FAQs

Most of the relevant literature is published in the form of articles in journals or papers in collected works. In the QuickSearch catalogue, you can search for it specifically in the virtual Ariadne Special Collection. With our lists of Ariadne New Acquisitions we keep you regularly informed about which publications on women- and gender-specific themes have been newly added to the Austrian National Library's holdings. And if you wish to broaden your search, in the Special Section on Women’s and Gender Studies of the Austrian National Library's database information system (DBIS), you will find a compilation of relevant catalogues and databases.

In the Ariadne team, we examine all the Austrian National Library's holdings from the gender-specific perspective and ensure that the relevant literature is made available. The field of women's and gender studies is diverse and interdisciplinary and so the literature is distributed across all the Austrian National Library's collections.

There is therefore no single physical location in which all the books on the same theme can be kept together – please order the literature you require using the QuickSearch catalogue.

An exception to this are the themed reference works (Group GEN) in the open-access areas of the reading rooms, and the current volumes of journals (subject group 5) in the Newspapers and Magazines Reading Room, which are directly accessible.

The historic women's journals dating back to the 1850s and literary works by women from as long ago as the Middle Ages are real treasures of the Austrian National Library. We also hold collected records of historic women's organisations, women's legacies and collections of images - all important sources for historic research into women and gender.

Ariadne processes them, for example in the virtual collection of women’s journals, an online portal about women’s movements 1848-1938 and an online exhibition about the history of women's suffrage in Austria and the Habsburg Empire.

In the Webarchive, the Austrian National Library preserves Austria's digital cultural heritage and archives websites. Ariadne collects online sources relating to women and gender in the Women/Gender Collection. There you will find older versions of existing websites as well as online sites that are no longer available.

Please note that you can only access archived versions of websites here on site at the Austrian National Library.

Have you got stuck in your search for current research literature or historic sources in the field of women's and gender studies? You have come to the right place! We are happy to help you with your research: just contact us by email!

You are also welcome to attend one of our online or in-person training sessions, when we introduce you to our research tools and portals and show you how to use our services.

Every two months, in our Ariadne Newsletter, you will receive information about events, interesting publications and projects, new books held by the Austrian National Library and other innovations.

Just follow the red thread!