California Newspaper Project goes digital

University of California Riverside will announce the release of its digital archive. The California Newspaper Project, started in 1990, will feature a searchable database that provides online access to publications such as The San Francisco Call, The Daily Alta California, and the Amador Ledger.

“Newspapers are the most important history in the state,” said center Director Henry Snyder, who retired as a history professor in 1994 and turns 78 next month.

More information about the project can be read in The Press-Enterprise article, “UCR’s long effort to preserve California’s newspapers goes online”

Parent Company of Ancestry.com to be acquired for $300 million

The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com and many other genealogy-related websites has agreed to a $300 million majority-interest purchase from investment group, Spectrum Equity Investors. The investment group has been a shareholder in The Generation Network for about four years. The acquisition should be finalized this year.

“As an investor in The Generations Network for the past four years, we have watched the company revolutionize the family history category by leveraging the power of the Internet to make it more accessible and easy for anyone,” said Vic Parker, Managing Partner, Spectrum Equity Investors. “Ancestry.com and myfamily.com are clear category leaders in the growing and rapidly evolving family history and family networking markets. We are excited to partner with The Generations Network management team to continue growing this truly unique company that has the power to impact users at a very personal and emotional level.”

More than 400 Yale University Press titles added to the OCLC’s NetLibrary

Online Computer Library Center, Inc. has added more than 400 titles from Yale University Press to its NetLibrary database. In addition, the OCLC will add at least 1,500 more Yale titles once the content’s digitization process is complete.

“These titles represent works that promote a greater understanding of our world, and will be of great benefit to users of all libraries, and particularly academic institutions,” [Chip Nilgles] said.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers gains The Guardian and The Observer

More than 212 years of British news contained within The Guardian and The Observer has been added to ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Dating from 1791, the collection will allow researchers near-instant access to millions of pages, digitized by Olive Software, Inc.

The ability to cross-search the archives of two major British newspapers with ProQuest’s existing American historical newspapers provides researchers with contrasting perspectives on key international events, such as World Wars I and II, the Middle East peace process, and the terrorist attacks in the United States September 11, 2001. Researchers will be able to compare news, political cartoons, and editorials about the same events in both American and British newspapers.

The Guardian’s and The Observer’s archive will be cross-searchable with ProQuest Historical Newspapers, the world’s largest digital newspaper archive, encompassing more than 17 million pages dating from 1764.