KU Libraries enable ‘once-in-a-generation’ expansion in digital access to primary sources
LAWRENCE — A new deal negotiated by KU Libraries with information services provider ProQuest has expanded digital offerings exponentially, providing instant access to opportunities for research, learning and discovery.
Beginning last spring and continuing over the summer, KU librarians negotiated with ProQuest to offer increased access to diverse and extensive collections, adding millions of primary source items, scholarly journals, audio tracks, newspapers, government documents, court case histories and more to KU Libraries’ collections.
Carol Smith, dean of KU Libraries, said the expansion transforms how students and scholars can engage with historical evidence.
"This is about putting primary sources directly into students’ hands — including letters, newspapers, court records and other first-voice materials — so they can analyze, question and interpret events for themselves,” Smith said. “In doing so, they will build authentic research skills and deepen their learning in ways that secondary sources alone do not provide."
Sara Morris, KU Libraries’ head of collections strategy and development, emphasized the work of KU Libraries’ staff, including key contributions by KU Libraries colleagues Meredith Snepp, Laura Skarka, Sonja Holmgren and Debbra Peres, to help make the new access possible.
“While our patrons are benefiting from ProQuest’s decision to change procurement models, staff has been working since February on various behind-the-scenes work to ensure the materials are available and discoverable,” Morris said. “There is a great deal of expertise required related to payments and aspects of access and discovery.”
Morris said part of understanding the value of the additions lies in a question sometimes asked by students, wondering if they can “just Google it” and find similar results. The answer is definitive: No.
“Many of these items, such as magazines like GQ or Vogue, are under copyright and previously only accessible to KU users on microfilm. Other items like 20th century newspapers such as The Baltimore Sun are only available through sites requiring payment,” Morris said. “Some aspects of these collections are archival materials and, prior to this new agreement, those simply required travel to use.”
Morris is no stranger to the challenges around accessibility of primary sources. As a graduate student she needed access to manuscript collections as she was writing her dissertation to obtain her doctorate in history. The travel and hotel accommodations were a financial strain for her as a student and a barrier that can prevent some scholars from accessing information.
“On one research trip to Jackson, Mississippi, I stayed in a sketchy hotel and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches twice a day for two weeks to save funds to make the research trip possible,” she said. “Any time we can reasonably or economically expand our access to primary sources, we do so. Due to their cost structure, they are prohibitively expensive.”
The new additions through ProQuest represent a rich diversity of subjects and formats spanning centuries and wide-ranging areas of study. The expansions include 160 million primary source items — holdings include Queen Victoria’s handwritten journals, historical records from Civil War era plantations, the Black Abolitionist Papers, Times of India, the Digital National Security Archive and a full run of the “Archie” comics.
The new collections also include more than 500 million newspaper documents representing 260 years of coverage and 12 million government documents and records from the United States and United Kingdom, encompassing legislative and regulatory documents and Supreme Court cases, plus 1.8 million statistical records. More than 2,500 full-text scholarly journals, plus 24,000 video titles and 15 million audio tracks, are also featured in the new holdings, all available to the campus community at the click of a button.
Smith said that the additions represent a major collections advancement.
“This is truly a once-in-a-generation expansion for KU Libraries. It opens doors for every Jayhawk to work more directly and frequently with primary sources, and this ‘hands-on’ digital engagement will shape and spark KU scholarship for years to come,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to see what our students and faculty discover and how they apply it.”
The librarian expertise that brought these resources to the KU community — negotiation grounded in understanding of the value and costs with a shifting platform, making the most of the libraries’ budget — was just the first step. Librarians are also the key to effective use and access of the new resources, through the organization and visibility of the items, as well as continuous consults with researchers and ongoing classroom sessions, enabling immense opportunities for research, learning and discovery.
The new resources can be found using the libraries search tool at the KU Libraries website and through various databases and LibGuides. Walk-in assistance is available at the service desks in any library location and by email, phone, text or chat at Ask a Librarian. All patrons may schedule a consultation with a librarian to get research assistance at any stage of the research process.