Beyond the Print Index Model

As we develop tools for scholarly research on the Web, we need to be aware that our ideas about content, presentation, and even services are strongly influenced by print antecedents. I will talk about the ways that a small index, Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index (http://www.haverford.edu/library/reference/mschaus/mfi/mfi.html) is trying to invent itself in an online environment. Feminae indexes recent scholarship (book reviews, journal articles, and essays in collections). It has over six thousand records (June 2002) and receives around 5,000 hits a month on its home page. The index began in 1996 with the support of the libraries of Haverford College and the University of Iowa. The project has a volunteer editor and indexers, an advisory board, and a part-time student worker.

In part the site mimics a print index with bibliographic citations and lists of sources. However, there were changes made at the beginning including no limit on subject headings nor on the length of an entry as well as descriptions of illustrations, tables, and primary evidence presented in the indexed article. Abstracts are reproduced in the index with the publisher's permission.

User questions most frequently ask about access to full-text articles. Feminae plans to add links for journal articles that have stable URLs (JSTOR, Project Muse, and others). The links will advise users that articles are accessible only if their institution has a subscription. Feminae already includes links to Web resources that are available free-of-charge, like the Medieval Review, and plans to do more selective linking from individual records to related records at other scholarly sites. Feminae offers some services beyond the index including a featured "Article of the Month" and an e-mail link for questions. More services, like alerts based on registered user profiles, will help to build a virtual community.