The series contains the resources that Vancouver Status of Women (VSW) collected to support its own research projects and the needs of its visitors. Additionally, it includes VSW briefs, press releases, and reports that were inter-filed with research and reference resources. Reference resources were gathered from a wide variety of local, provincial, national, and international sources from the 1970s to 2008. Sources from which resources originate include the National Action Committee for the Status of Women, the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, local women centers, and other organizations committed to anti-oppression work. Subjects that are addressed frequently in these resources include the following: childcare, gender discrimination in the public education system, community services for women, pensions for women, inadequate unemployment and welfare rates, pornography, prison, sex work, the anti-choice movement, pay equity, violence against women, corporate globalization, and anti-racism.
Subject files in the series were originally arranged in distinct, alphabetized sets spanning two accruals. This order has been maintained physically and intellectually. The physical order in which all other records were received has been maintained as well; original order has been re-constituted intellectually. Record types represented in the series include the following: subject files containing newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, and press releases and briefs from other organizations; VSW briefs, press releases, and reports; print copies of academic journals; books; magazines; reports, publications, and grey literature from other organizations; a “Women’s Kit” featuring educational aids that counter sexist stereotypes; and cassette tapes bearing audio recordings in honour of International Women’s Day.