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Electronic Library Resources (2011)

Contributor: B. Zakarin, Office of Fellowships, b-zakarin@northwestern.edu
Posted: 2011

Electronic Enlightenment -
A searchable and browseable database offering extensive access to the web of correspondence between the greatest thinkers and writers of the long eighteenth century and their families and friends, bankers and booksellers, patrons and publishers.

Coverage includes letters and documents, document sources such as manuscripts and early printed editions, scholarly annotations, and links to biographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, and other online resources.

Other wonderful electronic collections are available through the NU Library (but can't be linked through NuWrite):

Hispanic-American Newspapers, 1808-1980
This resource represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinctive collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century. Based on the "Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project," a national research effort directed by Professor Nicolás Kanellos, this digital resource is the first in a new American Ethnic Newspapers series, available within America’s Historical Newspapers. Access via the link above.  Once in the NUcat record, follow the link for "online access."

Medieval Travel Writing
This resource provides an extensive collection of manuscript materials for the study of medieval travel writing. The core is a collection of medieval manuscripts dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China. The manuscripts are from the British Library; Bodleian Library; Bibliothèque nationale de France; Cambridge University Library; Trinity College, Cambridge; Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek; Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen; the Beinecke Library at Yale University and about 15 other Libraries and Archives.

Social Explorer
Available through the NU Library's electronic resources. Aims to facilitate demographic and social scientific research in a variety of contexts.  Social Explorer's main goal is to visually display the demographic change that has occurred in the U.S. since 1790 through the present, for the country over all down to the level of the county. For more recent years, one can display areas as small as your own neighborhood. Certain cities may even be displayed as far back as 1910. To do this, designers have developed a collection of interactive demographic maps that can be viewed, queried and manipulated. 

The NU community now has access to professional-grade research and mapping tools that fit a variety of needs, as well as technical support and access to new data and features as they become available. Primary functions include Demographic Data Analysis, Interactive Map/Report Design and Software Development.