Housed at Virginia Tech, the International Archive of Women in Architecture (established in 1985) is an impressive attempt to archive and document the "history of women's involvement in architecture by collecting, preserving, storing, and making available to researchers the professional papers of women architects, landscape architects, designers, architectural historians, critics, and planners." To this end, the Web site contains three major sections that will be of prime interest to persons visiting their site. The first is the Guide to the Collections, which offers detailed information on holdings (such as personal papers, architectural drawings, and so on) related to different women, including a brief biographical sketch, awards, major commissions, and educational background. Next, visitors will want to browse the Biographical Database, which is searchable by last name and geographical region. The last major section is the IAWA image database, which contains photographs of prominent women architects, along with numerous examples of their work. Finally, the Web site concludes with topical material on the day-to-day activities of the IAWA, such as the prizes they administer, their by-laws, and in-house newsletters.
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