Using the Product
Until now, only specialized literary scholars and collectors enjoyed the opportunity to search and examine British literary manuscripts preserved in libraries on both sides of the Atlantic. But Gale's British Literary Manuscripts Online puts the power to search these documents in everyone's hands.
Employing the dynamic Gale search functionality that librarians and their patrons worldwide have come to trust, this online reference collection allows researchers to find manuscript materials using a variety of search fields and options.
British Literary Manuscripts Online is a database of digitized images of literary manuscripts, typescripts and related materials, made searchable via associated descriptive information or metadata derived from library catalog entries and similar records. The database has been created by digitizing several previously published microfilm collections of select manuscript materials from several major library collections.
Descriptive information about each manuscript that accompanied the microfilm collection in the form of "finding aids" or guides has been captured electronically and is used to support searching and browsing of the manuscripts. (Note that you cannot search the full text of the manuscripts themselves.) This descriptive information has been enhanced by the fielding of key information and the application of controlled vocabularies for personal names and titles of literary works.
BASIC SEARCH OPTIONS
The Basic Search from the Home page allows you to search the complete catalog entries for the manuscripts included in the product and to limit your search by century.
Links from the Home page also allow you to learn more about the microfilm collections from which the materials in British Literary Manuscripts Online were digitized, including the selection criteria employed and the sources used in compiling the catalog entries. Links in the bottom left quadrant of the Home page lead to descriptions of the source microfilm collections and allow you to browse the materials from each collection.
ADVANCED SEARCH
With Advanced Search, you can conduct a search on a particular field or a combination of fields, including Full citation/Catalog entry, Author, Document type, Work title, and Manuscript number or Library shelf mark.
Options for limiting your search include Year, Century, Document type, Source library, Collection within library, and Source microfilm collection.
RESULTS LIST
Once you have conducted a search, you will receive a list of results matching your search criteria, sorted by relevance. To aid in identifying manuscripts of interest, the names of authors and titles listed in the catalog record display under each citation on the results list.
Using the options in the left sidebar, you can search within your results or narrow your results by Author, Document type, Century, or Source Library.
DOCUMENT VIEWS
Each manuscript record offers three different viewing options.
- By selecting either the hotlinked citation or the View Manuscript link, you will open the first page of the manuscript in an image viewer. Use the image viewer tools to navigate backwards and forward through the images, resize, or rotate. Tools to the right of the screen provide a full-screen view and allow you to size the image to fit your screen vertically or horizontally.
Note that the first page of the manuscript may be blank or nearly blank. - The Full Citation link opens the full description or catalog entry associated with each manuscript record. Note that libraries often gather numerous smaller manuscript items, such as letters or poems, under a single catalog entry. When the catalog entry lists multiple items, you can select the "view item" links to go directly to the associated manuscript images.
- Browse Thumbnail Images takes you to a screen where you may scroll through up to 30 thumbnail images at a time from the selected manuscript. Use this feature to identify sections of longer manuscripts that may be of particular interest; for instance, an illustration, a heavily edited passage, or the start of a new chapter or journal entry.
The Manuscript and Full Citation views also offer a link to Citation tools as well as options to Bookmark, Print, Email, or Download the document.
MARKED ITEMS LIST
This allows you to mark documents to create a personalized citation list. Documents may be selected from a results list by selecting the box to the left of the citation or while viewing a document. You may select a single item from your results list or you may select all items on the page. You may also mark individual page images within a manuscript.
COMPARE MARKED ITEMS
By checking any two items from your Marked Items list and then selecting the Compare feature at the top of the list, you can view the two selected items on the same screen.
BROWSE AUTHORS
Use this feature to browse a list of manuscript authors represented in the collection and go directly to related manuscripts.
SEARCH HISTORY
To view your search history, select Previous Searches from the Toolbar or go to Advanced Search. To view the results of a previous search from Previous Searches, simply select the link corresponding to a past search or select Revise to change the parameters of a past search. To cross-reference searches, combine the names of past searches with a logical operator.
CONTACT EDITOR
To send a comment or suggestion about features, content, or the product in general, select the CONTACT EDITOR link at the very bottom of any screen. An email form will display.