The Transformation of Historical Research and Education
Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources
Masaki Morisawa
Senior Product Manager, Library Reference, Cengage Learning Asia
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Formerly called: Thomson Learning
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HQ: Stamford, Connecticut
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July 2007 separated from the Thomson Corporation
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Sept 2007 changed its name to CENGAGE Learning
(Coined from the phrase “Center of Engagement”)
 Library Reference (Gale)
 ELT
 Academic & Professional Group
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Today’s presentation is on products from the Library Reference division
Gale (Library Reference)
HQ in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA
One of the foremost library reference publishers
Has many well-established imprints, including:
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Gale
Charles Scribner’s Sons
Macmillan Reference USA
UXL
Publishing formats include:
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Print library reference such as thematic encyclopedias,
annual directories, literary biographies/criticisms, etc.
eBook versions of print publications and an eBook platform
Aggregated Journal databases
Subject Portals and Databases combining various content together
Microform collections and serials
Digital Archives of primary source material
Gale Digital Collections
The world’s largest scholarly primary source digital library
• More than 60 digital collections, including:
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Eighteenth Century Collections Online
The Times Digital Archive
The Making of the Modern World
The Making of Modern Law
And many more!
• Spanning 535 years of international history
• Gale has changed the nature of research and
education forever with Gale Digital Collections
Timeline covered by Gale Digital Collections
ECCO & ECCO II
NCCO
Making of the Modern World
Sabin Americana
State Papers Online, Parts 1-4
MOML: Supreme Court
Modern Law: Historic Trials
← British Literary Manuscripts Pt 2
DDRS
British Literary Manuscripts, Part 1
Slavery & Anti-Slavery, Pt 1,2
National Geographic
Times Digital Archive
Sunday Times Digital Archive
17/18C Burney Newspapers
19C BL News
19C UK Per.
TLS
The Financial Times
19C US News
Listener
The Economist
Illustrated London News
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
PP
2000
Why Digital Primary Sources?
Why Digital Primary Sources?
If publications are finished jewelry
Then primary sources are mines
Why Do Scholars Need Primary Sources?
. . . and historians are miners
They dig for rare ‘gems’ that
they polish and craft into
academic publications
Without a good mine to dig,
historians cannot do original
research – but good mines
are often far away …
No
dinner
tonight.
Why Digitize Primary Sources?
Digital Archives can bring
those faraway mines right to
their local libraries – the “raw
thing” unaltered and unedited.
Why Digital Archives?
Moreover, Gale’s digital archives
utilizes OCR technology to allow
full-text searching of these valuable
documents.
Why Digital Archives?
If previous research was like
mining with a pickaxe,
Full-text searching is like
mining with a sophisticated
radar system.
Why Digital Archives?
Not only can the scholar can find and retrieve the desired gem in seconds,
he/she can also discover many unexpected treasures along the way.
This Revolutionizes
historical research!
Let’s hear it from actual scholars
using our databases:
“Genuinely revolutionary”
“
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO),
made available by Gale, is genuinely revolutionary.
It changes both our research and our teaching in
eighteenth-century studies in radical ways. …
A university that does not have ECCO is not a
serious player in eighteenth-century British and
American studies—in literature or in anything else.
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Rob Hume
Professor of English Literature
The Pennsylvania State University
Link to the full document:
http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf
“Uncover unforeseen connections”
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… the search capabilities of both ECCO and
Burney have enabled me to discover trends and
connections that would take years to uncover by
manual searches….
databases such as EEBO, ECCO, and Burney
enable virtual movement throughout their
holdings to uncover relevant but unforeseen
connections not limited by categories of
expectations.
Eleanor Shevlin
Associate Professor, English Department
West Chester University
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“Democratized study”
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… even the most Luddite of academics cannot
deny that the immense benefits of this technology
vastly outweigh those moments of nostalgia for a
simpler age, especially when we remember that it
was only a privileged few who then had either the
resources or the leisure to spend years and travel
long distances to pursue substantive research
projects. Sources like ECCO have, quite simply,
democratized the study of pre-modern print.
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Andrea McKenzie
Professor, Department of History
University of Victoria
“A cultural landslide”
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… For example, a researcher who has studied
Milton for decades and a researcher who hasn't
can both talk knowingly about Milton. That may
sadden authorities, but for the progress of
academic research I think it's maybe better that
way. ... Perhaps, fifty years from now, the printed
books of today may only retain their value as art
objects. I think it's truly revolutionary. It may even
be called a cultural landslide.
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Kazuhiko Kondo
Professor, Graduate School of Humanities & Sociology
University of Tokyo
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
ECCO
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
• Nearly every significant title printed in Britain in
the 18th century, along with thousands from other
regions
• 33 million pages full-text searchable – facilitating
new discoveries and revolutionizing historical
research
• Supports research in a full range of disciplines
• Literature, history, fine arts, religion, law,
philosophy, music, science …
• Has rapidly become considered essential for 18th
century studies
Question:
How was Taiwan depicted in
18th century English books?
Ask ECCO!
George Psalmanazar … ???
End User Reaction to ECCO
ECCO is:
• Widely held with over 500 institutions having access across the globe
• Considered essential for 18th Century studies in all disciplines
– “ECCO Native” PhD’s
– Scholarly standard: 18th century research must apply ECCO to ensure
thoroughness, comprehensiveness, and completeness
– Used as a recruiting tool for top faculty and graduate students
– Allows researchers to undertake previously unfeasible projects
– Comprehensive – inclusion policy driven by ESTC
• Both students, faculty and library staff find ECCO
useful for a wide range of research projects
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Nineteenth Century
Collections Online
Digitizing the 19th Century
Comparison: 18th Century to 19th Century
Twice as many faculty specialize in the 19th century as in the 18th, indicating
a greater need for tools to support 19C research / teaching
19th Century vs. 18th Century Faculty (US)
18th C
Category
American Studies
19th C
19C/18C Factor
1,523
2,393
157%
British Studies
794
2,356
297%
Other Disciplines
351
1,448
413%
2,668
6,197
232%
TOTAL
Source: MDR’s
College Universe
Significantly greater scholarly output on the nineteenth century than on the
eighteenth century
Scholarly Publishing
18th C Articles
12,564
19th C Articles
21,937
19C/18C Factor
167%
Source: Chicago
Journals/JSTOR
Content Strategy & Organization
• NCCO will take a thematic approach to the time period
– Due to the sheer quantity and variety of materials, the allencompassing approach taken with ECCO is not possible for the
nineteenth century
• Will feature content from the “Long 19th Century”
• Will feature multiple content types, including
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Monographs (books)
Newspapers
Photographs
Maps
-- Manuscripts
-- Ephemera
-- Statistics
• Will be built incrementally, over a period years
Four Thematic Archives Each Year Based on Customer Input
NCCO
Europe and
Africa
Asia and British Politics
the West and Society
NCCO
History of
Women
NCCO
NCCO
History of
Photography
British Theatre, European
Literature
Music, and
Literature
1790-1840
NCCO
Science,
Technology,
& Medicine
NCCO: Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural
Exchange
Approximately 1.4M pages
Major themes around the consular and diplomatic exchanges between the
U.S., U.K. and many Asian nations, including:
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Gunboat Diplomacy
Opium
Philippines War
Missionary activities
Unequal treaties
Expansion of international spheres of influence beyond the British
Sino-Japanese war
Expansion of the railways in north and central China
America’s “Open Door policy”
The Boxer Rebellion
Rise of Bolshevism
Expansion of warlord-ism
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NCCO: British Politics and Society
A pivotal period in the history of Great Britain
Approximately 1.7M pages
Major themes around the domestic history of Britain, as seen from the inside,
including:
• Popular radicalism
• Corresponding Societies of the 1790s
• Trade union and Luddite disturbances of the 1800s and 1810s
• End of the Napoleonic Wars
• Suspension of habeas corpus
• March of the Blanketeers
• Pentrich insurrectionists’ march on Nottingham
• Peterloo Massacre
• Cato Street Conspiracy
• Queen Caroline Affair
• Swing Riots
• Reform Crisis of 1832
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NCCO : Corvey Collection of European Literature: 1790-1840
One of the most important literary discoveries of the second
half of the twentieth century was the recovery of the
spectacular library of more than 72,000 volumes, including
nearly 28,000 volumes of belles lettres, covering a broad range
of subject areas.
Collected during the first half of the nineteenth century by
Victor Amadeus, the Landgrave of Hess-Rotenberg (17791834), and housed at his castle (Castle Corvey) near Paderborn,
Germany. This remarkable library remained unknown to
scholars until late in the 1970s
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NCCO : British Theatre, Music, and Literature:
High and Popular Culture
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Approximately 1M pages
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An examination of the full spectrum of British cultural
sensibilities, told through plays, musical compositions,
fiction, novels, penny Dreadfuls and opera.
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Public concerts became big business in the nineteenth
century as new concert halls were built to accommodate
a burgeoning middle class interested in the arts as a form
of self-improvement.
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This series of unique archival collections will provide an
insight into Victorian musical and theatrical tastes by
documenting what was performed and when, as well as
casting light on the ‘behind the scenes’ business and
practical aspects of concert promotion, by making
available related archival material such as minute books
and correspondence alongside the printed concert
programmes.
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What TECHNICAL innovations are Gale implementing
that will transform the way research is done?
Subject Indexing
Textual Analysis Tool
Results Visualizations - Connect Ideas
User-Generated Tags and Annotations
Manual Indexing of Manuscript Metadata
Case Study: Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan
Question:
• Who is this person?
Answer:
•Harry Smith Parkes
(巴夏禮; 1828-1885)
•A 19th century British
diplomat who worked mainly in
China and Japan
Despatch Dated
Aug 7, 1874
Harry Smith Parkes
Edward Stanley,
15th Earl of Derby,
Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs
Harry Smith Parkes
My Lord,
I have the honor to inclose two
copies of a notification recently issued
by direction of Mr Bingham the
Minister of the United States, warning
United States citizens against
engaging in any hostile act against the
Government of China.
A previous
Despatch
Datednotification of more
stringent
character, intended
Aug
7, 1874
apparently to require United States
Citizens to withdraw from the
Japanese Expedition to Formosa
wasStanley,
Edward
issued by the American Consul
15th at
Earl of Derby,
Amoy in May last. I reported
this in of State
Secretary
June, and Mr. Wade refersfor
to this
Foreign Affairs
notification ...
Digital Archives: The Educational Benefit
– Teaching History “Live” –
“You are dealing with the real thing”
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The crux for teaching is simple: you are dealing
with the real thing, not “student materials.” We
can ask the students to try to make sense of
primary sources, not just rely on textbook
introductions and annotation. … The students
tend to be a lot more interested, challenged, and
energized. Very few discoveries are made in
textbooks—and the students know it.
Rob Hume
Professor of English Literature
The Pennsylvania State University
Link to the full document:
http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf
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Why Should Students be Exposed to Primary Sources?
• History Books are Not Enough
– History books are summaries of events neatly written by historians
– They are great ways of conveying knowledge in a compact form,
but they allow students to be passive in their studying
– Passive studying can lead to rote learning, uncritical swallowing
of facts, and may develop a dislike of history altogether
“History is the version
of past events that
people have decided to
agree upon.”
“Experience” History with Primary Sources
• Primary Sources are the “raw materials” of history
– They demand the student to think about the material and the time in
which it was created
– The student learns that all history is an interpretation of records
– They engage students by the raw and human details presented
A Trend in U.S. History Education
• Library of Congress “The Teaching with Primary
Sources Program” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/
Ideal for Students: Historical Newspapers & Magazines
Historical newspapers have the following EDUCATIONAL advantages:
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Familiar: every student knows what newspapers are
Easy: just type in a keyword and hit search!
Real: read history as it was actually unfolding
Curious: search for any keyword that interests them
Visual: view illustrations and photos of past events
By being exposed to this material, students can LEARN:
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How the media influences people’s worldviews
How interpretation of key events changed over time
How the textbook version of history differs from the “raw thing”
What interested people in a particular time and place in history
How their own country and people were written about in the news
The importance of THINKING CRITICALLY about the past and the present
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Gale NewsVault: A Common Interface for Gale’s
Historical Newspaper & Magazine Products
What’s Gale NewsVault?
• A single access point for
exploring Gale’s collections of
historical newspapers
• Cross-search over 10 million
pages of newspapers, more
than 400 years of content
• Available for FREE to all
customers with access to one
or more of the following
databases (next slide)
Any of these databases can be cross-searched
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17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers
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19th Century British Library Newspapers (Parts 1 and 2)
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19th Century UK Periodicals (Series 1 and 2)
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19th Century US Newspapers
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The Times Digital Archive 1785-2006
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The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive 19022005
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The Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2007
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The Illustrated London News Historical Archive 18422003
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The Economist Historical Archive, 1842-2007
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The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991
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Picture Post Historical Archive 1938-1957
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The Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822-2006
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Liberty Magazine Historical Archive 1924-1950
• Question:
How was the Japanese Expedition of 1874
to Taiwan described in the newspapers of
the time?
Ask NewsVault!
Search: Keyword “Formosa” + Date “1874”
The Geographical Magazine, October 1, 1874
Which publisher’s
logo is this?
National Geographic Magazine Archive
What is the National Geographic Magazine Archive?
• Complete archive of the National Geographic Magazine
• Years 1888-1994 now available
• 186K+ pages in 1,224 issues
• 210K+ images
• 435 map supplements
• Full text searching of
all articles
What’s More: Coming Soon!
• In addition, we will be adding in late 2012:
• Years 1995-current of the National Geographic Magazine
(two-month embargo!)
• A “multimedia collection” including:
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100-120 National Geographic books
500 National Geographic images
2010-current issues of National Geographic Travel Magazine
National Geographic videos
Maps and atlases
• All of the above will operate on the same platform
• Stay tuned for more details!
• Question:
How was Taiwan described in
National Geographic?
Ask the National Geographic
Magazine Archive!
The Power of Digital Primary Sources
• Power to the Faculty
– Increased accessibility and discoverability
– Make unexpected findings and find new meanings
– Can produce world-class research (without travelling!)
• Power to the Student
– Increased exposure to “raw” history in its making
– Learns the complexity and fascination of real historical material
– Able to think like a historian and apply critical thinking skills
• Value to the Library
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Brings rare and valuable overseas collections to your library
Library owns material in digitized form
Attracts and retains the best scholars to your institution
Increases the library’s value as an education/research hub
Thank you very much!