Project with Evans Early American Imprints Adds over 29,000 Links to Libraries' Public Catalog

The University Libraries recently completed an important project that offers direct linking to over 29,000 electronic texts in Evans Early American Imprint, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 in the Libraries' public catalog, CardCat. These links serve to enhance the usefulness of this dynamic database for teaching, learning, and research.

Evans Early American Imprints will eventually include 37,000 unique titles. The Web-based digital format replaces the outmoded microcards with 24/7/365 access to this diverse historical collection.

As part of the libraries’ efforts to increase accessibility to the individual texts in the database, CardCat records for the microcards were modified to include direct hyperlinks to the individual titles. In addition to providing single-click movement from catalog to content, the in-house restructuring of the microcard record represents a fiscal savings for the University Libraries, removing the need to purchase electronic records from a third-party vendor.

Evans Early American Imprints is the definitive resource for finding primary source materials on American Colonial social, political, and spiritual life. From sermons to psalters and from treaties to travel literature, the database offers students and faculty an opportunity to experience the richness of burgeoning American culture through incomparable collections of scanned images of original imprints. Its simple, navigable interface allows users to magnify pages up to 300%, providing easy reading of some of the more archaic 17th and 18th Century typesets.

The University Libraries is fully engaged in bringing the best information access to the Ball State community. The addition of 29,000 Evans Early American Imprints links to the public catalog demonstrates our ongoing discovery of progressive, innovative ways to deliver quality digital information to students and faculty.

Begin using Evans Early American Imprints by launching an online catalog search or visiting our databases, www.bsu.edu/libraries/electronicresources/databases.asp.