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Colonial America

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Overview

Colonial America [1] is a five-module resource expected to incorporate all 1,450 files form the CO 5 class at The National Archives, UK.  CO 5 contains the original correspondence between the Board of Trade and Secretaries of State and the English, later British, colonies in North America and the Caribbean from 1606-1822.

This is a five-module resource, with Module 1: Frontier Life, Early Expansion and Rivalries expected to be released in September 2015.

Module 1: Frontier Life, Early Expansion and Rivalries
Module 2: Towards Revolution: Disputes and Origins of the Conflict
Module 3: The American Revolution and its Aftermath
Module 4: Legislation and Politics in the Colonies
Module 5: Growth, Trade and Development

Provider: 
Adam Matthew Digital [2]
Posted: 
Apr 8, 2015 10:08am
Updated: 
Nov 1, 2017 12:05am
Source
CRL reviews are based on independent research. Information is researched by CRL staff and other specialists at CRL libraries. See CRL Review for additional source notes.
Details

Collection Content

Subject Areas: 
Social Sciences
Unclassified
Resource Types: 
Archival materials
Correspondence
Government publications
Legal documents
Maps
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Reports
Transcription
Major Languages: 
English
Spanish
Latin
Direct from Publisher - Denotes data sourced directly from publisher
Content Details: 
Topics coveredExpansion of European settlement; legislation; settlers' relationships with Native Americans; trade; war; inter-European rivalries; inter-colonial rivalries; taxation; alliances and diplomacy; piracy and privateering; religious matters; African Americans; immigration; surveying and exploration; relationships between colonies and London
Geographic coverageNorth America; the Caribbean
Chronological coverage1606-1822
Source format(s)Paper
Total titles1,450 CO 5 files
Total pages375,000 images
Major language (s)English; negligible French, Latin, Spanish
Digital collection launch dateSep 2015 (1st module); modules 2-5 scheduled annually until 2019
Completion date2019
Collection ongoing N
Update frequencyn/a
Available supplements N

Specifications

Metadata: 
MARC records available N
Creator of MARC recordsBarbara Sandeman (Access Co. Ltd.)
Source for obtaining MARC recordshttp://www.amdigital.co.uk/librarians-resources/marc-records/ [3]
Fee for MARC recordsN
Subject authorities usedLibrary of Congress MARC 21
Name authorities usedLibrary of Congress MARC 21
Technical Platform: 
Browser compatibilityIE9 and above; Chrome; Firefox; Safrai on Mac
Authentication optionsIP/ Proxy
Archiving solution (master files)Y; Portico
Archiving solution (derivative files) Y; Offline files can be supplied on drive
Available in web discovery tools Y; Data supplied to all main discovery services
Open url target Y; OpenUrls avaialble for secondary references in essays
Federated searching, z39.50 N; SRU is available
Local host option Y
Usage stats based on Counter codeY; Counter 4 complient
Interface Tools: 
Full text displayed Y; Where available
Page images Y
Color images Y
Search full text Y; Where available
Advanced search Y
Search within results Y; within document
Limit results by dates and/or document types Y
Display highlighted search terms Y
Display snippet (search term in context)Y; Full text
Relevance sorting Y
Save searches Y
Download PDF Y
Download HTML N
Print page N; Can print from PDF
Print full document Y; From full PDF
Export citations Y
Annotation tools N
Cross-product searching Y; with Archive Explorer
ILL permittedY
Text/data mining permittedY
Restrictions on use

Terms and Provider Details

Terms: 
TERMS
Subscription option N
Purchase option Y
Multiple year payments option N
Maintenance feesN
Hosting charges Y; 0.5% of purchase price (Annually)
Provider notes
Provider: 
Adam Matthew Digital [2]
Website: 
http://www.amdigital.co.uk/ [4]
Main Address: 
Pelham House, Pelhams Court
London Road
Marlborough
SN8 2AG
United Kingdom
CRL Review
Collection Content: 

"Frontier Life, Early Expansion and Rivalries" is the first part of Colonial America, a five-module resource featuring all 1,450 files forming the CO 5 class at The National Archives, UK.  Covering the period 1606-1822, CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the Board of Trade and Secretaries of State and the English, later British, colonies in North America and the Caribbean.

According to the publisher (sponsored webinar [5], published September 29, 2015), the first module spans the dates 1606 through 1793 (bulk 1640–1755). The subject material covers diplomatic and colonial history, as well as information on cultural history. Examples given of topics included: the beginning and expansion of English settlements on the east coast; development of colonial institutions within those settlements; relations with native Americans; records of piracy; the French & Indian War; cultural life, trade and taxation, and other material. The collection includes a range of newspapers from the colonies as well as England contained within the original archive. Maps have also been included, copied into a separate gallery with rich metadata for focused exploration. 

The first module of the collection will be fully published in September 2015, with the remaining modules to be completed by 2019.

CO5: Colonial America

  • Module 1: Frontier Life, Early Expansion and Rivalries (Published 2015)
  • Module 2: Towards Revolution: Disputes and Origins of the Conflict (Published 2016)
  • Module 3: The American Revolution and its Aftermath (Published 2017)
  • Module 4: Legislation and Politics in the Colonies (Published 2018)
  • Module 5: Growth, Trade and Development (Published 2019)

The CO 5 class files consists mainly of bound volumes of individual documents (letters, lists, bills, minutes of legislative proceedings, etc...) often running to hundreds per volume.  Adam Matthew reports, that to maximize the usability of the resource for scholars, they are "indexing each volume by splitting it up into sub-sections, each consisting of an individual document or small cluster of linked documents."

The collection will provide access to letters, financial documents, shipping lists, orders to officials, court records, charters and commissions, instructions to officials, military documents (including war diaries), newspapers, printed pamphlets (broadsides and speeches), public notices and proclamations, texts of acts of assemblies, land grants and cadastral lists, maps and building plans, and petitions. 

The documents should shed light on various aspects of life in colonial America – political, economic, military, cultural and social – covering such topics as:

  • The development of colonial institutions
  • Colonial legislation
  • Education
  • Economic and industrial development
  • Settlers’ relationships with Native Americans
  • English/British relations with the Dutch, French and Spanish
  • Trade and protectionism
  • Taxation
  • Militias, garrisons and military preparedness
  • Warfare
  • Alliances and diplomacy
  • Peace negotiations
  • Naval matters
  • Piracy and privateering
  • Tobacco, sugar and other commodities
  • Religious matters
  • Slavery and the slave trade
  • Non-British immigration
  • Surveying and exploration
  • Colonial relationships with the British government
  • The Glorious Revolution

In addition, users will have access to "contextual essays" by academic scholars, biographical resources on leading colonial and governmental personalities, and an interactive gallery displaying the numerous maps in the CO 5 collection.

Delivery: 

Adam Matthew's platform allows for navigational browsing as well as searching of metadata--due to the nature of the material, OCR is not possible. Documents have been richly marked up with information about the document (author, title, date, volume reference) and added metadata (type, colony/region, theme, people and place names, keywords, and other notes).

Contents may be navigated by "document type" (such as broadside, correspondence, diary, legislation, letters, military document, speech or transcript), broad "theme" ("colonial development," "finance," "trade," "American Indians", etc.); and colony or region. Search functionality allows searching of metadata and tags, as well as for full-text search of  the limited print material contained within the archive. Advanced search functionality allows limiting and refining based on keywords, stemming, word proximity, date, or tags as described above. Results are sortable by title, date, volume (of original documentation), and by archive reference (for example, by CO reference number or product module). Researchers may navigate documents via the original CO reference volumes as well, emulating the original navigation of the physical content. 

Navigation within documents allows for thumbnail and full image viewing, easy pagination, rotation and zooming, Images were scanned from the original source documentation when possible, and scanned with sufficient resolution to allow for close viewing. 

Content can be added to one's personal "archive" or "lightbox" for later use, downloaded in whole or part for personal research or teaching use, and cited via citation export functionality. 

The content is backed up by PORTICO dark archiving with each volume within the collection having its own metadata.

Terms: 

Colonial America is offered as an one-time purchase.  Adam Matthew allows unlimited numbers of concurrent users, remote access, downloads and scholarly sharing at each purchasing institution.

This is subject to an annual hosting fee equivalent to 0.5% of the purchase price.

Licensing

Adam Matthew is handling the licensing for this offer directly with CRL members.  A sample of Adam Matthew's  Standard License Agreement [6] is available.  Please note that this is simply a sample license agreement, and the vendor has indicated it's agreeable to changing the language based on the circumstances and parties entering in to the agreement (i.e. state required language).

Contributors: 

James Simon, CRL

Sources

Sources for this review include information publicly posted or obtained directly from the publisher; data collected by CRL staff and specialists at CRL libraries; and examination of the digital collection when possible. Other sources are noted where cited. CRL continues to gather additional information on this resource and to solicit critical assessment.
Additional Reviews in Other Sources: 
  • ccAdvisor - Review of Colonial America [7] (accessed October 2017)
  • Also reviewed in The Charleston Advisor: Jason Martin, "Colonial America [8]." The Charleston Advisor. January 2016, 17(3): 14-17 (accessed February 2016).
CRL Offers & Status
StatusCurrentDescription
CRL FlaggednoPotential interest to CRL community
Offer PendingnoCurrently a candidate for CRL offer
Active OffernoCurrently offered for purchase or new subscription
Trial AccessnoAvailable for trial
Renewal OffernoCurrently offered for renewal
Expired OfferyesPast offers
Inactive / DeclinednoNo longer under consideration by CRL
Reviewed by CRLyesEvaluation available by CRL and community
Special AccessnoMember-only access available for a limited time
The complete offer and activity details for this resource are only available to CRL members.

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Source URL: https://edesiderata.crl.edu/resources/colonial-america

Links
[1] http://www.amdigital.co.uk/m-collections/collection/colonial-america/
[2] https://edesiderata.crl.edu/providers/adam-matthew-digital
[3] http://www.amdigital.co.uk/librarians-resources/marc-records/
[4] http://www.amdigital.co.uk/
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCpKxjlIQg
[6] https://edesiderata.crl.edu/system/files/activity_docs/Adam%20Matthew%20Model%20License%20SAMPLE.pdf
[7] http://www.ccadvisor.org/review/10.5260/CCA.199222
[8] http://charleston.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/charleston/chadv/2016/00000017/00000003/art00007