University Library News

The library recently purchased Eighteenth Century Collections Online. From the publisher’s description:

The eighteenth century brought the written word to the masses. With the expiration of strict printing controls and the Industrial Revolution, a large portion of the population — previously unexposed to writings  was exposed to a diverse collection of printed material. With a newfound passion for literacy, and an eager audience, texts explored new themes and ideas ranging from social and economic analysis and criticisms, to theories on man and society. Gale’s Eighteenth Century Collections Online digitally captures this influential period and provides new research opportunities in ways previously unavailable.

In the most ambitious single digitization project ever undertaken, 138,000 English-language titles and editions published between 1701 and 1800 will be made available online. The product will allow full-text searching of 26 million pages of material, in essence, every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Eighteenth Century Collections Online provides research opportunities in ways previously unavailable to a wide range of data spanning all disciplines. Eighteenth Century Collections Online is one of the largest sources of rare materials ever collected in microfilm and electronic formats. The collection is an ongoing project based on The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a machine-readable union list of the holdings of the British Library, as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private, and public libraries worldwide.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online is divided into seven subject areas:

History and Geography Explore ancient and contemporary times, voyages and discoveries, biographies and memoirs, genealogical collections, gazetteers, church antiquities and tourist guides of Britain. Topics include chronologies, recreation, military, maps and topography. This collection presents a comprehensive picture of the American Revolution from the British perspective

Social Science and Fine Arts Social Science takes a look into manufacturers and merchants, artisans and skilled workers, international business, banking, taxation and lotteries. Topics include current events, social reform, business/economics/finance and political science. Fine Arts reviews music, painting, theater and architecture, building and carpentry, vocal and instrumental music, paintings, prints drawings, coins and metals, collectibles and private art collections

Medicine, Science and Technology Science, applied science and technology, treatment of diseases and conditions. Topics include agriculture, cookbooks, military technology, natural philosophy, scientific education and more

Literature and Language Celebrated eighteenth-century essayists, novelists, poets and playwrights  including Shakespeare’s plays, poems and collected works. Topics include drama, poetry, ballads, religion, grammar, dictionaries, songs from plays, satire, book catalogues and more

Religion and Philosophy From sermons, bibles and prayer books to moral and ethical debates and prescriptions for proper conduct

Law Development of law in the British Empire. Topics include acts, criminal and international law, appellants’ cases and more

Reference Ephemeral material on the whole of life during the century. Topics include almanacs, catalogues and more

This product can be accessed via the Library’s list of electronic resources and databases.

*Author ID: 168 Author name: William*