Women in Developing Countries

This guide lists resources that will help you find information on women in developing countries from periodicals, newspapers, books, and Internet resources.

To find books owned at Boston University Libraries, you will need to search by subject in the online Catalog, using subject headings (such as women in development) from the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes available in the libraries.

Indexes, Abstracts, and Full Text Sources.
Bibliographies, Handbooks, and Encyclopedias.
Statistics.
Directory.
Atlas.
Internet Sources.

INDEXES, ABSTRACTS, AND FULL TEXT SOURCES.

Africa-Wide: NiPAD. 19th century - . (BU-px).: "An exclusive combination of files from Africa, Europe and the USA together for the first time. This database aggregation gives premier information on all aspects of Africa. Topics covered include politics, history, economics, business, mining, natural sciences, environment, development, social issues, anthropology, literature, language, law, music, tourism and much more. Sources include books, periodicals and magazines articles, radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, pamphlets, maps, reports, theses and music recordings and much more."
The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES). 1960 - .: The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) covers North American (U.S. and Canadian) scholarship on East-Central Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Union. It contains bibliographic records for journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, online resources, and selected government publications. Available in print from 1967 to 1993: Mugar Ref. X Z2483 F56. Available as The American Bibliography of Russian and East European Studies (1960-66), Mugar Ref. X Z2483 F56 Available on the BU Web from 1990 to the present (ChRiv-px)
Anthropological Index. 1957 - . (BU-px).: "The Anthropological Index Online is based on the journal holdings of The Anthropology Library at the British Museum (formerly Museum of Mankind) which receives periodicals in all branches of anthropology, from academic institutions and publishers around the world."
Anthropological Literature. Late 19th century to the present. (ChRiv).: Comprehensive international index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the late 19th century to the present.

Bibliography of Asian Studies. (ChRiv-px).: The Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) contains more than 545,000 records on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present.
Contemporary Women's Issues. 1992 - . (ChRiv-px).: Full-text database, international in scope, covering such topics as health and reproductive issues, development, human rights, arts and media, customs, family life, violence, and legal issues. Includes journal articles, newsletters, fact sheets, proceedings, and the alternative press. An Instruction Guide is available.
Econlit. 1969 - . (BU-px).: Bibliography of economic literature, including journal articles, book chapters and books, book reviews, working papers, and dissertations. Covers population and development issues.
FRANCIS. 1984 - . (ChRiv-px).: Multilingual, multidisciplinary index to journals in the social sciences and humanities.
HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index. 1970 - . (ChRiv-px).: Subject/author index to articles, bibliographies, documents, literary works and reviews on U.S. Hispanics and on Latin America.
Medline via ISI. 1950 - . (BU-px).: Indexing and abstracts to journals in medicine and related fields. Also available (1966-) via OVID with a password.
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service). 1915 - . (BU-px).: Index to articles, books, and documents in public affairs and public policy, including social conditions.
POPLINE.: "POPLINE (POPulation information onLINE), the world's largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues. POPLINE is maintained by the INFO Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. (USAID). POPLINE contains nearly 360,000 records and has been maintained since 1973 by the INFO Project (formerly Population Information Program). The majority of items are published from 1970 to the present, however, there are selected citations dating back to 1827."
Population Index. 1935 - 2000.: Index to the literature in demography and population growth. Includes books, journal articles, theses, machine readable data files, and proceedings. Searchable on the Internet from 1986-2000. Searchable in JSTOR from 1935-1985 (BU-px).
Rural Development Abstracts. 1978 - .: Indexes English and foreign language journal articles, reports, conferences, and books about all aspects of rural development in developing countries from environmental management to technical progress, poverty and women's studies. Mugar stacks HC59.7 R75 (1983-1994). Mugar Microfiche HC59.7 R75 (1978-1983). Searchable (1990-) on the BU Web (ChRv).
Social Sciences Citation Index. 1956 - .: Interdisciplinary index to 4700+ journals and collected volumes in the social and behavioral sciences. Provides access by author, citation and subject. Mugar Ref. X Z7161 S65, (1956-1975). Searchable on the BU Web as Web of Science (1973- ) (BU-px).
Social Sciences Full Text. 1983 - . (ChRiv-px): Indexes and abstracts core journals in such fields as anthropology, criminal justice and criminology, gender studies, geography, gerontology, minority studies, social work, sociology, and urban studies. Includes full text of articles from 215+ journals as far back as 1995. For retrospective searching (1907-1984) use Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective, which indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals as early as 1907.
Social Services Abstracts. 1979-. (BU-px).: "CSA Social Services Abstracts provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,500 serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews."
Sociological Abstracts. 1952 - . (BU-px).: Indexes and abstracts periodical articles, conference papers, proceedings, dissertations and book reviews in sociology and related fields.
Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts. 1995 - . (ChRiv): Indexes and abstracts journal articles, chapters, and books on women. The focus is on "education, employment, women in the family and community, medicine and health, female sex and gender role socialisation, social policy, the social psychology of women, female culture, media treatment of women, biography, literary criticism, and historical studies." Formerly Studies on Women Abstracts (1983-1999), Mugar Ref. X Z7962 S78.
Women's Studies International. 1972 - . (BU-px): Contains citations or citations/abstracts from ten women's studies databases.
Women's Studies Index. 1989 - 2002.: Subject/author index to feminist and mainstream women's studies periodicals, including U.S. and foreign journals and magazines. Mugar Ref. X HQ1180 W66.
World News Connection. (BU-px).: Online news service offering full-text summaries in English of non-U.S. newspaper articles, conference proceedings, radio and television broadcasts, periodicals, and non-classified technical reports. Published by the National Technical Information Service, it continues, in part, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Coverage includes socioeconomic, political, scientific, technical, and environmental issues. .
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. 1975 - .: "Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. (BU-px)

BIBLIOGRAPHIES, HANDBOOKS, AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS.

Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. 6 vols. 2003 - .: "An interdisciplinary, transhistorical, global project covering women and Islamic cultures in societies where there have been significant Muslim populations from the period just before the rise of Islam to the present." Mugar Ref. X BP173.4 E538 2003.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women's Issues Worldwide. 6 vols. 2003.: Examination of women's status and living conditions in 130 countries. Arranged alphabetically by country, in 6 regional volumes: Asia and Oceania, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Mugar Ref. X HQ1115 G74 2003.
Handbook of Latin American Studies. 1935 - .: Bibliography on Latin America, with print volumes alternating annually between the social sciences and the humanities. While the primary focus is Latin America, researchers will find citations to works on Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, and other Latin American populations in the United States. Searchable online through the Library of Congress.
Latinas of the Americas: A Source Book. 1989.: Consists of bibliographic essays on women in Latin America. Mugar Ref. X Z7964 L3 S76 1989.
Muslim Women Throughout the World: A Bibliography. 1997.: Bibliography of scholarly studies in English, as well as some fiction, travel accounts, popular publications and devotional studies on Muslim women around the world. Arranged alphabetically by author, with subject and geographical indexes. Mugar Ref. X Z7963 I74 K56 1997.
Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. 4 vols. 2000.: A-to-Z encyclopedia on women and women's concerns worldwide. Topics fall within thirteen thematic categories: arts and literature; culture and communication; ecology and the environment; economy and development; education; health, reproduction, and sexuality; history and philosophy of feminism; households and families; politics and the state; religion and spirituality; science and technology; violence and peace; and women's studies. Mugar Ref. X HQ1115 R69 2000.
Women in Global Migration, 1945-2000: A Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Bibliography. 2001.: Unannotated bibliography on immigrant women, covering such topics as demography, economics, education, health and medicine, law and government policy, personal narratives, psychology, religion, sociology, and statistics, as well as bibliographies and general works on immigrant women. Includes books, book chapters and essays, government documents, journal articles, and dissertations published or presented between 1945 and the end of 1999. Indexed by nationality, religion, ethnic group, and receiving country or region. Mugar Ref. X Z7164 I3 H62 2001. Updated version available on the Web.
Women in the Third World: A Reference Handbook. 1997.: Reference work on women in developing countries, including chronology, biographical sketches, directory of resources, and bibliography. Mugar Ref. X HQ1870.9 K58 1997.
Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues. 1998.: Contains lengthy essays providing a feminist perspective on issues of gender and socioeconomic development in the third world. Documents the conditions of women across different settings and shows relationships between gender and power. Mugar Ref. X HQ1870.9 W6548 1998.

STATISTICS.

Demographic and Health Surveys.: Source of demographic and health information on women and their families in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. Provides access to data files from national surveys on household living conditions, fertility, family planning, and health, as well as to fact sheets summarizing the surveys.
Index to International Statistics. 1983 - .: Index to statistical publications produced by international, inter-governmental organizations. Documents available on microfiche in the Current Periodicals Room. Mugar Ref X Z7552 I53 . Available as LexisNexis Statistical on the BU Web (BU-px) .
Statistical Record of Women Worldwide. 1995.: Compilation of statistical data on the lives and status of women worldwide. From a variety of sources. Mugar Ref. X HQ1150 S73 1995.

DIRECTORY.

Encyclopedia of Women's Associations Worldwide. 1993.: Compilation of 3400+ organizations worldwide for and about women and their concerns. Arranged geographically by region and country. Mugar Ref. X HQ1883 E53 1993.

ATLAS.

Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. 2009.: Contains maps, statistical data, and text pertaining to the status of women in the world. Topics include education, marriage, motherhood, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, lesbians, work, poverty, and sex. Explores similarities and differences. Mugar Ref. X G1046 E1 S4 2009.

INTERNET SOURCES.

African Women on the Internet.: Stanford University Libraries annotated list of Web links and discussion groups pertaining to African women.
Amnesty International.: The Web page of the international human rights organization, containing the text of AI documents, including country reports, the annual report, and news releases. A keyword search of "women" produced a long list of documents.
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.: "The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is a feminist human rights nongovernmental organization that works internationally to oppose all forms of sexual exploitation."
Cultural Survival.: Information on the publications and work of this Cambridge-based organization founded in 1972 to help indigenous peoples and ethnic groups deal as equals in their relations with national and international societies. Extensive links to indigenous, ethnic and other related Web sites.
FGC Education and Networking Project.: Site dedicated to research on female genital cutting (FGC), from psychological, cultural, sexual and human rights perspectives. Includes articles, bibliographies, information on eradication efforts, and links to related sites and discussion forums.
Fourth World Documentation Archive.: Provides online archive of texts concerning indigenous communities around the world.
Gender Equality in Development: Inter-American Development Bank.: Concerned with the contribution of women in development and the equal participation of women in Bank-funded programs.
International Center for Research on Women.: Private, nonprofit organization concerned with promoting women's full participation in social and economic development.
Kamat's Potpourri: The Women of India.: Site on the history and culture of women in India, maintained by a scholar in women's studies.
Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC).: Extensive Web page on Latin America and the Caribbean. Arranged by country and by subject.
SAWNET (South Asian Women's Network).: A forum for those interested in women's issues in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Women's Human Rights Resources.: Select bibliography of women's human rights documents; a list of conventions, reports, and articles of governmental and non-governmental organizations on the subject of the human rights of women; and an annotated listing of Web links pertaining to international women's human rights.
WomenWatch.: Gateway to UN Information and data on women worldwide, providing access to information on the UN's work on behalf of women and the global agenda for improving the status of women. Links to the three UN programs devoted to women's issues: the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
World Bank.: Information on World Bank development reports, topics in development, countries and regions, and more. The World Bank has created GenderNet, describing "how the Bank seeks to reduce gender disparities and enhance women's participation in economic development through its programs and projects. It summarizes knowledge and experience, provides gender statistics, and facilitates discussion on gender and development."
WSSLinks: International Women.: Annotated list of bibliographies, electronic discussion forums, newsletters and journals, organizations, and regionally-arranged Web sites on women in developing countries (as well as industrialized countries).