"Literature Online's launch in 1996 broke new ground in electronic publishing and set the standard for the delivery of scholarly materials over the Internet," said David "Skip" Prichard, president of ProQuest Information and Learning. "Since then, Literature Online has continuously expanded. In combination with essential collections like Oxford Reference Online, it becomes an even more indispensable resource for literary studies."
Casper Grathwohl, Reference Publisher at Oxford University Press says "Our partnership on this project with ProQuest is a bold gesture. It represents exactly how publishers should be interlinking resources to provide users with the most powerful tools. The publishing and library communities have been talking about interoperability for years but I see too few moves in that direction. I hope it serves as a model for what librarians have been asking for and publishers have within their power to give them."
Literature Online subscribers can now cross-search key Oxford Reference Online titles including the new 5-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, the new 4-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, the 4-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, the Oxford Companion to English Literature, and The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation.
Oxford University Press, publisher of Oxford Reference Online, is renowned for its comprehensive and authoritative academic reference materials. This agreement brings together two of the most authoritative and respected electronic resources for literary study. Literature Online's comprehensive library of primary works, specialist journals, and author resources has already made it an established fixture in literature departments around the world. The addition of seamless access to Oxford Reference Online's definitive set of reference titles will cement its position as the first port of call for students and scholars of literature.
Library Journal called Oxford Reference Online "the embodiment of the high-quality, authoritative ready-reference book in electronic format… suited to virtually any library setting."
Launched in December 1996, Literature Online's first release included primary texts from renowned Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collections previously only available on CD-ROM Further collections were soon added (a total of eighteen are now available), followed by full-text journals and bibliographic and reference resources, as Literature Online evolved into a fully integrated and comprehensive digital library.
Today, Literature Online includes more than 350,000 works of literature with a vast pool of criticism and reference. Unique offerings such as 800 videos of poetry readings and links to more than 5,250 expertly selected literature web sites help Literature Online stand apart as the leading online resource for the teaching and studying of literature in English.
In January 2006, Choice magazine referred to Literature Online as "a powerful portal for researching English and American literature… Literature Online succeeds impressively at integrating a wide range of literary information. Highly recommended."
About ProQuest Information and Learning
ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. It is widely known for its strength in business and economics, general reference, genealogy, humanities, social sciences, and STM content. The company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 9,000 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey® electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary® and SIRS® educational resources, and Serials Solutions e-resource access and management solutions. ProQuest® Smart Search was named "Best Specialist Search Product" by the International Information Industry Awards in late 2005. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.
About Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is a department of the University of Oxford, and the world's largest university press. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education in its worldwide publishing. In addition to publishing over 4,600 new books each year and over 180 journals, Oxford is a major provider of online information to libraries and individuals worldwide. For further information about Oxford University Press, visit www.oup.com. Information about Oxford Reference Online is available at www.oxfordreference.com.
