The First World War: Personal Experiences

Tabbed

Overview

The First World War: Personal Experiences allows researchers to explore the individual accounts, trench literature, and images of war collected from the citizens, soldiers, and military leaders serving on various sides in World War I.

Provider:

Adam Matthew Digital

Posted:

Oct 4, 2011 11:12am

Updated:

Feb 21, 2014 5:02pm

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:

Arts and Humanities

Social Sciences

Resource Types:

Archival materials

Bibliographical citations

Photographs

Major Languages:

English

German

French

- Denotes data sourced directly from publisher

Content Details:


Geographic coverage	Africa, America, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Middle East, New Zealand and Poland
Chronological coverage	1914-1918
Content types	Diaries, journals, letters, postcards, scrapbooks and albums, photographs, sketches and paintings, sheet music, trench maps, propaganda and recruiting posters, and newspapers.
Source formats	Paper, artifacts, microfilm
Total titles	c. 5100
Total pages	c. 160,000
Digital collection launch date	October 2011
Update frequency	NA
Collection ongoing	N
Completion date	October 2011
Available supplements	NA

Specifications

Metadata:


MARC records available	Y
Creator of MARC records	Access Co
Structural metadata exposed anywhere?	N
Subject authorities used	Library of Congress
Name authorities used	Library of Congress

Technical Platform:


Browser compatibility	IE7 + Firefox, Safari
Authentication options	IP (username and password fro trials)
Archiving solution – master files	Portico
Archiving solution – derivative files	Available on DVD or similar format upon request
Availability in web discovery tools	N
Open URL target	Y (for secondary sources referenced)
Federated searching, z39.50	N
Local host option	Y
Usage statistics	Y

Interface Tools:


Full text displayed	Y
Page images	Y
Color images	Y (majority in color)
Search full text	Y (for printed works)
Advanced search	Y
Search within results	N
Limit results by dates and/or document types	Y
Display highlighted search terms	Y
Display snippet -- search term in context	N
Relevance sorting	Y (by default)
Save searches	Y
Download PDF	Y
Download HTML	N
Print page	Y (via PDF)
Print full document	Y (via PDF)
Export citations	Y
Annotation tools	N
Cross-product searching	Y
ILL	Y (See point II of license agreement cites fair use provisions)
Restrictions on use	Academic/Fair use only

Terms and Provider Details

Terms:


	Options
Subscription option	N
Purchase option	Y
Multiple year payments option	N
Hosting charges	Y (5% of purchase price every five years [first five year period free])
List of purchasers available	N
Sample license available	Y (www.amdigital.co.uk/license)
MARC records purchase fee	N
Price tier basis	FTE & Carnegie Classification

Provider:

Adam Matthew Digital

Website:

http://www.amdigital.co.uk/

Main Address:

Pelham House, Pelhams Court

London Road

Marlborough

SN8 2AG

United Kingdom

CRL Review

Collection Content:

This digital collection brings together archival material including personal war diaries, letters, journals, photos, propaganda and recruiting posters, postcards, German army trench newspapers, and U.S. camp newspapers. It also includes photographs, digital maps, and scans of original artifacts.

Original collections for the primary sources include trench journals from the War Reserve Collection and general manuscript collections at Cambridge University Library. Other sources include German trench newspapers from the Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte in the Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart, Germany; the Liddle Collection at the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds; the Vera Brittain Archive from the Mills Memorial Library at McMaster University; and U.S. military camp newspapers from the National World War I Museum in Kansas City.

A number of object memorabilia, such as weapons and personal belongings, are presented in “360 degree mode” viewing a proprietaryJava Script plug-in .

A broad variety of secondary sources is available to support instruction, including essays by members of the editorial board, an image slideshow, and chronologies.

Microfilm sources

This digital collection of primary source materials draws from Adam Mathew’s microfilm series The First World War, which includes trench journals from the War Reserve Collection and general manuscript collections at Cambridge University Library.

Delivery:

Metadata

All documents are indexed individually.

Technical platform and interface

There are standard interface tools for searching and browsing documents and images, and some "popular searches" are suggested to guide the user. The digital collection also makes use of several special value-added tools to enhance the user experience, including pre-combined image slide shows. Interactive maps feature animated battle scenes and utilize “temporal linking” to browse chronological relationships among various maps, as well as linking to documents or images in the database. A unique exploratory tool is described as a “Virtual Trench Experience”, where images of a preserved French trench and panoramic views as seen from the trench are linked up to emulate a sense of personally controlled spatial immersion.

A “My Archive” space allows the user to personally select and save groups of images and documents.

Terms:

Following the acquisition of Adam Matthew Digital and Adam Matthew Education by SAGE in early October, 2012, Adam Matthew issued a statement indicating that all existing contracts will remain between Adam Matthew and its partners, not transferred to SAGE. They have also posted details clarifying the status of licensing arrangements for the retention of digital materials and ongoing access to collections. Questions regarding Adam Matthew products, including licensing questions, will continue to be directed to the Adam Matthew team.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

The variety of materials and the opportunity to integrate content from several of the war-time opponents is quite impressive. The tone, focusing on individual soldier and citizen personal experiences, is unique. Considerable product investment has yielded powerful value-added tools, especially the interactive maps and “Virtual Trench” views. This database seems particularly suited to undergraduate learning or history buffs. But one wonders if the more advanced scholar will make significant use of the value-added tools. The advanced scholar will also have the challenge of integrating data from these personal collections with official documents and published texts.

Reviewers:

Center for Research Libraries

Francis Alba, Research Assistant

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:

Beck, Thomas J. "The First World War." The Charleston Advisor. Volume 15, Number 3, January 2014 , pp. 24-27(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.5260/chara.15.3.24 Accessed February 3, 2014.

CRL Offers & Status

Status	Current	Description
CRL Flagged	no	Potential interest to CRL community
Offer Pending	no	Currently a candidate for CRL offer
Active Offer	no	Currently offered for purchase or new subscription
Trial Access	no	Available for trial
Renewal Offer	no	Currently offered for renewal
Expired Offer	yes	Past offers
Inactive / Declined	no	No longer under consideration by CRL
Reviewed by CRL	yes	Evaluation available by CRL and community
Special Access	no	Member-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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