CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, November 6, 2006 - A new online resource which 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 makes the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1800 – 1901, comprising nearly 151,000 documents and over 7 million pages, available in perpetuity to those communities. The papers are among the richest and most detailed primary sources for the history of the nineteenth century.
The abolition of the slave trade, the growth of the railways, massive economic and industrial growth, voting reform, and war and conquest abroad are just some of the themes that defined the nineteenth century and are reflected in the online resource. Nineteenth Century Parliamentary Papers features Bills, House papers, Command papers, treaties, statistical data including census data, committee reports and much more. These sources provide ample evidence of social, political, economic and foreign policy concerns, showing how issues were explored and legislation formed. 'This is clearly a resource which many people in many different disciplines will find immensely valuable'.
Many contributors to the papers were found outside the official world, providing evidence or supplying memoranda to committees and commissions, among them Matthew Arnold, John Stuart Mill, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, Guglielmo Marconi, John Maynard Keynes and Sir William Beveridge, alongside thousands of others. The evidence gathered by numerous committees and Royal Commissions influenced public opinion and social and political philosophies as disparate as those of Marx, Dickens and Disraeli.
JISC funding will support providing access to all of these institutions. Enthusiasm expressed by academics and researchers around the country during the consultation for the agreement, which makes the resource free of charge to UK Further Education and Higher Education institutions, 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: http://www.proquest.co.uk/products_pq/descriptions/19thcenhocpp.shtml
Or contact: Sharlene Tilley, Director of International Marketing, ProQuest Information and Learning, sharlene.tilley@proquest.co.uk
A sample of what you can find:
1. " Issues in the nineteenth century persisting today
'It must, however, be admitted, that the continued overcrowding of the prison is a great obstacle to its good management. At the time of my visit many were sleeping three together in cells intended for a single prisoner.'
'Medical Report of the Prisoners in the House of Correction at Guildford, on Thursday, December 6, 1849'.
2. " Discussion of momentous treaties signed in the nineteenth century
'..an old chief named Piko, and another of inferior note, refused to sign, alleging as a reason, that they wanted more time to assemble the different tribes of the Thames district, and to consult with them..he could for himself, see no necessity in placing himself, under the dominion of any prince or queen.'
1841 Session 1 (311), 'Letter from Major T.H. Bunbury of the 80th Regiment, to His Excellency Captain Hobson, Lieutenant-Governor' 6 May 1840, Correspondence relative to New Zealand, 1840.
3. " And preventative measures we thankfully no longer require
In 1803 a Bill was passed (102) entitled, 'Act for further Prevention of Malicious Shooting, Stabbing, Wounding, Poisoning, Arson and Murder of Bastard Children.'
4. " Reports on pollution to the environment were a great concern in the industrial century
'As the hot weather continues, the pollution increases, and I beg to observe that the mouths of these sewers are still untrapped. The river [the Thames] is in such a pestilential state, that it is with the greatest difficulty we can keep the pestilential stench out of the House.'
Letter of protest from Goldsworthy Gurney, to the House of Commons, June 1857.
5. " Orphans in Africa were also a matter of parliamentary concern
'[I] entreat that such alterations may be made in the above Ordinance as His Majesty shall consider just and reasonable for the interests and happiness of the orphans in this colony.'
1826 (438), 'Letter to Lord Somerset', Papers on British Metallic Circulation at Cape of Good Hope.
6. " Overindulgence in drinking was the subject of a report from the Select Committee
It noted that in 1834 that 'an enormous mass of human beings, who, under sober habits and moral training, would be sources of wealth and strength to the country, are transformed, chiefly through the remote or immediate influence of intoxicating Drinks, into excrescences of corruption and weakness, which must be cut off and cast away from the community to prevent the gangrenous contamination of its whole frame..'
1834 (559), 'Select Committee on Inquiry into Drunkenness among Labouring Classes of United Kingdom Report'.
7. " Historical documentation of precursors to major events
'I hear....that in some places not only have Jews and their property been attacked, but that Nobles and others in well-to-do circumstances of life have suffered. The Nihilists are reported to be endeavoring to stir up amongst the peasantry an ill-feeling against the nobility and authorities, and I am now told that the peasants' cry is, "Land and Liberty."'
Letter from Mr Hugh Wyndham to Earl Granville in May 1832, in 'Correspondence respecting Treatment of Jews in Russia' [c3132].
Browse through subject headings outlining an enormous set of primary sources relating to immigration and refugees, women's suffrage, prostitution, crime and punishment, child employment, poverty and workhouses, slavery and the slave trade, religious persecution, and colonial rule. These subject headings allow you to trace the rapid pace of change in society over the industrialising nineteenth century.
About the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, from ProQuest Information and Learning, is a digital archive offering quick and easy access to the vast and complex UK legislative record from the 19th Century. Seamless subject browsing and precision search capabilities offer students unparalleled access to the most detailed historical primary source for Britain, its colonies, and the wider world.
About the Joint Information Systems Committee
JISC - the Joint Information Systems Committee - is a joint committee of the UK further and higher education funding bodies and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning, teaching, and research.
About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.
More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.
For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.
