The Library has licensed a new Gale database. 19th Century UK Periodicals provides access to invaluable collections of digitised newspapers, magazines and journals, covering the period 1800 to 1900. Major content contributors are the British Library, the National Library of Scotland and other specialist libraries.
The 2.1 million pages that are now available will increase to about 600 million pages once the database project has been completed. The text is fully searchable and it is possible to view entire pages or individual articles. A significant amount of New Zealand content is included.
Topics currently covered in series 1 and 2:
- New readerships: women, children, sport, leisure, humour, satire
- Empire: travel, anthropology, economics, missionary, colonial
Topics in the forthcoming series:
- Culture: literature, visual and performing arts
- Working life: agriculture, the professions, trade, industry, medicine
- Knowledge: academic, field sciences, philantropic, political, religious and scientific journals