american council of learned societies the history e-book project
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American Council of Learned Societies
The History E-Book Project
The ACLS received a
$3-million grant in June 1999 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
to sponsor an electronic publishing initiative for books of high quality
in the field of history.
ACLS History E-Book Project
ACLS History E-Book Project
• publish electronic books in History• explore the intellectual possibilities of new
technologies • help to assure the continued viability of history
writing in today’s publishing environment• create a not-for-profit space in e-publishing
ACLS History E-Book ProjectPartners
• 5 Scholarly Societies in the Field of History
• 10 University Presses
• DLPS (Digital Library Production Service)
ACLS History E-Book Project Partners:
Scholarly Societies
• American Historical Association
• Middle East Studies Association
• Organization of American Historians
• Renaissance Society of America
• Society for the History of Technology
ACLS History E-Book Project Partners:
University Presses• University of California Press
• Columbia University Press
• Harvard University Press
• Johns Hopkins University Press
• The MIT Press
• New York University Press
• Oxford University Press
• Rutgers University Press
• University of Michigan Press
• University of North Carolina Press
ACLS History E-Book Project Partners:
Review Committee• Jonathan R. Cole, Provost & Dean of Faculties, Columbia University
• John H. D’Arms, President, ACLS
• Colin Day, Dir., Univ. of Michigan Press (now of Hong Kong U. Press)
• Billy E. Frye, Chancellor, Emory University
• David M. Kennedy, Stanford Univ., McLachlan Professor
• Carol Mandel, Dean, Division of Libraries, New York University
• Deanna Marcum, Pres., Council on Library & Information Resources
• James Neal, Johns Hopkins Univ., Dean of Library & Sheridan Director
• Ann Okerson, Yale University, Associate University Librarian
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
• Frontlist—85 titles
• Backlist—over 500 titles
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
Frontlist Goal • 85 new books from
• 10 participating university presses
• within first 5 years of project
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
Frontlist Progress: • 80 projects identified to date• 66 titles now under consideration• 25 actively moving forward; 14 already signed
with university presses • about 6 titles are complete manuscripts • about 42 are proposals-in-development• 14 have been rejected
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
Backlist Goals • 500 books in the field of history (first round)• works that remain vital to scholars and advanced
students and • are frequently cited in the literature• selected on the basis of the quality of the work • not restricted to titles from the ten participating
presses
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
Backlist Progress: accumulated list of over 1550 titles:• books recommended by individual historians• books recommended by committees of
participating learned societies and • prize-winning history titles (Bancrofts, Pulitzers,
etc.)
ACLS History E-Book Project:
The Books
Backlist Progress: 1550 titles• segmented by field and period and • reviewed by a Review Committee of distinguished
scholars• list of approximately 750 recommended titles
finalized on December 1, 2000
ACLS History E-Book Project Books:
Backlist Review Committee
Europe:
Ancient to 400 c.e. William Harris, Columbia U.
400-1400 Edward M. Peters, U. of Pennsylvania
1400-1800* Ronald G. Witt, Duke U.
1800-Present Jan Goldstein, U. of Chicago
Middle EastMiddle East Studies Association submitted a reviewed list.
*Renaissance Society of America submitted a reviewed list.
ACLS History E-Book Project Books:
Backlist Review Committee
AmericanColonial to 1789 James Horn, Intl. Ctr. for Jefferson Studies
1789-1900 Sheldon Hackney, U. of Pennsylvania
20th Century Alan Brinkley, Columbia U.
General David Kennedy, Stanford U.
Science & TechnologySociety for the History of Technology submitted a reviewed list.
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Backlist Titles
AmericanColonial to 1789 70
1789-1900 70
20th Century 44
General 58
Science & Technology 60
EuropeAncient to 400 c.e. 61
400-1400 113
1400-1800 69
1800-Present 77
General 18
Middle East 100
TOTAL = 740 Titles
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Backlist Titles
Adding New Titles/Next Round• Related Backlist Titles from Frontlist Authors
• Asian
• African
• Latin American
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Backlist Titles
Current Status• Contracts sent to over 130 publishers
• Contracts now being negotiated, reviewed, and signed
• Contracts being sent to individual authors when rights have reverted to them
• Books are coming in for processing
• Web site design is underway
• Initial launch expected Summer 2001
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Features and Functionality
• Backlist/frontlist library will be fully searchable– Browse, Simple, Boolean, Proximity, Citation
• Backlist titles will be linked to their reviews in JSTOR and elsewhere online
• Frontlist titles will be linked to relevant backlist and to external archives, etc.
• Printing will be page-by-page
• Downloading will not be an option
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Backlist Technology
• Conversion by Digital Library Production Service at the University of Michigan
• Backlist titles will be presented as images using DLPS tiff-to-gif technology
• Searching will be done on accompanying text pages created from OCR– Browse, Simple, Boolean, Proximity, Citation
• Similar projects: Making of America and JSTOR
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Frontlist Technology
• Web Site vs. E-Book
• XML-tagged frontlist books
• Created with templates based on print-publication processes
• DTD based on TEI Lite
• Ease-of-transition from word-processing files to page composition files to web files
• Projects to include internal links to images and notes
• Projects can include links to sound and video files
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Access • Subscriptions to libraries for campus-wide access
• Subscriptions for entire collection
• Annual subscription fee on a sliding-scale based on size of institution (FTE)
• $300 for small college–$1200 for large university; final prices will be available at ALA in June
• Pricing model is being tested against costs and return expectation for presses
• Discounts available for consortia
• Individual subscriptions will be available
• Subscription agreements will be available at ALA in June
ACLS History E-Book Project:
Contact Information • Project Directors:
Eileen Gardiner: [email protected]
Ronald G. Musto: [email protected]
TEL: 212-838-0641
FAX: 212-838-7812
• Subscription Information:Linda Zerella: [email protected]
TEL: 212-992-9993
FAX: 212-995-3833
• Web Site: www.historyEbook.org