The Journal of Texas Women Writers is a peer-reviewed academic journal hosted on the TDL Electronic Press.
When Dr. Linda Kornasky set out to fill a gap in the scholarly record on the women authors of Texas, TDL Electronic Journals helped her do it.
A professor of English at Angelo State University, Kornasky recognized the need for a scholarly journal focused on Texas women writers, a distinctive group often neglected by traditional research outlets. Kornasky decided to address this disparity by creating and managing a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of her own, called the Journal of Texas Women Writers (JoTWW).
Not knowing where to start, she consulted with a librarian at her institution, who recommended the TDL’s Open Journal Systems electronic journal service. The librarian told her that Angelo State was a member of the Texas Digital Library consortium, giving her access to all the faculty communications tools – including Open Journals Systems (OJS)– that the TDL offers.
A TDL electronic journal using OJS was a perfect fit for JoTWW in other ways: “I didn’t want to be slowed down by financing,” Kornasky said, “and I wanted something that people could access without buying subscriptions.”
With the help of Texas Digital Library staff, Kornasky set up the OJS software and got to work. “At first I was a little nervous about the technical aspects of it, but then I decided to jump right in,” she said. “And like any other computer program, it became easy to use once I got the hang of it.”
The JoTWW, with Kornasky serving as managing editor, published its inaugural issue in February 2009. The journal features scholarly articles, as well as original fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry by contemporary Texas women writers.
“I’m excited about the journal,” she concluded, “and amazed at how much support I’ve gotten from potential readers and submitters.”
For more information about electronic, peer-reviewed journals from the Texas Digital Library, please visit the TDL Electronic Journals section of this Web site. To view a list of all TDL Electronic Journals, visit the TDL Electronic Press.