More public funding for education? What an idea! Next you'll be proposing national healthcare!!
Seriously though (though I do actually take seriously the proposals above, having grown up in Canada), another potential solution to the outrageous costs of databases and such is one used in Ohio, where public universities have come together in a consortium to purchase together, for shared use, resources like EEBO, the DNB, and the like. Through OhioLink, all members of participating institutions are able to access these dbases. I expect, though, that the details of working out memberships and fees are fairly byzantine. Until recently, I was at a small regional campus of Ohio State, but I had access to all the online resources of the main library. However, this was only because OSU asserted that all its campuses are part of a single university. This is, as far as I know, a singular arrangement, and one which could potentially be challenged by the providers of online materials. Still, it might be worth looking into whether smaller colleges could band together in consort
ia like OhioLink. The argument could be made to Oxford and other e-publishers that such arrangements would allow additional purchases of their products that otherwise could simply not be made, thus increasing their revenue.
In the meantime, if anyone wants a DNB article forwarded to them, let me know. I'd be happy to do it. In fact, I note that these forwards work in two ways, one simply including the individual biography in the email, but the other allowing the recipient free access to the individual biography online for five days. It seems a shame not to take advantage of this mechanism. I wonder if it would allow forwarding to a list? Hmmmm.
Hannibal
Hannibal
Hannibal Hamlin
Associate Professor of English
The Ohio State University
Book Review Editor and Associate Editor, Reformation
Mailing Address (2007-2009):
The Folger Shakespeare Library
201 Capitol Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Permanent Address:
Department of English
The Ohio State University
421 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210-1340
----- Original Message -----
From: Gillian Austen <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 5:33 pm
Subject: Re: Elizabeth biographies
> Anne, in the UK it is possible to access resources such as (and
> including) the DNB by simply joining the local library, funded by
> local
> taxation. So although I have access to it online via my university
> I
> prefer to log on to DNB as a local library user, and local
> taxpayer, to
> encourage the town's library to keep up its subscriptions - which
> make
> those materials available to a very wide demographic.
>
> On the other hand, I also have some sympathy with the publishers'
> need
> to charge such expensive subscriptions for these kinds of
> monumental
> works, which have huge production costs. So maybe we should get
> Robin to
> lobby national government for adequate funding for all our higher
> education institutions? That way we might get academic jobs for
> good
> people _and_ well-resourced libraries ...
>
> Gillian Austen
>
> anne prescott wrote:
> > What Lee says is important--one of the inequities of our current
>
> > academic system is the inequality of access to such websites as
> EEBO,
> > MEMSO (which has the Calendar of State Papers), EECO (18th c.
> and
> > better than EEBO), etc. Were I younger and had more energy to go
> with
> > my vexation I'd want to start some sort of group of those of us
> lucky
> > to have electronic access to major libraries that can afford
> these
> > websites--a group that would offer a little sort of Robin Hood
> time to
> > download materials and pass them on electronically or by mail
> Just for
> > example--the DNB allows you to e-mail an entry. In my imagined
> > Sherwood Forest (although real Robin Hoodery might involve some
> > attractive but doubtless illegal sharing of passwords) Jean
> would say
> > which DNB entry she needed and one of my imaginary Lincoln
> green suits
> > would simply e-mail it to her. Maybe as time goes by the
> outrageous
> > prices will come down, or pressure from scholars will make even
> poorer
> > institutions realize that to hire good people they need to
> subscribe
> > even if that means less of something else. Does the Library of
> Congress
> > have these websites, such as the DNB? If so, shouldn't
> taxpayers have
> > the right to log on to them? Anne.
> >
> > On Jul 31, 2007, at 9:19 PM, Lee Piepho wrote:
> >
> >> Unfortunately, the new Oxford DNB is something of a sore point
> for
> >> liberal arts colleges. Because of the cost, it's not so easily
>
> >> accessible as one might imagine....
> >> Lee Piepho
> >> English Department
> >> Sweet Briar College
> >>
> >> On Jul 31, 2007, at 2:52 PM, HANNIBAL HAMLIN wrote:
> >>
> >>> On the practical matter of library acquisitions, it might also
> be
> >>> worth thinking about online materials. The new Oxford
> Dictionary of
> >>> National Biography, for instance, has a substantial article on
>
> >>> Elizabeth I by Patrick Collinson (and an extensive
> bibliography
> >>> covering all the biographies mentioned on this list). This
> doesn't
> >>> really substitute for the books, but it's useful nonetheless,
> and
> >>> for much more than Elizabeth. On the other hand, I have no
> idea
> >>> what a library subscription costs.
> >>>
> >>> Other (free) online materials are up and down, to say the
> list, but
> >>> Anniina Jokinen's Luminarium site has a variety of
> biographical
> >>> materials culled from older encyclopedias, other websites,
> and
> >>> various authors.
> >>> http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizlink.htm
> >>> Again, this is hardly the same as reading the standard recent
> (or
> >>> even older) biographies, but it might still be useful for
> >>> undergraduates or for some kind of comparative
> historiographical study.
> >>>
> >>> I got hooked browsing this topic, so here are some other
> online
> >>> materials:
> >>>
> >>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_01.shtml
> >>> Alexandra Briscoe (producer for Simon Schama's series) has a
> long
> >>> article with various sub-headings on the BBC's history site.
> >>>
> >>> Alan Liu's Voice of the Shuttle
> (http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?
> >>> id=2713#id877) has, no surprise, loads of links, some of which
> seems
> >>> potentially very useful.
> >>> http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Britain_1486-1688
> >>> This is a collection of links to online texts of documents
> from the
> >>> sixteenth century, some of which are by or connected to
> Elizabeth.>>> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html
> >>> A collection of Elizabeth's writings and speeches by Paul
> Halsall at
> >>> Fordham.
> >>> http://www3.newberry.org/elizabeth/index.html
> >>> A virtual exhibit on Elizabeth from the Newberry Library.
> >>>
> >>> Happy browsing!
> >>>
> >>> Hannibal
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Hannibal Hamlin
> >>> Associate Professor of English
> >>> The Ohio State University
> >>> Book Review Editor and Associate Editor, Reformation
> >>>
> >>> Mailing Address (2007-2009):
> >>>
> >>> The Folger Shakespeare Library
> >>> 201 Capitol Street SE
> >>> Washington, DC 20003
> >>>
> >>> Permanent Address:
> >>>
> >>> Department of English
> >>> The Ohio State University
> >>> 421 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Avenue
> >>> Columbus, OH 43210-1340
> >>> From: "Peter C. Herman" <[log in to unmask]>
> >>> Date: July 31, 2007 2:09:23 PM EDT
> >>> To: [log in to unmask]
> >>> Subject: Re: Elizabeth biographies
> >>> Reply-To: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List <SIDNEY-
> >>> [log in to unmask]>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Different libraries have different policies on this, But I
> wonder,
> >>> since you are planning on asking your library to purchase
> books that
> >>> are not terribly recent, if pointing them in the direction of
> the
> >>> used book sites (Advanced Book Exchange, and amazon.com also
> now
> >>> gives links to used copies) might help, since the items are
> much
> >>> cheaper than if you purchased them new.
> >>>
> >>> just a suggestion,
> >>>
> >>> Peter C. Herman
> >>>
> >>> At 08:59 AM 7/31/2007, you wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Anne,
> >>>>
> >>>> Indeed, you are right. If only we had a budget...
> >>>>
> >>>> Last spring, I needed to refer a student to a biography of
> >>>> Elizabeth and to a reference for the state and stages of
> >>>> Reformation under Henry and later, Elizabeth. I looked in my
> >>>> institution's collection and found nothing more advanced than
>
> >>>> encyclopedias. Sigh.
> >>>>
> >>>> I've also learned the hard way to be very picky about lending
> out
> >>>> my own books.
> >>>>
> >>>> Jean
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On 7/27/07, anne prescott < [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>>> I've been reminded--Paul Johnson. I haven't read Ridley on
> Elizabeth>>>> because I was so vexed by his book on Thomas More
> (the cover shows
> >>>> Holbein's portrait changed to look like Darth Vader with acid
> >>>> reflux). But if David likes it I'll give it a go. I assume Jean
> >>>> Goodrich's query is based on her interest in getting her
> library to
> >>>> improve its early modern collection without going over
> budget? Anne P.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Jul 27, 2007, at 5:00 PM, David Wilson-Okamura wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> > anne prescott wrote:
> >>>> >> There's a politically conservative but/and interesting
> Englishman>>>> >> whose name I am blanking on who did a book on
> Elizabeth I liked;
> >>>> >> the subtitle is something like "A study of [in?] power and
> >>>> >> intellect," which seems fair despite her faults.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > It may not be what you're thinking of, but I like Jasper
> Ridley's>>>> > Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue (1987).
> >>>> >
> >>>> >
> >>>> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ------ --
> >>>> > -
> >>>> > Dr. David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org
> >>>> > [log in to unmask]
> >>>> > English Department Virgil reception, discussion,
> >>>> > documents, &c
> >>>> > East Carolina University Sparsa et neglecta coegi. -- Claude
> >>>> > Fauchet
> >>>> >
> >>>> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ------ --
> >>>> > -
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> Spam
> >>> Not spam
> >>> Forget previous vote
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> >
> > No virus found in this incoming message.
> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.2/931 - Release Date:
> 01/08/2007 16:53
>
>
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