The Feminist Majority Foundation Online -Women's WebWorld will celebrate its second anniversary on August 26, 1997. Since its World Wide Web debut in 1995, the site - - has greatly expanded its offerings and won numerous awards.

"Our site is intended to be a gateway for women, with links to virtually every women's organization and women's issue area," said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "Our site not only helps women keep up-to-date on women's news nationally and internationally, and find resources about women's studies, career opportunities, women's health, reproductive rights, international women's issues, women's events, and more; but also, our site has helped save at least one person in a life-threatening situation."

An AT&T computer center received a domestic violence emergency call. The AT&T technical person on the phone remembered that the Feminist Majority Foundation site listed domestic violence hotlines for all 50 states - and found the appropriate number instantly and it worked.

"Our site now receives 30,000 'hits' per day, up from 10,000 when we started," said Jessica Haney, Internet Coordinator. "It has allowed us to cheaply and easily reach feminists and organize on issues such as affirmative action and our Expo '96 for Women's Empowerment. The site has won over a dozen awards, including a five-star rating from Luckman Interactive; a Platinum Award from NetGuide; Best Overall Nonprofit Website from the Non-Profits Online Conference; and Top 5% of the Web."

"We created our site to show the multi-dimensional nature of feminism," continued Smeal. "Feminism is not single-issue - it's a culture with social, economic and political aspects, reaching into every area of women's lives. And we created our site to provide education, research tools, and action items to users. We wanted to encourage more women in general to use the World Wide Web, by providing content that women find interesting."

"We also created our site to reach young people, and we have succeeded - 80% of our users are between the ages of 18 and 22," said Jennifer Jackman, Director of Policy and Research at the Feminist Majority Foundation, who oversees the site. "The site is geared to reach college students so they can learn more about feminism and get useful information - from researching a paper, to finding a job, to buying a feminist book or T-shirt, to attending a feminist concert, to sending an instant Take Action message to the media, the government, and to corporations."

Currently, users can send over a dozen instant Take Action messages, including: thanking Disney/ABC for letting Ellen "come out"; urging Driscoll Strawberry Associates to support workers' rights to organize; asking the U.S. government to do everything they can to restore women's human rights in Afghanistan; and letting American Airlines know that we support their lesbian and gay-friendly policies.

One recent addition to the site is the Feminist On-line Store, with popular feminist books, T-shirts, buttons, stickers, mugs, mousepads, and tote bags.

The Feminist Majority Foundation on-line is so large and so comprehensive that users may not know exactly where to look for the information they need. The site has a few tools to remedy this challenge. At the bottom of each page is a navigation bar with two important ways of finding what's on the site: "index" and "search."

By clicking on index users can see, at a glance, an easy-to-follow outline of what is on the site, including subsections of each main section. Or click on search, enter a word or words about an issue, and the site's built-in search engine will find the relevant sections.

Another secret tip: click on the globe on the main page for a welcome message to the site, including the awards we've won.

Special thanks to Jessica Haney, Internet Coordinator, and to Ana Reyes, one of the site's developers, who will both be leaving the Feminist Majority Foundation this fall. Jessica will be pursuing graduate studies in English and Women's Studies at the University of Cincinnati, and Ana will be attending law school at Harvard University. Good luck to both!

For a free user's guide to the site, send e-mail to: webmaster@feminist.org, or call (703) 522-2214.