by Rita Baladad
Quick Summary
from a ProQuest press release: The full text of more than 25,000 titles from the acclaimed ProQuest resource Early English Books Online (EEBO) are now openly available on the websites of the University of Michigan Library and the Bodleian Libraries...
from a ProQuest press release:
The full text of more than 25,000 titles from the acclaimed ProQuest resource Early English Books Online (EEBO) are now openly available on the websites of the University of Michigan Library and the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford. The new open access titles are the result of work of the Text Creation Partnership (TCP), a longstanding effort to transcribe early modern print books, creating standardized, accurate XML/SGML encoded electronic text editions. Through funding from ProQuest, Jisc and a collective of libraries, these text files are jointly owned by more than 150 libraries worldwide, creating a significant database of foundational scholarship.
"This is a significant milestone for TCP and we're very excited for this slice of EEBO to be available to anyone with an interest in the Early Modern era," said Susan Bokern, ProQuest vice president, Information Solutions. "Broad access is what ProQuest founder Eugene Power envisioned more than 70 years ago when he worked with the British libraries to microfilm these rare, important works. The ongoing work of the TCP is a great benefit for EEBO users. Access to the transcribed, native-language full text alongside images and bibliographic detail drives improved research outcomes."
"Jisc is proud of the financial support it has provided to the Text Creation Partnership over a number of years. We look forward to the open access transcriptions being used to support new research efforts across the digital humanities, beyond even those that have been made possible by the availability of early English books online, said Lorraine Estelle, executive director digital resources and divisional CEO Jisc Collections. "The release of this material is not only a boost to the availability of research data, but a welcome contribution to Jisc's work in support of open access across the disciplines."
From the first book published in English in 1473 through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and on through works produced in 1699, EEBO's incomparable collection contains more than 130,000 books that have been digitized, with fully searchable images of each page -- many include beautiful artwork and marginalia. The images, along with enhanced meta data added by ProQuest experts, fulfill even the most exhaustive research requirements of graduate scholars in subject areas as diverse as English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science.
See page images from EEBO here: http://bit.ly/EEBOImages.
Read the entire press release.
