Athens, Ga. – A collection of early and seminal works on Georgia history is now freely accessible in digital editions through the Digital Library of Georgia. Biographies, letter collections, and works of Georgia history are among the initial group of forty-nine books in the University of Georgia Press Georgia History E-book Project.
Many of the books are by major Southern historians who worked at the University of Georgia starting in the 1940s, including E. Merton Coulter, Albert Berry Saye, and Kenneth Coleman.
“Technology has drastically changed the publishing landscape,” said Nicole Mitchell, director of the University of Georgia Press. “Press Marketing and Sales Director, John McLeod, and Deputy University Librarian Toby Graham saw an opportunity to make available dozens of important out-of-print works on the state’s history through the Digital Library of Georgia as a service to scholars, students and general readers.”
“The press has a long history of publishing outstanding works of scholarship and literature,” said Graham. “The University Libraries and GALILEO are pleased to help bring a selection of these titles to the web as a part of the Digital Library of Georgia.”
Each book also is available for purchase in printed paperback editions through booksellers. The University of Georgia Press has more than 250 books available in e-book editions, and publishes many of its new titles simultaneously in print and digital formats. The Georgia History E-book Project is the press’ first collaborative open access initiative.
“The Internet is giving new life to vast numbers of specialized books that were previously very difficult to find,” said Mitchell. “A book like These Men She Gave: Civil War Diaries of Athens, Georgia, for example, is now being discovered online by people interested in the history of Athens and the Civil War experience in Georgia.”
More books will be added to the project at a later date, including numerous books that are out of print and not widely available.
For more information, see the main Digital Library of Georgia project page at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/CollectionsA-Z/ugapressbks_information.html or the UGA Press project page at http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/series/GHEP.
