Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600–2000 has been recognized as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2004 in the January 2005 issue of Choice magazine. The resource, published by Alexander Street Press, was created by SUNY-Binghamton professors Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar, who continue to develop the project. It is a reference database that brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, all of which document the multiplicity of women’s reform activities.

“We are thrilled to see Women and Social Movements gaining momentum as an important women’s studies resource,” said Eileen Lawrence, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alexander Street. “This award confirms its value as a teaching and reference resource for scholars at all levels.”

The award is given to a selected percentage of the thousands of scholarly titles reviewed annually by the highly respected magazine. Criteria for the award include quality of presentation, significance, uniqueness, and scholarly value. The original review, published in an April supplement to Choice, lauds Alexander Street Press for having “the cleanest, most responsive search apparatus in the business” and praises Women and Social Movements for its “full coverage of fascinating progress in women’s history along with teaching tools, document projects, and a delightful album of historic photos . . . faults are few.”

“We are delighted that Choice has recognized the high quality of the scholarly work in the Women and Social Movements Web site,” Professor Dublin said. “It is an honor to see it included with so many other excellent resources.”

The most recent issue of Women and Social Movements, published in December, includes document projects examining the evolution of the Hull-House settlement in response to community needs around the turn of the 20th century, and the relationship between the National Women’s Conference of 1977 and subsequent feminist agendas. In addition, Women and Social Movements now includes book reviews and will include Web site reviews as well in its next issue.

Alexander Street Press worked with Professors Dublin and Sklar to develop a larger, subscription-based version of Women and Social Movements in 2003; prior to that, the popular women’s studies Web site was maintained through a series of grants. The collaboration allowed Women and Social Movements to continue and grow.

“Through its indexing efforts, Alexander Street Press has transformed this labor of love into a powerful database with search capabilities that are unique among U.S. women's history resources,” said Professor Sklar.

Previously, Women and Social Movements had been recognized with Library Journal’s “Best Reference Database” award in 2003.

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600 to 2000 is available on the Web through annual subscription. Institutions can choose to purchase perpetual rights to the content added each year and receive an archival copy of the data. Reviews are welcome. Please contact Helen Thompson, Marketing Manager (hthompson@alexanderstreet.com or 800-889-5937 ext. 5).