Librarianship is undergoing a profound period of change due to pressures generated from within the profession as well as to shifts in the economy. The processes shaping the future of this field cannot be fully understood if we ignore the fact that, for more than 100 years, library work in North America has been women's work. As a result, the members of this profession experience great doubt about their field and its image. In their attempts to enhance its status to conform more with the model of professionalism exhibited by traditionally male fields such as medicine and law, librarians run the risk of losing their identity and, ultimately, control over their profession.This book addresses these issues from a feminist perspective. The developments in the field are also considered from a comparative perspective in that they are compared to the changes taking place in other female-intensive fields such as nursing and social work. This is the first thorough look at these issues from the point of view of librarianship's history as a woman's field.