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In the libraries of many historically white colleges and universities, there is genuine desire and sincere effort to make primary source collections more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. But these endeavors are thwarted by long-standing internal practices and values. Laying bare the inner workings of special collections libraries within such institutions, I analyze the financial, epistemological, and cultural mechanisms that interfere with the building of archival collections relevant to African American history and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical analysis of the 'phallicized dyke' comic strips and the fallacies they convey is presented. Castrations caricatured in Diane DiMassa's comics reinforce the dominance of the penis and the subjectivity of the female gender. On the other hand, the addition of a penis in a comical female highlights its role as an instrument of pleasure. These comic strips, therefore, are counterproductive to the feminine movement they supposedly represent.

Widespread ideals about libraries are in conflict with deep-rooted gender-based inequities within the library and gendered perceptions of libraries and librarians by the larger public. These contradictions are particularly striking when we look at gender in conjunction with information technologies that help to structure work-roles in the library, especially as these change. This article uses conventional and "fictional" timelines to survey the historical junctures of gender and technology in the library and to speculate about the future of the academic library, with particular attention to deployments of the digital humanities in the library and its potential for disrupting these long-standing gender patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]