By Tami Back, William & Mary Libraries
W&M Libraries now has perpetual access to all Adam Matthew Digital content published through 2020. The addition of 77 collections of primary source documents, digitized from archives and research institutions throughout the world, was made possible by a partnership between the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and Adam Matthew Digital. Working as a group to reach a collective spend goal, ASERL libraries are celebrating the additional, unprecedented level of access to primary source content from Adam Matthew Digital.
To supplement the ASERL collections, W&M Libraries purchased additional content, bringing the libraries’ total number of modules from Adam Matthew Digital to 115, and adding another $2.3 million worth of collections. This purchase was supported by the libraries’ private funds.
Materials now available include collections such as American Indian Newspapers, Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange, America in World War II: Oral Histories, Race Relations in America, Socialism on Film, and Gender: Identity and Social Change.
“We are excited to provide access to these vast collections,” said Laura Morales, associate dean of content and collections for W&M Libraries. “Adam Matthew Digital content provides access to intimate materials such as personal diaries, popular materials such as trade magazines, and official governmental documentation, which assist in contextualizing historical events and provide insight into people and cultures.”
“ASERL is thrilled our member libraries were able to make these investments that unlocked a wonderful trove of content,” said Jan Lewis, director of Academic Library Services at East Carolina University and president of ASERL’s Board of Directors. “The past year has been so challenging for so many libraries in so many ways – it’s really wonderful ASERL libraries are able to receive this membership benefit to boost their collections.”
A list of the new databases are available at libraries.wm.edu/databases/new.