Readex, a division of

NewsBank NewsBank is a news database resource that provides archives of media publications as reference materials to libraries. History John Naisbitt, the author of the book ''Megatrends'', founded NewsBank.Andrews 1998, p. 17. The company was launched i ...

, publishes collections of

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

research materials.

History

In 1950, publisher

Albert Boni Albert Boni (October 29, 1892, New York City – July 31, 1981, Ormond Beach, Florida) was co-founder of the publishing company Boni & Liveright and a pioneering publisher in paperbacks and book clubs. Biography Born in 1892 to a Jewish family i ...

, co-founder of the

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...

, formed the Readex Microprint Corporation in New York City. Some of the companies Readex partnered with early on included the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Early printing projects included the “British House of Commons Sessional Papers”, the “ Early American Imprints, 1639-1800”, and the “English and American Drama of the 19th Century”. In 1983, Readex was acquired by NewsBank. Since the acquisition, the company has been known primarily as NewsBank. In the 2000s, several collections became available in searchable digital editions. Partnerships formed in the 2000s with the

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

Library,

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

Libraries, and the

United States Senate Library The United States Senate Library is the library of the United States Senate. The United States Senate Librarian manages the Senate Library, which is under the supervision of the Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate. Leona I. Faust ...

led to publication of digital editions of the American State Papers and the

United States Congressional Serial Set The United States Congressional Serial Set began in 1817 as the official collection of reports and documents of the United States Congress. The collection was published in a " serial" fashion, hence its name. It has been described as the "nation's m ...

. In 2006, Readex launched America's Historical Newspapers, which includes Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922, and American Ethnic Newspapers. In 2007, Readex announced a Web-based edition of the

Foreign Broadcast Information Service The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) was an open source intelligence component of the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Science and Technology. It monitored, translated, and disseminated within the U.S. government openly a ...

(FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996—the record of political and historical

open-source intelligence Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (covert and publicly available sources) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and busi ...

for the United States government. Also developed was a digital edition of

Joint Publications Research Service The Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) was a United States government defense-funded organization that was absorbed into the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) but its funding and personnel did not transfer. For all practical purp ...

(JPRS) Reports, 1957-1994. In 2008, Readex announced a partnership with the

Center for Research Libraries The Center for Research Libraries (also known by its acronym, CRL) is a consortium of North American universities, colleges, and independent research libraries, based on a buy-in concept for membership of the consortia. The consortium acquires an ...

to launch an online World Newspaper Archive.

Collections

More recent collections created in partnership with the American Antiquarian Society include The American Civil War Collection, 1860-1922; The American Slavery Collection, 1820-1922; and Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876. Also part of America’s Historical Imprints is American Pamphlets, 1820-1922: From the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

. The latter includes Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971, published in partnership with the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

; Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980, published in partnership with the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, created from repositories including the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

and the

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kan ...

, and African American Newspapers, 1835-1956. Subject-specific newspaper collections include American Business: Agricultural Newspapers; American Business: Mercantile Newspapers; American Gazettes: Newspapers of Record; American Politics: Campaign Newspapers; and American Religion: Denominational Newspapers. Collections include historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America and South Asia between 1800 and 1922. Readex has created digital supplements to its Early American Imprints collections, featuring newly discovered materials from the

Library Company of Philadelphia The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a library, the Library Company of Philadelphia has accumulated one of the most significant collections of hist ...

and the American Antiquarian Society. Readex announced two major collections with a focus on African American history, literature, and culture. The first collection, African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, was drawn from holdings of the Wisconsin Historical Society and is based on James Danky's African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography. The second collection, Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922, was created from the Library Company of Philadelphia’s large collection, and includes 12,000 books, pamphlets and broadsides. Available from the Afro-Americana Imprints collection are smaller collections titled African History and Culture, Black Authors, and Caribbean History and Culture.

Products

* Archive of Americana ** America's Historical Newspapers *** Early American Newspapers *** Ethnic American Newspapers *** Caribbean Newspapers ** America's Historical Imprints *** Afro-Americana Imprints *** American Pamphlets *** American Broadsides and Ephemera *** American Civil War Collection, The *** American Slavery Collection, The ***

Early American Imprints Early American Imprints is a digital and microopaque card (not the more common microfiche) collection produced by Readex. It is based on Charles Evan's (1850 - 1935) ''American Bibliography.'' Ralph Shaw (1907–72) and Richard Shoemaker's (1907� ...

(based on Charles Evan's ''

American Bibliography Charles Evans (November 13, 1850February 8, 1935) was an American librarian and bibliographer. Evans was named one of ''American Libraries'' 100 most important library and information science leaders of the 20th century. Evans is most well known ...

'' and Shaw-Shoemaker's ''American Bibliography'') ** America's Historical Government Publications *** American State Papers ***

** African American Periodicals ** The Civil War: Antebellum Period to Reconstruction * International Studies ** Twentieth-Century Global Perspectives ** World Newspaper Archive **

Daily Reports ** Joint Publications Research Service Reports ** United Nations * Microform

References

External links

* {{Authority control Publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Florida Online databases