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Instructions for the use of the WomenWriters Database



Please read these Instructions carefully from the beginning to the end in order to familiarize yourself with the instrument. If any issues should still arise, please contact Suzan van Dijk with a description of your problem, specifying at which stage (add number) it occured.

Updated 25 March 2012

There are 4 different ways of using this database:

1.You just want to check/find some factual information (passive use of WW as a resource database) about one of the more than 3000 authors it contains (note that when speaking of authors, we mean only female authors: male authors are absent from the database unless they use a female pseudonym)

2.You want to visualize or compare numbers of authors, genres, types of reception etc. (using WW, or preparing its use, as a research database)

3.You have information that you want to add to existing records (either for your own use, or to communicate information to your colleagues)

4.You want to add new records: authors, works, and/or instances of reception not yet present in the database

1.You just want to check/find some factual information

You do not necessarily need to log in.
Here some examples in order to show how to proceed for each of the three “layers” of the database:

1.1 Authors: You want to know/check Jane Austen’s birth date:
1.1.1 go to: http://www.databasewomenwriters.nl or to http://neww.huygens.knaw.nl/ (= same database)
1.1.2 click “Authors” (top, left)
1.1.3 in field “Name” > austen, and click left green button (“search”)
1.1.4 below the search part of the screen you see the very short “list”: click the name
1.1.5 birth date = 1775 (have a look at the whole record) N.B. for many authors exact birth dates are not yet known; in these cases a supposed date has been entered – supposition specified as such in the field “personal situation”)

1.2 Works: You want to check the exact title of De la littérature by Mme de Staël:
1.2.1 click “Works” (top)
1.2.2 in field “Name” > staël, and click left green button (“search”)
1.2.3 below the search part of the screen you find the list of Staël’s works (those present in the database)
1.2.4 click “De la littérature”
1.2.5 title = De la littérature considérée dans ses rapports avec les institutions sociales (you could also have gone directly to the work at stage 1.2.2) N.B. for a number of works we only have provisional titles, deduced from translations: these have been marked with an asterisk

1.3 Receptions: You want to know if Fortunée Briquet in her Dictionnaire (1804) mentions Mlle Bonafons d'Albert:
1.3.1 click “Receptions” (top)
1.3.2 three possibilities:
1.3.2.1 in first field “Name” > Bonafons; in the second field “Name” > Briquet
1.3.2.2 in first field “Name” > Bonafons
1.3.2.3 in second field “Name” > Briquet
1.3.2.4 Note that 1.3.2.1. gives you precisely the record you need, while the other options yield larger contexts.

2.You want to have an impression of or compare numbers

You do not necessarily need to log in (but when logged in you will find more information, as will be clarified below).

2.1 Authors: You want to know how many French women authors were active around 1800:
2.1.1 click “Authors” (top)
2.1.2 in the search screen select “female”; in field “Living in year” > 1800; select “France”, and click left green button (“search”)
2.1.3 below the search part you have the answer: 197.
Note that:
2.1.3.1 these are the authors we have found and entered into the database up to now; there are still more sources to be checked;
2.1.3.2 you should take into account that women born in 1799 will not yet have started their writing career in 1800;
2.1.3.3 an important number of the life dates are in fact suppositions (and specified as such in the records). If you are starting a complete study on this material you will have to go into archives, and provide exact information (where possible);
2.1.3.4 from this list you can go into the individual records and decide which women are relevant to you.

2.2 Works: You want to know how many autobiographical texts were published by Dutch women in different periods (as far as presently included in the database):
2.2.1 click “Works” (top)
2.2.2 in the search screen select “Netherlands” for Work; “Autobiography”, and click the left green button (“search”)
2.2.3 below the search part you have the answer: 19. Note that:
2.2.3.1 classification in this category may have been done on the basis of the title of the work, or of comments in the press or elsewhere; so this is further to be studied for instance by specialists of autobiographical writing. No conclusions can be drawn about autobiographical aspects in novels for instance.

2.3 Receptions: You want to know the numbers of translations of works by George Sand in different countries:
2.3.1 click “Receptions” (top)
2.3.2 in the search screen field “Received work – author” > “sand, g”; in field “Reception type” check: “Translation”; “Translation published in the press”; “Women’s press, translation”
2.3.3 below the search part you have the answer: 491, between 1833 and 1924, with in this list titles of works and specifications about translators: for women the names, for men indication if names are known (and mentioned in the record) or unknown, for the moment.

3.You have information that you want to add into existing records

You need to log in first:
• click “Login”
• enter the username and password you have been given
• you will see your own status (records you have added or changed)

3.1 Authors: you know the exact date of birth of an author, and you want to change the provisional date into this one in ”her” record:
3.1.1 click “Authors” (top)
3.1.2 in field “Name” > your author’s name (or part of the name); and click left green button (“search”)
3.1.3 below the search part of the screen, you find a small “list” including the author searched
3.1.4 click the name; you will find the "author" record for your author
3.1.5 click the green “Edit” button
3.1.6 in the “Edit” screen, you can change the supposed date of birth into the “real”
3.1.7 change “years of birth and death supposition” into "year of death supposition” and sign (as in: svd feb10)
3.1.8 click the green “Save changes” button
3.1.9 check if everything is OK (if not, provide immediate adaptations)

3.2 Works: you know the exact title of a work with a provisional title (marked with an asterisk), and want to change it:
3.2.1 click “Works” (top)
3.2.2 in field “Name” > the author’s name; click the left green button (“search”)
3.2.3 below the search part of the screen you find the list of works by this author; click on one of the titles
3.2.4 click the green “Edit” button
3.2.5 in the “Edit” screen, you can change the provisional title into the “real” (deleting the asterisk)
3.2.6 if possible, you may add where you found this title: in “Provisional notes”: “Title according to Catalogue Bibliothèque Nationale de France”, for instance, and sign (as in: svd feb10)
3.2.7 click the green “Save changes” button
3.2.8 check whether everything is OK (if not, provide immediate adaptations)

3.3 Receptions: you know the name of a journalist (for instance), registered as “unknown”, writing about “your” author, and you want to include it:
3.3.1 click “Receptions” (top)
3.3.2 in field “Name” > the author’s name; and click left green button (“search”)
3.3.3 below the search part of the screen you find receptions of works by this author; click on the green button at the left side of the reception you want to adapt
3.3.4 click the green “Edit” button; you will see the same record but in the "Edit" mode, which allows you to type information in some of the fields (Title, Year, References, Provisional notes), in the other ones you have to check in the drop-down list the Name or Item you need;
3.3.5 in the “Edit” screen, you can change, in the "Author of Reception" list, the indication “journalist unknown” in two ways: the unknown journalist being either a man, or a woman:
3.3.5.1 if the person whose name you are changing is male, you check, in the drop-down list, instead of “journalist unknown” > “journalist name below”. At the left side of the title (provisional or not), you add the man’s name
3.3.5.2 if it is a woman, she is either already present in the database list of names, or not:
3.3.5.2.1 if she is figuring in the list, you change the indication “journalist unknown” into the name of this woman
3.3.5.2.2 if she is not in the list, you will have to add her (see 4.1) before proceeding as in 3.3.5.2.1
3.3.6 if possible, you may add where you found this information: in “Provisional notes”: “Name of journalist according to [book about pseudonyms by Erica van Boven]", for instance – very likely source for this, and sign (as in svd feb10)
3.3.7 click the green “Save changes” button
3.3.8 check if everything is OK (if not provide immediate adaptations)

4.You want to add new records: data not yet present in the database

You need to be logged in. Make sure whether your data are not yet present in the database! Note that, as you know, many women authors have several names (maiden names, married names, pseudonyms).

4.1. Authors: You have found information about the reception of a woman author not yet included in the database:
4.1.1 click “Authors” (top)
4.1.2 click, below the search part of the screen, the green “Add new author” button (also called: +)
4.1.3 you are in front of a screen entitled: “Create a record for a new author”
4.1.4 provide the information required; other records, which you will have seen previously, will serve as examples: in some of the fields you add dates (birth, death) or text (names, bibliographical references for instance), in others you just check one (or more) of the items of a list (countries, languages). Note that there is generally no need to add languages or countries: most of them have already been integrated in this list: just click on those you need.
4.1.5 check if everything seems OK
4.1.6 in field “Provisional notes”: please add this specification: “TEST, STILL TO BE CHECKED” if you have only just started using the database
4.1.7 in this same field: put your signature according to this format (svd feb10 which means Suzan van Dijk February 2010)
4.1.8 click the green “Save changes” button
4.1.9 check if everything is OK (if not, make immediate adaptations) and if all fields are filled in (leave no blank fields)

4.2 Works: for an author (the one you just entered or another) you want to include a record for a work not yet present:
4.2.1 go to the record for the author of this work
4.2.2 click, below the author’s part of the record, under “Works written by this author” the green “Add new work” button (marked with a +)
4.2.3 you are in front of an empty “work” record (edit mode), where you can enter the information about title, year of publication etc.
4.2.4 provide the information required (having seen other records, which have to serve as examples): checking the drop down lists and adding text into text fields
4.2.5 check your information
4.2.6 in field “Provisional notes”: please add this specification: “TEST, STILL TO BE CHECKED” if you have only just started using the database.
4.2.7 in this same field: put a signature according to this format (svd feb12 which means Suzan van Dijk February 2012)
4.2.8 Note that for filling in URLs for websites, and family connections, you need to first have saved the record, and add these informations afterwards
4.2.9 click the green “Save changes” button (and, if needed, add then hyperlinks, and save again)
4.2.10 check if everything is OK (if not, make immediate adaptations) and if all fields are filled in (leave no blank fields)

4.3 Receptions: you want to include for a work (this “new” one or another) a testimony to contemporary reception (before c. 1900), for instance an article written about it:
4.3.1 go to the record for this work
4.3.2 click, below the work’s part of the record, under “Receptions of this work” the green “Add new reception” button (also called: +)
4.3.3 you are in front of an empty “reception” record (edit mode), where you can enter the information about the receiver, type of reception etc.
4.3.4 provide the information required (having seen other records, which have to serve as examples): checking the drop-down lists and adding text into text fields ), and check your source (in case you are the source yourself check “see below”, which refers to the “Provisional notes” field)
4.3.5 check if everything is OK
4.3.6 in field “Provisional notes”: please add this specification: “TEST, STILL TO BE CHECKED” if you have only just started using the database.
4.3.7 in this same field: put a signature according to this format (svd feb12 which means Suzan van Dijk February 2012)
4.3.8 Note that for filling in URLs for websites, you need to first have saved the record, and add these informations afterwards
4.3.9 click the green “Save changes” button (and, if needed, add then hyperlinks, and save again)
4.3.10 click the green “Save changes” button
4.3.11 check if everything is OK (if not, make immediate adaptations) and if all fields are filled in (leave no blank fields)

We hope that these instructions will serve you well in using the WomenWriters database. If you have any questions, or if, in your view, features are lacking, please contact Suzan van Dijk.




SvD, March 2012



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