saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (05/12/84)
Here is a reproduction (with permission) of a brochure I re- ceived today about a canadian women's mailing list: The WEB, Canadian Women's Mailing List, A project of Web, Women's Information Exchange. WOMEN... REACHING OUT... SHARING RESOURCES Join the Canadian Women's Mailing LIst, a project of the WEB, Women's Information Exchange, and receive up-to-date information about women's events, publications, and ser- vices. WHAT IS THE WEB WOMEN'S INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND THE CANADI- AN WOMEN'S MAILING LIST? A non-profit society providing information services to wom- en, the WEB Women's Information Exchange has started the CANADIAN WOMEN'S MAILING LIST (CWML) as a communication tool for women and women's groups. By building the CWML and by then providing mailing labels at cost to women's organisa- tions, groups or individuals, WEB can help bring women to- gether with the wealth of information available to them. The CWML will also facilitate communication between feminist organisations and allow these organisations to reach out to women they might otherwise be unable to contact. In this way, WEB can build and expand a broad base of support for issues or interests of concern to women across Canada. Many other powerful groups use computerised mailing lists to reach and organise their supporters. Women can also use the computer to their advantage - to create an efficient femin- ist network. The inspiration for this project has come from the National Women's Mailing List in the U.S.A. WEB appreciates their encouragement and assistance. NWML is now fully operational - linking-up tens of thousands of individual women with women's organisations and businesses. WHAT KIND OF MAIL WILL YOU RECEIVE? Depending on what interest areas you specify, you will be hearing from any or all of the following: * Women's literary, art, scholarly, and political maga- zines, journals and newspapers. * Women's publishing houses announcing new feminist books. * Producers and distributers of women's music. * Political groups doing work on feminist issues; action alerts. * Non-traditional workers' networks. * Women's studies programs * Tours and travels for women. HOW DOES IT WORK? Registration with the CWML is purely voluntary. When you return a completed registration form, WEB will use the com- puter to store your name and produce mailing labels. Your name will only be entered into the computer when YOU regis- ter in any or all of the listed categories. Feminist groups and other organisations with information of interest to women will then keep you informed in the areas you have selected. WEB will be relying on donations to help build our lists until they reach a size suitable for selling. Groups wish- ing to purchase a list will be required to provide a copy of the item(s) they will be mailing. This insures that the litterature being sent is of interest to and not exploitive of women. Mail distributed through the Information Exchange will carry the name "WEB" on the label. In this way you will be able to distinguish which litterature you are receiving through the network. YOUR PRIVACY WILL BE RESPECTED Greatest care is given to security of the CWML because we are accountable to you. All data is under our control. We are using the best methods to ensure computer privacy; hence our list is more secure than most organisations' membership lists. We suggest that women who are concerned about protecting their identities use another name. Do not use "resident" or leave the name space blank. It would be most helpful, how- ever, to have women register with their real names. This will help organisations avoid duplicate mailings. It will also help in forwarding your mail should you move. HELP BUILD THE NETWORK To make the Information Exchange a truly effective communi- cation tool, women accross the country must contribute to its growth. Women and women's organisations can help to distribute registration forms to their friends and associ- ates. Please request extra brochures for distribution in your area. If your organisation would be willing to include this bro- chure in a mailing, please contact WEB Women's Information Exchange for details about our label credit program. For information about how you can use the Canadian Women's Mailing List to publicise your projects or activities, write or call: WEB Women's Information Exchange 9280 Arvida Drive Richmond, B.C. V7A 3P4 Telephone (604) 272-5335 The registration form follows. The general interest areas are: Women's culture, Women and sports, Lesbian women, Legal/Political issues, Health, Women of colour, Education, Violence against women, Work. Each interest area has many subareas, e.g the subareas of Health are: pregnancy and birth, Abortion/birth control/sterilisation, Gynecological health, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, alternative health services, nutrition/fitness, drugs and alcohol. Sophie Quigley ...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax,allegra}!watmath!saquigley