Massive record of the nineteenth century made available free to FE and HE institutions in the UK, 27 October 2006. A new online resource that is vital to an understanding of the UK and its history has been made available free of charge to further and higher education institutions in the UK.
An agreement between JISC and ProQuest Information and Learning, announced today, makes the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1800 - 1901, comprising nearly 6,000 volumes and over 4 million pages, available in perpetuity to those communities. The resource would, without the JISC agreement, cost institutions around £35,000 each and enthusiasm expressed by academics and researchers around the country during the consultation for the agreement was unprecedented.
One of those who responded to the consultation was Colin Brooks, Director of the HE Academy Subject Centre for History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, who said: ‘This resource will transform student understanding of the legislative process and will also incidentally improve understanding of our contemporary political system. Offering students such easy access to a wealth of new perspectives is an excellent step forward. The type of availability that the JISC agreement has made possible will I think transform use, quantitatively and qualitatively.` David House, Chair of JISC Collections, which negotiated the agreement, said: ‘This is clearly a resource which many people in many different disciplines will find immensely valuable. JISC Collections is delighted to have worked with ProQuest to provide such a significant and indeed unique resource.`
For further information, please go to: House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1801-1900, or contact: Philip Pothen (JISC) on 07887 564 006 or p.pothen@jisc.ac.uk
