the publications it indexed, the CWPI developed an "exchange system" of subscriptions with other periodicals (Canadian Women's Periodical Index subscription exchange letter, 1989-1992, see below).

 

Collection Rationale

This collection includes all documents in the repository generated in the course of managing the CWPI. Many of the records are collections of documents related to subscription management, which include subscription forms, invoices, and correspondence with subscribers. However, the collection also includes correspondence between members of the CWPI team, as well as budget and financial information.

A selection of items from the collection are included below. To to see all the items in the collection, click Browse the Canadian Women's Periodical Index Collection below.

 

 

Featured Items

323 - Canadian Women's Periodical Index subscriptions

Aside from the indexing, design, and printing work involved in creating the actual publication itself, a huge task of the CWPI was managing and fulfilling its subscriptions. This record includes correspondence and receipts regarding CWPI subscriptions for names ranging from N to R.

 

Click here to browse all items related to CWPI subscription management.

 

071 - Canadian Women's Periodical Index production records

This record consists of a set of documents that gives a glimpse into the work that went into CWPI production.  It consists of materials pertaining to the production of the Canadian Women's Periodical Index (CWPI), by the Women's Program and Resource Centre. Records include a breakdown of time spent working on the periodicals, meeting notes, printing information, evaluation reports, notes, computer instructions, information from the Computing and Network Services department at the University of Alberta, a list of subscribers, revenue and expenditures, and form letters for subscribers.

 

033 - Canadian women's periodicals index

This record will provide a sense of what the CWPI publication looked like at the beginning of the publication's history. It consists of a full issue compiled in March 1985.

 

Click here to browse the other full CWPI issues available in the repository.