ProQuest History Vault
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
News from ProQuest:
ProQuest is unlocking the primary source material it acquired with University Publications of America (UPA) through a new digital archive called ProQuest History Vault. Its first three modules are being released this year and will provide researchers with a unique, unfiltered view into the Black Freedom Struggle and U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War era. Modules are planned to complement course curricula and these modules match two of the most widely-studied topics in 20th-century history.
ProQuest History Vault marks the first time primary source materials from University Publications of America (UPA) have been available in a digital format. Digitization allows not only remote access, but also enables single source access and simplified searching of this extraordinarily varied historical content. Original archival arrangement schemes are preserved, and metadata records and PDFs of the original documents are packaged together at the archival folder level, replicating the user experience of browsing through archival boxes to find research treasures. Records from federal agencies, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries are among the unique resources. Further, ProQuest History Vault is being developed with controlled vocabulary indexing and full-text, faceted searching that enables researchers to drill to targeted results. Users can also opt to page through an entire collection to explore at a more relaxed pace. Major events in history are indexed and those records are accessible through a timeline of events to help put individual documents into historical context.
