Jisc buys extensive ProQuest archive

Jisc, the provider of digital solutions to UK research and education institutions, has purchased a second collection of 50 titles from ProQuest's Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) resource on behalf of all UK universities, colleges and research councils.

The collection of 50 additional titles adds to the existing collection already provided by Jisc to its members. These titles will be available as part of an agreement between ProQuest and Jisc, where Jisc enables institutions to have access to these archives at no additional cost to its members.

The selection spans multiple disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, with the earliest content dating back to the 19th century. Titles have been chosen from the Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) collections 6-10 from ProQuest, to minimise overlap with other electronic archives to which Jisc members already have access. Key elements from the collection include:

Rich content of particular relevance for UK researchers (e.g. Scottish Studies Review, Welsh History Review), titles from Commonwealth countries (e.g. Queen’s Quarterly [Canada], Australian Journal of French Studies, Jamaican Historical Review) alongside publications with international scope; and

Core journals such as general linguistics, international education and more specialist journals serving growing sub-disciplines e.g. Foundation (devoted to science fiction) and Signal (children’s literature).

Liam Earney, director at Jisc Collections said: 'We are extremely pleased to offer these 50 new journal titles to our member institutions. By expanding the material included in ProQuest Historical Archives through terms that reflect current and future academic practice we hope to facilitate research at scale and enable practitioners to use primary and secondary sources in a variety of teaching and learning materials.

'We were keen to acquire resources in disciplines currently underrepresented in our content portfolio, and to provide smaller and specialised institutions with access to a core digital archive of relevance to their students.'

Susan Bokern, vice president of product management at ProQuest Information Solutions, added: 'We value our partnership with Jisc. By offering an even more comprehensive collection of PAO titles to the scholarly community in the UK we are able to extend the reach of key historical sources to a wide audience, enhancing research outcomes at institutions across the country.'