Unlimited Priorities Corporation Licenses Another Rare Collection

By Unlimited Priorities on December 10, 2010 in Unlimited Priorities News

University of Iowa Content Will Expand Civil War Collection

Cape Coral, FL (December 2010) – The University of Iowa has just signed a license agreement to preserve in digital format a number of primary source publications from the Civil War era. Unlimited Priorities facilitated the collaborative project between the university and Accessible Archives, Inc.,© an electronic publisher of primary source full-text historical databases. In addition to handling the licensing details, Unlimited Priorities will oversee sales and marketing, as well as other aspects of the process. Unlimited Priorities recently expanded its services by introducing the Archival Initiatives Division, which provides advice to libraries, historical societies, and industry associations in selecting, distributing, and monetizing their valuable archival content.

Iris Hanney, founder and President of Unlimited Priorities said: “It is our mission to bring parties together and to work out all the details that can come up in such collaborations, such as investigating rights ownership, drafting a license agreement, selecting a data conversion vendor, overseeing the digitization process, or providing advice on monetization possibilities. Often, a library will be concerned about crumbling, slowly decaying collections. Even with such fragile documents, we can usually get the digitization done and preserve those materials for future generations.”

The University of Iowa is a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). For 50 years, the CIC world-class research institutions have advanced their academic missions and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and collaborating on innovative programs. Last year, under the auspices of the CIC, The University of Iowa and other CIC members were able to supply missing issues of Godey’s Lady’s Book to Accessible Archives, resulting in a publishing partnership opportunity that has allowed other libraries around the world to gain access to these rare issues. This partnership was also arranged by Unlimited Priorities.

In the current project, various Civil War memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories, which up to now have been available only for those with access to Iowa’s Special Collections Department, will be converted to electronic format. Among the Civil War books soon to be preserved and made searchable are: One Year’s Soldiering, Embracing the Battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, written by the chaplain of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry and published in 1863; Sketches of the War, 2nd Edition, by Charles Henry Nott, published in 1865; and The Twenty-First Regiment of the Iowa Infantry, by George Crooke, published in 1891. The Iowa publications will complement the Civil War newspapers and memoirs that are already online, which were obtained from the Godfrey Memorial Library and Vincennes University.

Edward Shreeves, Director of Collections and Scholarly Communication and an Associate University Librarian at the University of Iowa, offered these comments: “We are delighted to extend the collaboration begun with Godey’s Lady’s Book and provide material from the University of Iowa Special Collections to enhance Accessible Archives’ The Civil War. Iowa provided more troops per capita than any other state in the Union, and Iowa men fought in nearly all the campaigns and major battles, were captured and imprisoned in the South, and after the war wrote about their experiences and came together frequently in reunions. All of this is documented in the University of Iowa contribution.”

Tom Nagy, Accessible Archives COO, replied: “I think the publications from Iowa will be a great addition and enhancement to the material that we already have. Many times, the Midwest is overlooked as far as Civil War coverage and I think this collection will help to improve that.”

About Unlimited Priorities

Unlimited Priorities is attuned to the management requirements of small to mid-size companies in the information industry. We provide executive-level support services by utilizing a highly skilled group of professionals with abundant experience. Our practice specialties include Sales and Marketing, Business Development, Financial Services, Operations Management, Production, Information Technology, and Content Development and Licensing. Our new Archival Initiatives Division provides advice to libraries, historical societies, and industry associations in selecting, distributing, and monetizing their valuable archival content. Our goal is to enhance our clients’ abilities to succeed, offering solutions that are realistic, practical, achievable and affordable.

About Accessible Archives Inc.

Founded in 1990, Accessible Archives utilizes computer technology to provide vast quantities of archived historical information previously available only in microformat. Diverse primary source materials reflecting broad views across American history and culture have been assembled into comprehensive databases. Developed by dedicated instructors and students of Americana, these databases allow access to the rich store of materials from leading books and periodicals then current. Accessible Archives will continue to add titles covering important topics and time periods to assist scholars and students at all academic levels. Accessible Archives has retained Unlimited Priorities as its exclusive sales and marketing agent.