ProQuest and Rutgers Partner to Release University’s Collection of Thomas Edison Papers Online
ProQuest and Rutgers University are teaming to make the University’s acclaimed Thomas A. Edison Papers more accessible to scholars and students around the world.
More than 175,000 of Edison’s laboratory notebooks, diaries, business records, correspondence, and other documents will now be available in ProQuest® History Vault, boosting access, precision search and cross-referencing of these documents with other digital archives from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Thomas A. Edison Papers Collection provides an intimate look at the life, work, and vision of the inventor credited with integrating the worlds of science, technology, movies, business, and finance.
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An inventor, businessman, scientist, industrialist, entrepreneur and engineer, Edison laid the foundation for the age of electricity, recorded sound, motion pictures, and the introduction of modern industrial research. This extraordinary project has carefully gathered the materials from the Edison National Historical Park that document his life and work. With more than 150,000 pages of materials that have never been available online, it encompasses six parts:
- Five collections that span Edison’s life and work from 1850 through 1919
- A sixth collection encompasses Motion Picture Catalogs – a source for studying America in transition as filmmakers reflected industrialization, technological innovation, the changing role of women, race relations, and the birth of new communication and mass entertainment.
Additional information here.
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About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.